ND Fishin is record-setting

[Lee Borgersen]

               Overall ice fishing outlook appears solid

Dec 3, 2014

  West Fargo - November for many outdoorsmen and women is a gradual transition from October’s ducks and geese into deer and late-season pheasant hunting.

But this year, the second week of November came with near-record cold and early ice that signaled dread for those who lament long Midwest winters, but probably warmed the hearts of many ice anglers who often are waiting until mid-December to get going on most waters.

And this year, there’s probably more reason that winter anglers are champing at the bit to get out on the ice. Spring, summer and fall fishing on many waters throughout the state continued to impress, and there’s every reason to believe good fishing will continue into the winter.

“Fishing in North Dakota continues to be record-setting on most all levels,” said Greg Power, North Dakota Game and Fish Department fisheries chief. “A record number of fishing lakes has contributed considerably to the record number of fishing licenses sold in recent years.”

And if this fall’s fish reproduction surveys are any indication, the long-term outlook is good as well. Game and Fish fisheries personnel have wrapped up those annual surveys and sampling efforts for the open water season, and results point toward good conditions on the state’s big waters.

North Dakota’s three big fisheries – Lake Sakakawea, Lake Oahe/Missouri River and Devils Lake – continue to account for approximately half of the annual statewide fishing effort.

Good habitat and forage conditions in Lake Sakakawea have produced an abundance of rainbow smelt and other alternative forage, which in turn has contributed to excellent condition and growth of game fish. Walleye numbers are high, and recruitment of several strong year-classes in recent years bodes well for the future. In addition, a good population of northern pike should produce some of trophy quality.

Overall health of the Devils Lake fishery remains good. Walleye are abundant, and anglers fishing for walleye this winter should expect fish of similar size and numbers compared to recent years. Northern pike are still plentiful with a nice average weight of about four pounds.

The number of catchable-sized perch available will likely be down from 2013, but still should be considered good. Surveys suggest anglers will notice fewer of the large 12-14 inch perch this winter.

The Missouri River between Garrison Dam and Lake Oahe is still under the influence of habitat changes caused by the flood in 2011. Walleye numbers remain low, and walleye reproduction and forage fish production have been poor in recent years. However, the outlook has greatly improved in Lake Oahe, especially near the South Dakota border where recovering forage populations have led to improvements in walleye condition and growth. In addition, northern pike are in good shape, with many of trophy size.

While these waters consistently generate the majority of fishing activity, most anglers have realized the small lakes, sloughs and reservoirs have exploded the past 20 years and almost seem to get better every year. Fact is you’d be hard pressed to convince even the most pessimistic North Dakota angler that fishing over the last five years has ever been better.

If you don’t believe me, check out the Game and Fish Department website fishing pages. You’ll have access to recent stocking reports, along with access information and available amenities as well.

It’s impossible to say where the hot spots or best bets are from day to day, but it looks like this year we’ll have an extra month or so to find those areas.

So make sure the ice is safe, and go fish.

Leier, a biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in West Fargo, can be reached at dleier@nd.gov

[dew2]

Heres a northlandoutdoors report.Bit more informative. True or not I just read em! This was in the local newspaper last Sat.outdoors section
 Called the big three LOTW, UpperRed and Devils ND.

   The Big Three
Devils Lake, Lake of the Woods and Upper Red Lake — the three biggest American lakes in the region — all are on track to provide good fishing again this winter.
By: Brad Dokken, Forum News Service

John Adams of Big John's Guide Service jigs for perch from the cab of his truck in December 2013 on Devils Lake. Perch fishing last winter on the big lake was among the best ever, and while perch numbers are down from last year's peak, anglers can still expect good fishing for perch, along with walleyes and northern pike.

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. -- Ask most ice fishing enthusiasts to pick their favorite place to wet a line — at least on the U.S. side of the border — and chances are they’ll say Devils Lake, Lake of the Woods or Upper Red Lake.

The lakes, all within a three-hour drive of Grand Forks, could be referred to as “The Big Three.”

The popularity of the three lakes is no coincidence. Besides their relative proximity, all offer some of the best fishing in North America, whether it’s for jumbo perch, walleyes and pike on Devils Lake; walleyes, saugers, pike and perch on Lake of the Woods; or walleyes and pike on Upper Red Lake.

Winter’s early arrival has anglers who’ve barely put away their boats scrambling to get their gear together for another ice fishing season. People already are walking and taking ATVs out on Upper Red Lake, where the walleyes are biting, and barring a drastic warm-up — which appears unlikely — it won’t be long before ice fishing is in full swing on Devils Lake and Lake of the Woods, as well.

Here’s a look at ice fishing prospects on The Big Three this winter.

Devils Lake

Perch fishing last winter on Devils Lake set the bar pretty high, and repeating that kind of success is going to be difficult if results from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual adult population survey are any indication.

Game and Fish has conducted the summer survey since 1992, setting nets at 39 sites across the lake and comparing catch rates from year to year.

According to Todd Caspers, fisheries biologist for Game and Fish in Devils Lake, the number of true jumbos, the 12- to 15-inch perch that resemble footballs with fins, are down from last year’s record levels.

Based on this past summer’s survey results, the number of 10- to 12-inch perch dropped from 3.3 per net last year to 1.5 this year, Caspers said, slightly lower than the average of 2.5.

The number of 12- to 15-inch perch fell from a record of 2.5 in 2013 to 0.8 this past summer, he said, which remains above the average of 0.7.

Those bigger perch from banner hatches in 2006 and 2007 were nearing the end of their life spans anyway, Caspers said, so the drop wasn’t a surprise. A strong hatch in 2013 bodes well for the future, but those perch won’t reach catchable size for a few years yet.

Meanwhile, the abundance of 8- to 10-inch perch essentially is unchanged from last year, he said.

“Perch are probably not going to be as good as last year unless they bite exceptionally well for some reason,” Caspers said. “The catchable perch numbers fell by roughly a third or so.

“Last winter was pretty good fishing, and we had decent access conditions for most of the winter, so that helped a lot, too,” he said. “It was fairly easy for people to prospect around and search for schools of perch; whereas, if we would have had a whole bunch of snow, it would have been pretty difficult.”

Another factor was an apparent decline in the abundance of scuds, or freshwater shrimp, which meant perch were more apt to go for anglers’ offerings.

“They were generally in a better mood to bite last year, probably because the forage was a little down,” Caspers said.

Pike and walleye numbers should be similar to recent years, Caspers said.

If that’s the case, anglers should expect good fishing.

According to Caspers, the summer netting survey yielded about 25 walleyes per net, which is on par with recent years. Eater walleyes in the 14- to 15-inch range are the most common, he said, but the lake also holds “decent numbers” of walleyes up to 18 inches along with the occasional 10-plus-pound trophy.

Devils Lake is a veritable pike factory for anglers who target them.

“It seems like there’s always a few of those 40-plus-inch fish turning up, but we don’t necessarily see them all that much in our netting survey,” Caspers said. “There’s plenty of pike if people want to keep some of them.”

Lake of the Woods

With an infrastructure of resorts, plowed ice roads, rental fish houses and track van transportation, Lake of the Woods is one of the premier ice fishing destinations in North America.

Anglers now log nearly 2 million hours on the ice every winter, creel surveys from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources show.

Mother Nature holds the key to fishing success, but if the fish don’t cooperate, it’s not because they’re not down there, officials say.

“The walleye population is in really good shape right now,” said Phil Talmage, area fisheries supervisor for the DNR in Baudette, Minn.

According to Talmage, results from fall population surveys on Minnesota’s 330,000-acre portion of the lake showed the highest walleye catches in the test nets in the past 10 years. That’s largely driven by smaller fish from strong hatches such as 2011, but the big lake also is a consistent producer of “slot fish” — walleyes in the 19½- to 28-inch protected range that must be released.

“They should be seeing a lot of fish in that 12- to 14-inch range” from the 2011 hatch, Talmage said. “There’ll be a bunch of minnow stealers out there because the 2013 year-class is pretty good-sized, too.”

Those fish won’t be keepers for another couple of years, he said.

Saugers, which generally inhabit deeper water and tend to bite all day, are a staple of Lake of the Woods’ winter fishery and should provide plenty of opportunities this winter, Talmage said.

Larger saugers from three strong year-classes in 2005, 2006 and 2007 are becoming less abundant, Talmage said, but another strong hatch of fish from 2011 will help pick up the slack.

“That’s where the abundance of our fish is at right now, that 10- to 12-inch range for sauger, which is in the range that people keep them,” Talmage said. “So, it should be a good population of both walleyes and saugers for anglers to target.”

The older saugers anglers encounter will be 14- to 16-inch fish, which are nice saugers by Lake of the Woods standards.

“We’re real happy with what we saw this year, both with the walleye and sauger,” Talmage said.

Winter fishing pressure has been on a steady rise since 2000. Before that, Talmage said, winter creel surveys had never tallied more than 1 million hours of ice time. That number now exceeds 1 million hours every winter, he said, and fell just shy of 2 million hours during the most recent winter survey in 2012-13.

Ice is beginning to form across the big lake, Talmage said, and wind and weather during the next couple of weeks will play a big role in ice and winter fishing conditions.

Too much wind can create rough ice and stir up the water, resulting in slow fishing until conditions improve.

“The reality of it is, you can never say how well anglers are going to do in the winter,” Talmage said. “You can say what’s there, but so many factors play into angler success, and in winter, it’s really strongly driven by the environment.”

Upper Red Lake

With a maximum depth of 15 feet, Minnesota’s 48,000-acre share of Upper Red Lake is always among the first big lakes in the region to freeze, and this year is no exception.

Anglers already have been walking onto the lake for several days, finding anywhere from 6 inches to 9 inches of ice depending on where they’re fishing; ATV traffic is being allowed in places.

For now, at least, stick to the marked trails.

All signs point to a winter fishing season that picks up right where the gangbusters open-water season left off. Walleyes last spring and summer cooperated on Red Lake in a big way.

Upper Red Lake and Lower Red Lake, which are connected, cover about 285,000 acres, and all but 48,000 acres of Upper Red lie within the boundaries of the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

“I think it’s going to be an excellent winter,” said Henry Drewes, regional fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Bemidji. “The walleye population is strong, they bit throughout later summer and into the fall, and they’re going to be active.”

The recent trend of excellent fishing on Upper Red has prompted the DNR to tighten walleye limits in an effort to ratchet down the harvest. Beginning Dec. 1, the walleye limit on Upper Red will be reduced to three, and anglers must release all walleyes from 17 inches to 26 inches, with one fish larger than 26 inches allowed in the three-fish limit.

Anglers currently can keep four walleyes, with a 20- to 26-inch protected slot and one fish longer than 26 inches allowed in the limit.

According to Drewes, this is the first time since Red Lake’s walleye population recovered and fishing reopened in 2006 that fisheries managers have dialed back the harvest.

As part of an agreement with the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the DNR’s “target harvest” in Minnesota’s portion of Upper Red is 168,000 pounds annually.

Drewes said the harvest in state waters flirted with the 168,000-pound target in 2012 and 2013, and the harvest in the 12-month period ending Nov. 30 is projected to hit about 230,000 pounds — 120,000 pounds last winter and 110,000 pounds this past spring and summer.

The target is based on a three-year average, Drewes said.

“We control 17 percent of the Red lakes, and the band controls 83 percent, so it’s important we stay within our targets,” he said. “So, we need to bring that harvest back down.”

The tribe has an annual target of 829,500 pounds. Pat Brown, biologist for the Red Lake Band and Chippewa, said the band is on track to harvest in the range of 710,000 pounds to 740,000 pounds of walleyes in tribal waters this year.

While the DNR is moving to reduce harvest, Drewes said the walleye population shows no signs of stress, and fish from 12 inches to 20 inches are common.

“There’s fish in every inch category, so the population looks good,” he said.

Winter fishing pressure on Upper Red in recent years has been dominated by wheeled houses, Drewes said, and anglers last winter alone logged 1 million hours on the ice, which was a first on the big lake.

Creel surveys show the average wheel-house trip on Upper Red is 2½ days, Drewes said.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the peak in terms of the wheeled house craze,” he said. “They are definitely driving the pressure.”

- See more at: http://www.northlandoutdoors.com/event/article/id/234074/#sthash.QRHaGl0J.dpuf