Year-Round Fishing Doesn’t Curb Enthusiasm
By Brad Dokken, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.
May 3–North Dakota hasn’t had a walleye opener since the state established a year-round fishing season in 1993, but that doesn’t mean anglers miss out on the excitement an opening day can provide.
“Absolutely not,” said Greg Power, fisheries chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck. “The state gains. We gain opportunity for a lot of other species, especially pike, which traditionally was shut down. (Year-round fishing) has provided tons of recreational opportunity in all these pike lakes, and people take advantage of ice-out pike.”
With less fishing pressure and most lakes reliant on stocking to support walleye populations, North Dakota takes a different approach than Minnesota, Power said.
“We totally respect that it’s a whole different world in Minnesota,” Power said. “So many of our lakes are depending on stocking anyway, so taking out (prespawn fish) isn’t nearly the concern it is in Minnesota.”
According to Power, North Dakota has about 250 walleye lakes. But the top three fisheries, without a doubt, are Devils Lake, Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri River. In recent years, anglers have taken anywhere from 150,000 to 500,000 walleyes annually from each of those fisheries, Power said.
Devils Lake again this year will provide anglers with plenty of action for eater-size walleyes and the occasional whopper, as Travis Mettler of Cavalier, N.D., found out for himself only this past Monday, when he pulled a 13-pound, 3-ounce monster from Channel A, which flows into Six-Mile Bay.
Meanwhile, Power said, low water levels and lack of smelt forage continue to plague Lake Sakakawea, although anglers can expect plenty of action for hungry keeper walleyes. The Missouri River near Bismarck seems to be faring better overall, Power said, in part because of rebounding smelt numbers in Lake Oahe.
“There’s just a lot of warm-water fish forage in the river — the shad in the summer and fall, and the river is producing lots of shiners,” Power said. “There are just a lot more groceries out there on the river than there have been historically.”
The river near Bismarck currently is low, Power said, but he expects it to rise to levels on par with the past few years.
Other top fisheries
Other top walleye fisheries, he said, are Lake Audubon and the Jamestown Reservoir. The so-called Garrison Diversion Unit canal lakes (West Park, East Park, Heckers and New Johns) also provide good walleye fishing, as does Lake Darling near Minot “when we’ve got water,” Power said.
Drought and low water levels are a problem this year on Darling, to the point where it’s difficult to even launch a boat.
Power said the state also has a number of new fisheries that have made the transition from perch and pike to — thanks to stocking — walleyes. Stump Lake in Nelson County is a classic case, he said, and Antelope Lake (Pierce County), Dry Lake (McIntosh County), Alkaline Lake (Kidder County), Twin Lakes near Lamoure, N.D., and Goose Lake near Harvey, N.D., also have provided decent walleye fishing in recent years.
“You put all of those new lakes together, surface acreage-wise, and that’s 30,000 to 40,000 acres of new” walleye opportunity, Power said.
As in Minnesota, the walleye ranks No. 1 among anglers in North Dakota, even though the northern pike is the state fish, Power said.
The eating quality, the tell-tale head shakes, the sensation of a walleye slamming a jig … all are factors in that popularity, Power said.
Next state record?
Any general discussion of walleyes in North Dakota wouldn’t be complete without a little bit of speculation on where the next state record will emerge. The current state record, a 15-pound, 12-ounce walleye caught by Blair Chapman of Minnewaukan, N.D., has stood since Jan. 1, 1959, nearly 50 years.
Devils Lake and the Missouri River both have put out 13-pound-plus walleyes in recent weeks, but Power says if he were to predict the source of the next record, neither of those fisheries would be his choice.
“I’m going to stick with what I keep saying,” Power said. “If you look at Bowman-Haley Reservoir (near Bowman in southwestern North Dakota) and Lake Tschida (Heart Butte Reservoir near Glen Ullin, N.D.), when they’re good, those lakes kick out 10- to 14-pound walleyes, and there’s not a lot of pressure.”
Don’t count out the good, old Red River, either, Power said.
“Historically, in Grand Forks, right at the confluence of the Red Lake, the Red has put out some big walleyes,” Power said.
Best of all, you don’t have to wait until May 10, the opening date for this year’s Minnesota fishing opener, to begin your North Dakota walleye quest.
Dokken reports on outdoors. Reach him at (701) 780-1148; (800) 477-6572, ext. 148; or send e-mail to bdokken@gfherald.com.
—–
To see more of the Grand Forks Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.grandforks.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NYSE:ALE,