Backwater Ed on the Red

The Red River of the North is quietly one of the state’s best fisheries. It’s one of the country’s best location to target big catfish; and some would argue hold’s the next state record walleye. One thing if for sure though, there’s a lot of big fish in this river!

Location: The entire eastern border of North Dakota.

Species: Channel Catfish, Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Fresh-water drum, Sauger, Bullheads, Walleye, Goldeye, Mooneye, Carp, Lake Sturgeon

Location of Public Access Sites

Pembina, North Dakota: The Pembina city campground has a concrete ramp, dock, and a bank fishing area. The campground is located at the confluence of the Pembina and Red Rivers.

Minnesota Highway #175 Crossing: A public boat launching and bank fishing site is located 10 miles west of Hallock on Highway #175 on the north side of the highway bridge. There is a bituminous-surface parking area for 15 car-trailer units and a concrete plank ramp. No services.

Drayton, North Dakota: The Drayton dam has a concrete ramp and a bank fishing area. The city of Drayton has a concrete ramp and a bank fishing area located directly east of the city water tower.

Oslo, Minnesota: Boat launching and bank fishing site located on the north side of the MN Highway #1 bridge near the water tower. Bituminous surfaced parking lot for 10-12 car- trailer units. There is a concrete ramp with floating dock. No services.

Grand Forks, North Dakota: There is a concrete ramp and bank fishing area located east of State Mill road approximately 1.5 miles north of US Highway 2. There is bank fishing area downstream of the Riverside dam located east of State Mill road on Red Dot Place. Grand Forks also has two large parks (Central and Lincoln) along the Red River. Bank fishing is a popular activity in these parks.

East Grand Forks, Minnesota: A public boat launching site is located in central East Grand Forks off Hill Street at Central Avenue. This is a full service municipal park facility with camping, electric and water hook ups, sanitary facilities, and picnic area. There is a gravel parking lot for many vehicles. A dock is located adjacent to the ramp. Lafave Park has good public bank-fishing opportunities on the Red River and Red Lake River.

Buxton, North Dakota: Belmont Park east of Buxton has a concrete ramp and bank fishing. Camping, water, and toilets are available.

Halstad Municipal Park, Minnesota: Bank fishing opportunities and earthen boat ramp are located 1 mile west of MN Highway # 75 on MN Highway #200 in Halstad. There is a picnic area with water, shelter and sanitary facilities.

Norman County Road #25, Minnesota: A public boat launching site located 1 mile west of MN Highway #75 on Norman County Road #25, near Hendrum. Asphalt parking surface for 8-10 car-trailer units. Concrete plank ramp. No dock or services are available.

Fargo, North Dakota: Bank fishing opportunities are located at Fargo water treatment plant, Trollwood Park, Veterans Hospital, El Zagel Park, Tree Foil Park (also called Dike East), North Dam, Oak Grove Park, Middle Dam, Lindenwood Park and Lemke Park (South Dam).

Moorhead, Minnesota: A public boat launching site located off of Eleventh Street North at M.B. Johnson Park, about ½ mile north of the Crystal Sugar processing plant. There is a bituminous- surface parking area for 15-20 car-trailer units and a bituminous-surface access to a double concrete plank ramp. No dock or services. Bank fishing opportunities are located at: M.B. Johnson Park, North Dam, Memorial Riverfront Park, Woodlawn Park, Middle Dam, Gooseberry Mound Park, and River Oaks Park (South Dam).

Abercrombie, North Dakota: – Located just south of Fort Abercrombie historical site. Concrete ramp.

Wahpeton, North Dakota – Breckenridge, Minnesota: A public boat launching site, public fishing pier, and bank fishing areas located off U.S. Highway 75 to Minnesota Avenue in the city of Breckenridge; west on Minnesota Avenue to the Red River. Concrete boat launch ramp, parking, and pier are located in Wells Memorial Park on the south shore of the Otter Tail River.

Location of Dams
Wahpeton-Breckenridge
Wolverton, North Dakota
Hickson, North Dakota
Fargo-Moorhead (3)
Grand Forks-East Grand Forks
Drayton North Dakota

REPORTS:

Walleyes can be found along damns every spring.

“All of the big catfish that I have caught were on cut up goldeyes. I just take a big tin snip with me and cut them up into inch and a half chunks. The goldeyes seem to bite best on something up in the current a little, so I put a chunk of nightcrawler on a floating jighead with about a 1 foot snell (lindy style). I have caught my biggest fish relatively close to shore in slack water. “ — Jon Scraper

“My buddy and I use 2 fat heads (dead usually works best, live ones catch a lot of goldeye or other fish) on a size 2/0 or 4/0 CIRCLE hook. They work great for the flat mouthed fish because when they bite down it usually hooks them without even a set (set it anyways). We regularly catch 26-28″ catfish with my buddies biggest bein just over 30 inches and mine being just a hair under 36 inches. This is in Fargo too. You need to find them though, sometimes they will come closer to shore in really shallow water, other times in the deepest part, or on a ridge. I have the best luck in bellies or bend in the river. Chicken liver is really good too, but hard to keep on, so if you use it, bring a bunch. Another good bait is full grown suckers cut into chunks.”

“In the recent weeks we have seen exceptional catfishing on most of the Red River system. One of the best seasons I have seen in a while in fact. Lots of big cats plus numbers of eater sized cats on most every outing. Some of the best baits have been fresh cut Goldeye and frogs. Frogs will increasingly be the hot bait as the calendar creeps into fall, for catfish and walleye alike. Crankbaits run along shallow structure in the evening has produced some very nice walleye in recent days. Soon we will see more of a nocturnal bite if traditional fall patterns hold true. Over-sized plastics have also proved to be valuable in the fall, sumo sized tube baits are ones I like.” — Backwater Eddy

You can also find more information through the ND Game & Fish.

Location: Fifteen miles south of Glen Ullin North Dakota

Species: crappie, walleye, catfish, perch, white bass, pike, bluegill, large and smallmouth bass

REPORT:

Image by the USGS

Lake Tschida (Heart Butte Reservoir) is located in southwestern North Dakota approximately 15 miles south of Glen Ullin. The lake was created in 1949 when Heart Butte Dam on the Heart River was completed. The dam and reservoir are managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for downstream flood control and irrigation. Recreation areas around the lake offer fishing, boating, camping, and swimming.

 

FISHING OPPORTUNITIES:

There are 10 boat ramps on the lake and 7 campgrounds, which offer a lot of opportunities. The most popular fishing methods are crankbaits, jigs, and spinners. Look shallow early and late in the year, as more fishing is done on the west end. As the water temperatures rise, you’ll find more fish closer to the channel in deep water, which is found on the east side towards the dam. Historically, it has been known for smaller fish but those who fish it year-round will tell a different story.

If you’re interested in more information, check out our Lake Tschida Fishing Reports.

RECENT LAKE NEWS – A fishing pier designed for wheel chair accessibility has been installed at the Heart Butte Scout Reservation along the south shoreline of Lake Tschida. The pier is supported by a cement parking pad and walkway that allows wheelchair access.

LAKE ACCESS INFORMATION

• The reservoir has a surface area of 6,576 acres.
• Six primitive campgrounds with wells and vault toilets are available.
• Open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
• Bait, food, camping supplies, and gas concessions open Memorial day through Labor Day.Use of boats, canoes, etc on the refuge between Oct 1 and April 30

 

More information about services available.

Monitor Water Levels for Lake Tschida

MAP:

West Side

East Side

Click the map to access a map from the ND Game & Fish Dept.

Stocking Report (ND Game & Fish Dept.)

Species Type Number Year Northern Pike Fingerling 245,258 2004 Northern Pike Fingerling 300,000 2003 Northern Pike Fingerling 314,560 2002 Northern Pike Fingerling 300,000 2001 Northern Pike Fingerling 199,980 2000 Northern Pike Fingerling 300,532 1999 Walleye Fingerling 204,500 2004 Walleye Fingerling 200,000 2003 Walleye Fingerling 200,000 2002 Walleye Fingerling 199,992 2001 Walleye Fingerling 380,220 1999 Tiger Musky Fingerling 3,531 2004 Tiger Musky Fingerling 2,500 2003 Tiger Musky Fingerling 3,000 2002 Tiger Musky Fingerling 7,933 2001 Tiger Musky Fingerling 2,460 2000 Tiger Musky Fingerling 2,600 1999 Gizzard Shad Adult 149 2004

Conditions at Beaver Bay

Seldom does a week pass without news, political or biological, relating to declining water levels in North Dakota’s huge Missouri River reservoirs. I wonder if people have heard the message so much they are starting to become numb to it.

And yet, the message is important. Lake Oahe is at its lowest level since it first reached full pool in the late 1960s. At full pool, Oahe stretches from Oahe Dam north of Pierre, S.D. more than 200 miles north, almost to Bismarck. At its current level the “lake” part of Oahe no longer exists in North Dakota. What remains is the Missouri River, back in its old channel.

As recently as 1997 I boated and fished what is known as Beaver Bay about 20 miles north of the South Dakota border. While beaver were scarce, the bay was a popular fishing and recreation area. Today, the only water is in the bay’s namesake, Beaver Creek – Beaver Flats would be a more accurate description.

This happened once before, in the early 1990s, though Oahe’s water level did not go quite as low as it is now.

What used to be the Hazen Boat Ramp.

I’ve cast crankbaits on the Van Hook Arm of Lake Sakakawea, a couple of hundred miles to the north and west of Beaver Bay, near New Town. If you haven’t visited lately a simple WOW doesn’t do justice. I lived a 20-minute drive north of Van Hook in Stanley in the mid-1990s. Fish were plentiful and water was not an issue.

Water is an issue today, but perhaps all the attention hasn’t quite hit home with most people yet because fish are still plentiful in Sakakawea, and as of last fall, you could still get a boat on the lake. But just like the fate of the Titanic, what appears normal on the surface may not be so normal below.

Lake Sakakawea is by far North Dakota’s number one recreational fishery, followed by Oahe when it has water, and then Devils Lake. But Lake Sakakawea’s world-class fishery is in jeopardy. No, the walleyes and salmon and pike aren’t all going to die, but because of low water their world is starting to tip out of balance.

Low water levels threaten the deep, coldwater habitat that allows rainbow smelt to survive in the reservoir and provide forage for gamefish. If the smelt population crashes, which it did more than a decade ago when similar water levels prevailed, walleyes will suffer. They won’t grow as fast and the lake won’t be able to support as many.

Access is also a concern. Once you get more than about 20 miles south of Bismarck, what used to be Lake Oahe doesn’t have one public boat ramp in a stretch of some 60 miles that will get you to the water.

At Sakakawea, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other local government agencies and fishing clubs have worked hard to develop alternative access points where old ramps were left high and dry.

Wolf Creek Boat Ramp

Unless something unforeseen happens, Sakakawea will recede to a new record low level this spring. When the ice goes out, people will renew efforts to maintain access and if anglers are able to get on the lake, fishing will probably be good … for awhile.

But then what? We can only hope for a turnaround in weather patterns so snowpack in the Rocky Mountains starts adding water to the Missouri River in North Dakota. Recovery can come quickly, as we saw 10 years ago, or it could be slow.

Either way, as discharge information and snow pack and runoff potential are released throughout the winter, learn as much as you can about these important factors. The future of some of North Dakota’s most important recreational resources is at stake.

Minnewaukan boat ramp at a high level

Like night and day. Comparing apples to oranges. Pick your cliché that refers to contrasting situations, and apply it to North Dakota’s two largest bodies of water, Lake Sakakawea and Devils Lake.

Sakakawea, a reservoir on the Missouri River, is at its lowest water level since it first filled nearly 40 years ago. If current projections hold true, it will creep even lower at the summer progresses.

The water level at Devils Lake, the state’s largest natural water body, is holding at a high peak not seen any time in the last 150 years. It could inch even higher if spring rains are abundant.

Despite their differences in water level direction, these two lakes also have several things in common. They are the top two fishing destinations in the state. Fishing success the last few years has been good to excellent. Maintaining boating access is a challenge at both.

To fully appreciate the current situation, a quick look back to the early 1990s is in order. In the fall of 1992, the water level at Devils Lake stood at about 1,423 feet above mean sea level. Fisheries biologists were concerned about the potential for a major winterkill. There was talk of a need for a man-made channel that would provide Missouri River water to Devils Lake to preserve the fishery.

At the same time, Sakakawea was also at a low level, something around 1,817 feet msl. Biologists documented that low water, resulting in reduced coldwater habitat, was the reason for a major rainbow smelt die-off, a significant event since smelt are the primary forage for the major game fish species in the lake.

Abundant rains came in the summer of 1993, followed by several more years of above-average precipitation, and capped by record snowfall in 1997. Lake Sakakawea nearly established a record high water level in 1997 at 1,854 feet msl, 37 feet above the October 1992 mark.

Since then, the precipitation pattern in the mountains, from where Sakakawea receives most of its water, has changed. Today, Sakakawea’s water level is down more than 40 feet since the last high mark in summer 1997, the result of several years of dry conditions.

It hasn’t been quite as dry around Devils Lake. The water level at this lake went up more than 20 feet through the mid-1990s. Since then, instead of leveling off and starting to recede, Devils Lake has generally continued to slowly grow, reaching a modern-day record of around 1,449 feet msl last summer. Winterkill is no longer a threat to the fishery.

In fact, as devastating as the rising water has been for people, the Devils Lake fishery has flourished. It could be argued that the last decade has produced some of the best fishing ever. The expanding acreage has created more habitat for fish, and has allowed for greater natural reproduction of pike, walleye and perch, which didn’t always occur when water levels were much lower.

Getting boats on the lake, however, has been a challenge as rising water has covered up some ramps. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and many private and public partners have invested a lot of time and money over the last several years maintain boating access at Devils Lake.

What used to be the Hazen boat ramp on Lake Sakakawea

The same goes for Lake Sakakawea, but for the opposite reason. Receding water is leaving many ramps high and dry.

At ice out this year, which should occur soon if it hasn’t already, Sakakawea may have only one usable boat ramp on a lake that’s more than 150 miles long. Game and Fish and other government agencies have planned another major investment to try to get up to 20 ramps usable by Memorial Day weekend.

The long-range forecast, based on current precipitation, is for Sakakawea to continue to recede into next fall. Smelt will again teeter on the brink of disaster this summer. Fewer smelt mean slower walleye and salmon growth, resulting in poorer survival.

For the immediate future, less water might mean better angling as fish will be more concentrated. And fish will be hungry if the smelt population goes down. In the long term, however, there is little reason for optimism if the water doesn’t start coming back up.

North Dakota’s two leading fisheries have more in common than most people realize, but their contrasts are stark, given they are separated by less than a tank of gas. What will the future hold? Stay tuned.

Fort Stevenson during normal water levels and now (below).

I’m a huge fan of comebacks. I love to root for the down-and-out in a struggle to overcome challenges or adversity.

In the wildlife world, that might apply to the Giant Canada goose, at one time considered extinct, but now more numerous than ever, or the bald eagle, once an endangered species but taken off that list a few years ago.

I don’t know if you can apply down-and-out status to a river system, but if you could, right now I’m pulling for the Missouri River System in North Dakota, particularly the water levels at Lake Sakakawea and Lake Oahe.

As recently as mid-May, predictions were that Sakakawea’s level would peak at around 1,806 feet mean sea level in early summer, and then start falling. That’s about 40 feet lower, plus or minus a few feet, than what would be considered a normal operating level.

Then it started raining, not only in western North Dakota, but also in the Missouri and Yellowstone river drainages in Montana. The rain and its subsequent runoff aren’t going to fill the reservoirs, but the water level is higher than predicted, and every little bit helps. Instead of already starting its decline toward 1,800 feet msl, Sakakawea is climbing, perhaps reaching closer 1,817 msl before it starts its typical late-summer decline.

While pictures and stories continue to document the political and biological aspects of low water levels on the Missouri River System, not just in North Dakota, but in Montana and South Dakota as well, it’s hard to truly understand the situation without first hand observations.

If we’ve learned anything over the life of Garrison and Oahe dams, which hold back Missouri River water and form lakes Sakakawea and Oahe, it’s that the difference between full pool and drought and can at times be only a few years apart.

A decade ago I was living near Stanley, in northwestern North Dakota’s Mountrail County and a can of pop north of Sakakawea’s Van Hook Arm. At the time, the lake was at near normal pool levels as described by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency responsible for managing the reservoirs water levels. We’d launch the boat and motor past Gull Island, which at the time was literally miles from the boat ramp.

Currently, the boat ramp itself is on Gull Island, at the end of a bumpy, dusty path that dispenses billows of dust when a vehicle passes, instead of water in the wake of a boat.

Boats that used to fill the bay

Lake Sakakawea had low water in the late 1980s and early 1990s, not quite as low as currently exists, but low enough so fisheries managers were worried about forage and boat ramps. The lake came back up some 30 -40 feet in the mid-late 1990s, but has since been going down due to lower than normal precipitation in the entire Missouri Basin, and corps management policies that send more water downstream than is coming in.

As recently as a couple years ago the Fort Stevenson State Park marina near Garrison was still able to funnel anglers and boaters into the waters of Sakakawea. Now, even with the water several feet higher than expected, an arsenal of dry docked cruisers and house boats will continue to find dust at Fort Stevenson where algae stains once resided.

Beyond the access issue, the recent influx of water may indeed help Lake Sakakawea’s fishery. Greg Power, fisheries biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, explains. “As the actual level of the lake continues to increase, it does make providing access a little easier.  Perhaps more important, the unexpected ten foot rise we’ve noted, has the potential to improve biological conditions substantially.  The upcoming hot weather in July and August will diminish the cold water habitat, which is the life blood for smelt, the main forage of walleye. We are moving in the right direction, but a gain of 20-30 feet would really help.”

While the unexpected June rise bodes well, it’s too early in the comeback to predict a total success is eminent. But similar to the aforementioned Canada goose and bald eagle, the politically correct term of “cautiously optimistic” is being tossed around the banks of Van Hook and rest of the Missouri River System.

And that’s welcome.