Dakota Recreation Report

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Tournaments

- Saturday: Missouri River, Lewis & Clark Bridge, Williston.

Fishing

- Lake Sakakawea elevation, Wednesday: 1,841.3 feet above mean sea level with Garrison Dam average daily releases of 12,500 cubic feet per second.

- Bowman, Bowman-Haley Dam Marina, Bowman-Haley Dam: No activity.

- Bismarck, Dakota Tackle, Missouri River/area lakes: Prior to the weather changes, the Missouri River tailrace was producing walleye.

- Dickinson, Andrus Outdoors, Lake Sakakawea/area lakes: No activity.

- Dickinson, Runnings Farm & Fleet, Lake Sakakawea/area lakes: Little to no activity.

- Garrison, Indian Hills Resort, Lake Sakakawea: Resort closed for the season.

- Glen Ullin, Fitterer’s Inc., Lake Tschida: An occasional angler but no reports.

- Pick City, Scott’s Bait and Tackle, Lake Sakakawea/Missouri River: Lake Sakakawea quiet though occasional salmon being taken. Not many anglers, though the Missouri River continues producing walleye from boats. Try three-way swivels or jigging. Some activity from the rocks at night. Not much for trout or salmon in the chutes.

Hunting

- North Dakota Game and Fish Department District Game Wardens: Southwestern pheasant hunting fair with a variety of success even within small areas. Many young birds are still not fully colored. Success would be fair to good at this stage of the season. Pheasant numbers seem lower than in recent years but still a good amount of activity for the opener, despite weather conditions. Slow to fair pheasant success in west-central and central North Dakota, in part weather-related as well as fewer bird numbers. Small, shallow wetlands icing over so look for waterfowl movement with some birds moving out and others moving in. Varied waterfowl success. Some whooping cranes moving through so be extremely cautious with identification. Lots of waterfowl movement, including snow geese and cranes, in northern McLean County, north and northwestern North Dakota with lots of hunting pressure.

- Southwestern: Lots of pheasant hunting activity with generally good success and good bird numbers. Some bow hunters are still out with fair to good success. West-river hunters found fair but mixed pheasant success opening weekend. Row crops are still standing so there’s lots of cover. Pheasant numbers seem down in the far southwest. Antelope hunters generally had good success.

- West-central: Fair to good waterfowl success. Pheasant hunters finding fair but mixed and spotty success. Be careful with so many numbers of young, uncolored pheasants.

Numbers to know

- NDGF main Bismarck office: 701-328-6300; Web site http://gf.nd.gov.

- NDGF Dickinson office: 701-227-7431.

- Report poachers: 800-472-2121.

- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bismarck, Web site: www.fws.gov/northdakotafieldoffice.

Tags: northland, outdoors, fishing, hunting, dakota, report, sakakawea, missouri, garrison, indian, hills, glen, ulling, bowmn, haley, dam