NDTRAX 2011 Gets Even Better

NDTRAX 2011. It keeps getting better! Kirsch’s Outdoor Products is announcing the immediate release of additional options to the TRAX family of products. TRAX maps continue to evolve making it the most complete line of GPS solutions available empowering sportsmen and women with their outdoor activities including fishing, hunting, hiking, horseback riding, camping, and traveling. [...]

ND Fishing Questions

By Doug Leier Questions tend to flow with the seasons and while hunting is starting to gain ground, fishing continues to lead my list of phone, email and random inquiries. Here’s a sample of some the North Dakota Game and Fish Department typically receives, with answers from the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov. Why [...]

Right Under My Nose

By Nick Simonson When you stand the world on its head, or do your best to stand on yours, the perspective of how and what things are gets turned upside down and undoubtedly provides a new view of what were once familiar surroundings.  Last week, as I made the move from the house my wife [...]

Snap Shot Ruler Review

Now you can prove the big one didn’t get away! The new SNAP SHOT RULER easily attaches to any fishing line, grip, or scale and measures fish length vertically so there is less handling of your prized catch. Accurate and photo friendly, this innovative ruler is great for anything from catch and release measurements to [...]

Littering Problems

By Doug Leier Most of us who spend time outdoors occasionally wind up in a spot that makes us think we are the only human to have ever stood or floated in that exact location. Realistically, at least in this part of the world, that’s probably not true. If the natural setting is not altered, [...]

Drayton Catfishing Tourney

_____________________________________________ September 17th, 2011 Rod & Reel Rally Catfishing Tournament Hastings Landing Recreation Area Downtown Drayton, North Dakota 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm Cash prizes and a special $30,000 bonus for breaking the ND channel catfish record The Red River of the North’s only WHOPPER catfishing tournament Call 701-454-6184 or 701-454-FISH Go to www.draytonnd.com Email [...]

Boating Safety

By Doug Leier Many anglers and recreational boaters enjoy reading through information and testimonials on the latest electronics and power options for a boat or personal watercraft. It’s a good thing to invest time into finding out ways to more efficiently use every last second of fun outdoors. While honestly no one would expect the [...]

Fishing Paddlefish

By Doug Leier Given North Dakota’s geographic location, sort of on the fault line between east and west, and north and south, it’s easy to understand the state’s diversity of fish and wildlife species. Few states can claim such a variety of critters in terms of roosters, bucks, ducks and pike. In fact after a [...]

Aquatic Nuisance Species

By Doug Leier It feels like just yesterday, when in fact it’s been over a year and a half, since the first official discovery of zebra mussels in the Red River watershed. First, these aquatic nuisance species were found established in a Minnesota lake upstream of the Red River. Then, to no one’s surprise, they [...]

Canadian Night Crawlers

With fishing season coming to light, it’s a great time to start looking into cheap bait.   You can now buy premium Canadian night crawlers for a lot cheaper then your local bait shop.  Canadian night crawlers are considered the highest quality, largest crawlers available.   One of our newest sponsors now has a special [...]

Mahi Mahi Fishing

By Nick Simonson It finally sank in when I was about an hour from the lake cabin where my buddy had been watching my dog while I was on vacation. As I looked around the midway point gas station at the beige grasses, gray skies, and leafless trees, I could hardly believe that just sixteen [...]

Good North Dakota Fishing

By Doug Leier The late Dean Hildebrand was North Dakota Game and Fish Department director from 1996 through 2005 and he had a well-developed vocabulary of catch phrases and sayings. One description I heard repeatedly for years was his exclamation that, “We’re living in the good old days when it comes to hunting and fishing.” [...]

Super Sport License

Our Outdoors By Nick Simonson Many times I think back fondly to reading class in sixth grade at Jefferson Elementary School. My teacher, Mr. Horner, read us a number of exciting books, many with a coming-of-age story behind them, preparing us for our adventure into Junior High the following year. Among the titles was the [...]

Fishing Trivia

By Doug Leier If you asked my wife about my ability to recall seemingly useless fishing trivia data, she would likely say that it is times annoying. I’m not bragging about it, not a chance, but I’ve never understood how I can easily forget the whereabouts of my keys, cell phone, the remote control and [...]

New Fishing Gear for 2011

by Bob Jensen While there’s still lots of ice-fishing to do, open water fishing is getting closer every day. I’ve enjoyed the ice-fishing season, but am also looking forward to putting a boat in the water. When the time arrives that we’re casting a lure instead of dropping it through a hole in the ice, [...]

The Ugly Fish

Our Outdoors – By Nick Simonson I’ll admit it. I enjoy The Soup on E! Network. Joel McHale watches all the crap TV shows, makes fun of each in a thirty-second clip and moves on so I get all the best, worst and weirdest parts of what happened from what I’d never watch on TV [...]

Fishing Memories

Our Outdoors By Nick Simonson Paging through the pile of tackle catalogs that all seemed to arrive in my mailbox on the same day (a sure sign that spring is still coming) made me amazed, once again, at the number of lure colors available.  From plastics, to crankbaits, and even standard jigs, there are literally thousands [...]

Some Things Don’t Change

By Nick Simonson I lifted my right foot as the slight humming noise approached from behind me. A few moments later, I lifted my left foot and hopped a step over to keep my balance. The whir, beep and buzz of the floor-cleaning robot my wife received as a Christmas present continued on as I [...]

20 Years Outdoors

By Doug Leier One of the consequences of having four distinct seasons is that we slot various activities during certain times of year. Spring is big for graduations and a few weddings, while in summer we cram and squeeze in vacations, long weekends and more weddings, along with family and class reunions. This year it’s [...]

ND Fishing Reg Changes

By Doug Leier Rather than wholesale changes on a yearly basis, the bulk of North Dakota’s fishing rules and regulations are implemented every two years, and 2010 is one of the years when we get a new fishing proclamation. The new regulations begin April 1 and are in place until March 31, 2012. By no [...]

President Obama Attacking Fishing Industry

Sport Anglers Alarmed by Proposed Obama Policy A controversy has erupted in the sport fishing community over a new federal management plan for oceans and Great Lakes waters. Recent opinion pieces circulating on the internet and reported on numerous radio stations have stoked the flames through revelations that the policy, if implemented, would prohibit recreational [...]

Time to Get Moving

By Nick Simonson It was hard to hear the beep of the cash register as I stood in line with the few items that my wife requested I pick up from the grocery store. Behind me, a four-year old girl screamed bloody murder each time her mother pried the candy bar from her hands and [...]

Fishing Buddies

By Nick Simonson Of angling’s many positive elements, near the top of the list is that it is a great way to spend time with friends that are so close they might as well be family. My buddies and I try to make it a regular thing to meet up at the cabin, at someone’s [...]

Outdoors Online Licensing

By Doug Leier With the possible exception of a first driver’s license, few people spin a nostalgic tale about buying a license “back in the day.” In fact, I struggle trying to come up with any story associated renewal of my North Dakota driver’s license. Same goes for my fishing license, except perhaps buying a [...]

Challenges of Stocking Fish

By Doug Leier Since the late 1990s a number of North Dakota lakes have lost their fisheries because of declining water levels. Now, after near-record snows last winter and abundant rain this summer and fall, many of them are “topped off” again and have the potential to support fish. This is part of the natural [...]

Fishing Rod Building Tips

By Taylor Fitterer Making your own custom fishing rods can be a fun experience. Each rod normally takes about 2-3 hours to manufacture, and the finish drying time can take from a few hours to a few days depending on the type of finish, temperature and humidity. We have learned through trial and error and [...]

Spring is Around the Corner

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Did you feel that? It felt like spring. Yesterday was that first warm day of the year, reminding us that winter can’t last forever and that there is a lot of work to be done, and a lot of work left undone. Arsenal inspection Days like yesterday have me doing two [...]

Free Fishing Log – Printable Fishing Log

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson “Putting together the fishing pieces of the puzzle” Fishing, no matter how good a person gets at it, is still the grandest puzzle of all. There are so many elements that have to be put into place such as weather, season, bait, lures, and so on. When looked at in hindsight, [...]

The Worst Dressed List

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson This is continued from last week, The Best Dressed List. In keeping with last week’s “award show” theme, it’s now time to focus on those fisheries fashion faux-pas. As with Hollywood, even local lakes and streams have their worst-dressed individuals, and much like US magazine or some other tabloid that makes [...]

The Best Dressed List

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson With awards show season in full swing, it is not unusual to flip on the tube and see celebrities parading down the red carpet wearing fancy suits, elaborate dresses, and sporting more bling than in every Nelly video combined. For a few nights each winter they dress to the nines, promoting [...]

Beat the Wintertime Blues

By Nick Simonson What a tease this winter has been. Knowing full well we’re at least two months from open-water fishing, Ma Nature gives us days with highs above freezing, frequent melts and not much in the way of severe weather. She sure makes it feel like spring is just around the corner. This is [...]

How to Beat the Heat – Hot Summer Fishing

By Doug Leier Too hot to fish? Nah, it’s never too hot to fish, at least for me. Many anglers, however, commonly blame hot weather for a reduction in fishing success as summer wears on, and they tend to slow down because of that perception. Is that perception based in reality? Do fish stop eating, [...]

Protecting an Important Piece of History

By Doug Leier I was born in Williston and over the course of my life have called many North Dakota towns “home” along the way. It’s easier now, when asked where I’m originally from, to just reply “North Dakota.” I take pride in my roots. From the aspen forest of Bottineau to the Missouri breaks [...]

The Realities of Winterkill

By Doug Leier When it comes to violence and death, nature is not G rated by any stretch of the imagination. If you’ve spent time outdoors, you understand that red fox will efficiently kill plenty of hen ducks keeping watch over a nest. Cormorants will eat many fish. There is no doctor to prevent disease, [...]

Catfish Recipe List

Here are some favorite catfish recipes of ours. Citrus Grilled Catfish Recipe 4 catfish fillets 1/4 cup oil (I have a preference for olive oil) 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 tsp. garlic salt 2 tsp. dry minced onion 1/4 tsp. tabasco sauce 4 sliced lemon wedges Rinse fillets and pat dry. Combine the remaining [...]

Perch Recipe List

Here are some favorite perch recipes of ours. Baked Perch Recipe This perch recipe is a crowd favorite for sure. 1.5 pounds of perch fillets 1 med. shallot 2 jalapeno peppers 1 tblspn green onion 1 tblspn minced onion 2 tblspns shredded carrots 1/4 cup red peppers (roasted) 1 tblspn parsley 2 tsp. lemon juice [...]

New Lake Contour Maps

By Chris Hustad I’ve been around the Internet for a little over a decade now, and I’m still amazed how much information is becoming available for outdoorsmen and women. Everything I’ve learned about hunting and fishing has been through mentors, such as family and friends. I can’t say I know anyone who just picked it [...]

Exposing Hunting & Fishing Myths and Urban Legends

By Doug Leier I’m not sure who’s credited with saying, “The right tools in the wrong hands can’t fix anything,” but when it comes to the Worldwide Web, I find myself frequently nodding my head in agreement with that statement. Here’s my rub: The Web has made communication and ease of connecting with people and [...]