Fall Fishing Bonanza

By Doug Leier
It comes as no surprise that when August begins losing to September, for many North Dakota residents hunting starts to win out over fishing in the competition for free-time activities.
But I’d also suggest, if you’ve bagged plenty of days pounding the North Dakota prairie, without experiencing the thrill of fall fishing, you might [...]

Slot Limits

By Doug Leier
I’ve got one lunker fish to my credit and I won’t lie, it was more about luck than skill, and that’s how it usually works for me.
Save for the hardcore anglers who spend more time fishing than sleeping, the majority of us are not on the water fishing three hours a day for [...]

Walleyes on Soft Plastics

Walleyes Come as No Fluke
By Brian “Bro” Brosdahl with Mark Courts
Admittedly, I’m a meat and potatoes sort of guy. I’m eyeing the porterhouse steak on the menu long before the canary food, organic “meals under 500 calories”. In fact, I’ll take the whole right side of the menu, please. This instinctive weakness for hearty meat [...]

Raising Nightcrawlers off the Bottom

‘Nightcrawler Secrets’ Revisited
By Ted Pilgrim with Tom Neustrom
“Never before have I asked you, or anyone, to keep an angling secret. I’m going to break this rule now and ask you point-blank NOT to pass on this information. It is much too deadly, it took many years to accumulate, and it’s worth too much to just [...]

Learning Crawler Rigs and Roach Rigs on Walleyes

Please Pass the Meat…the Fresh Stuff
Walleye fishing icons Gary Roach and Doc Samson won’t be giving up live bait anytime soon
By Ted Pilgrim
Livebait is back, baby. You better believe it. Despite the buzz about plastics, the reality is, walleyes eat live bait. Period. In the end, all artificial lures lack two potent, inimitable ingredients: [...]

Man Made Walleye Heaven

By Chris Hustad

 
 I caught up with an old high school friend from Fargo earlier this spring. Evidentially he found his way to the Nodak Outdoors forum during the spring snow goose season and we stayed in touch. We spent some time catching up on a couple short fishing trips across the region and he had [...]

Backwards Walleye Movements

By Jason Mitchell
For years, anglers have had this preconceived notion pounded into their heads. This notion is that walleye will lounge or rest in deeper water and feed in shallow water. Many anglers imagine fish resting in deeper water relating to the break, moving up the break and feeding in the shallow water. This movement [...]

Fish Tags

By Doug Leier
Most hunters are aware of bird bands. Those most familiar are the metallic leg bands on ducks and geese.
The band will typically include instructions for reporting identifying numbers or letters related to the organization doing the research. Hunters have always embraced and understood their roll in these scientific studies, and banded birds are [...]

Walleye Trolling Boards & Trolling Deep for Walleyes

By Chris Hustad
This is a second part of a 2-part series on a beginners guide to trolling for walleyes.
Also see the 1st part of the series – Trolling for Walleyes
I  am a big fan of planer boards for walleyes, but it wasn’t always this way. My first time using planer boards was on Lake Superior [...]

A Reason for Walleye Restrictions

By Doug Leier
Over the years, North Dakota Game and Fish has developed a body of fishing regulations based on sound fisheries biology and management practices. A general rule of thumb is that if a regulation isn’t going to help the resource, then don’t put it in place, and conversely, if a regulation is no longer [...]

Follow the Leader

By Jason Mitchell
The idea that walleye may indeed follow a lure for a significant distance before striking surprises many anglers. Many anglers have this mental picture that fish just lash out and strike a lure as the lure appears, like an ambush. While there is no doubt that plenty of ambushing is going on under [...]

Spring Open Water Fishing is Here

By Jason Mitchell
Spring fishing is always good for people. The signs of spring put people in better state of mind. For many lake anglers in the upper Midwest, this month is the time to get the boat out. The first time to use a long rod in over six months. We wait for spring all [...]

Fishing Opener

By Doug Leier
I  might miss the North Dakota fishing opener this year, but I will have my own first day of open water fishing. It may come earlier than last year or a few days later, depending on how spring arrives, but it will be here soon and I can’t wait.
If you’re a bit confused, [...]

Devils Lake Walleyes

By PJ Maguire

 
Minnesota is the land in which nothing is legal. Every year it seems as though they tighten restrictions on outdoor activities. Especially when it comes to the most popular fish in the land of 10,000 lakes, the walleye. It should come as no surprise that people look to North Dakota, for the simple [...]

Fishing in May

Our Outdoors
Nick Simonson
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” This line, an eye-to-eye plea by Matthew Broderick as the title character in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, sums up our very existence.
For anglers, month of May moves even faster. Between graduations, [...]

The Reason for Year Around Fishing

By Doug Leier
Every year about this time, a few anglers question North Dakota’s year-round fishing season. It’s not so much an opposition as it is a curiosity, because many North Dakotans are aware that Minnesota closes its season for game fish from late February to mid-May.
South Dakota’s regulations are much like North Dakota’s. Most waters [...]

Walleye Fever – Trophy Walleye Fishing

Our Outdoors
Nick Simonson

 
Call it the result of a lucky catch, call it an unwanted side effect of Minnesota fishing opener (I guess now I see why ND really got rid of opening dates for fishing) but I’ve been stricken with walleye fever.
Chance Encounter
The symptoms started last Tuesday when fishing with a couple of buddies on [...]

Devils Lake Walleye Fishing

By PJ Maguire
It’s canny how some of my most memorable outdoor experiences have been last minute operations.
Once again, a last minute trip was planned for Devil’s Lake while I was at work. When I got done at 9 pm, I packed up my fishing gear and forgot about everything else going on in my life. [...]

Walleye Fishing Rods, Reels and Line

By Eric Hustad
The story goes like this: I was fishing with my dad last spring for walleyes. I was talking up the new rods I had picked up for feeling those light walleye bites while dad was using his “old faithful.” I kept giving him a hard time because “old faithful” doesn’t have as much [...]

Walleye and Crappie Fishing Rods, Reels, and Line Reviews

By Eric Hustad
This spring I put some new walleye gear to the test and I promised opinions on where a person should throw some hard earned money. I put G. Loomis’s IMX rod up against St.Croix’s Legend Elite, and I have to say that I was really impressed with the St. Croix rod. It has [...]

Missouri River Fishing

By Jed Fluhrer
The stretch of the Missouri River in North Dakota from the tailrace to the North Dakota South Dakota State line offers anglers a variety of challenges. This portion of the river is know for its exceptional walleye fishing but also offers anglers the chance at northern pike, rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout, [...]

Freshen Up Your Skills

Our Outdoors
Nick Simonson

 

 
The season for big fish has come! The snow is rapidly melting, the ice is weakening, and the fish are preparing for the spawn. It is a picture perfect time for spring angling. If you plan to take some photos of your angling success this openwater season, here are some tips for ensuring [...]

Big Water Walleyes

By Dave Genz

 

 
He’s been everywhere, man…he’s been everywhere. Travel? He’s done his share, man, Dave’s been everywhere…Erie, Ontario, Michigan, Huron, Bay of Quinte, Bass Islands, Saginaw Bay, Bays de Noc, Green Bay…yeah, he’s been everywhere, man, he’s been everywhere…
It’s not one of those things they keep statistics on, so we really don’t know whether anybody [...]

Competition and the Outdoors

By Doug Leier
One look at my 2-year-old son and year-old daughter grappling for a toy is proof positive that competition is instinctive among humans. Many times I’ve sat idly by, observing the escalation in use of force between my children. I intervene when the imaginary line between healthy competition and unwarranted actions is crossed.
As life [...]