Dakota Recreation Report

Outdoor notes

- Wednesday: Fall turkey applications due.

Tournaments

- Saturday: Lake Oahe, Beaver and Cattail bays; Raleigh Reservoir; Lake Sakakawea, Skunk Bay: Lake Sakakawea, Brendle’s Bay.

- Saturday-Sunday: Lake Audubon.

Fishing

- Lake Sakakawea elevation, Tuesday: 1,845.7 feet above mean sea level; 14,000 cubic feet per second Garrison Dam average daily releases.

- North Dakota Game and Fish Department District Game Wardens: Lake Audubon fair for walleye. Missouri River remains OK for walleye from the cable crossing down river. Lake Sakakawea remains slow. No reports from southwestern lakes.

- Beulah, Dakota Waters Resort, Lake Sakakawea: Weather permitting, more anglers are finding walleye. Depth varies greatly but try Lindy rigs or jigs with minnows west of the resort. Try switching to nightcrawlers, too. Some smallmouth bass, perch, and northern pike mixed in.

- Bismarck, Dakota Tackle, Missouri River/area lakes: Most Missouri River activity is north around Washburn or south around Langelier’s Bay. Try nightcrawlers, leeches or crankbaits.

- Dickinson, Andrus Outdoors, Lake Sakakawea/Area Lakes: Try working Mel’s Marina on Lake Sakakawea north of Tunnel Point to Battleship Island for 10- to 17-inch walleye using spinners with minnows or nightcrawlers. Skunk Bay producing some sauger in 39 to 41 feet. Van Hook Arm has occasional, scattered walleye success in 40-plus feet. Camels Hump Dam continues producing trout. Bowman-Haley fair for walleye using minnows. Indian Creek good for nice-sized perch with some bluegill and small walleye mixed in. Try jigs and leeches.

- Dickinson, Runnings Farm & Fleet, Lake Sakakawea/area lakes: Tobacco Garden on Lake Sakakawea fair for walleye and sauger in 10 to 25 feet using Lindy rigs and nightcrawlers. McKenzie Bay slow for walleye but best success is with crankbaits or Lindy rigs and nightcrawlers. No report from the Missouri River tailrace but fair for walleye south of Bismarck using spinners or Lindy rigs with nightcrawlers. Lake Tschida producing walleye using jigs and minnows or Lindy rigs and nightcrawlers.

- Garrison, Indian Hills Resort, Lake Sakakawea: Mixed sauger success. Try 30 feet working east of the pump house with Lindy rigs and minnows.

- Glen Ullin, Fitterer’s Inc., Lake Tschida: Lake Tschida fair to good for walleye with some nice-sized northern pike.

- Mandaree, McKenzie Bay Marina, Lake Sakakawea: Occasional, scattered walleye but anglers are having to work hard for fish yet and unstable weather making it difficult to pattern fish.

- Mandan, Southside MVP, Missouri River/Area Lakes: Most activity remains south of Bismarck and recent storms are sending lots of murky water into the river. Unstable weather resulting in slow fishing.

- Pick City, Scott’s Bait & Tackle, Lake Sakakawea/Missouri River: Lake Audubon improving for walleye using live bait from boat along the U.S. Highway 83 embankment. Some northern pike success from shore. A few more anglers going on the east end of Lake Sakakawea with occasional walleye and bass. Work as deep as 20 feet. Missouri River remains fair to good with some morning success around the cable crossing, stumps, and coal veins using live bait or Gulp. Work as far south as the Knife River. Walleye seem to move to the holes during the day. Try the honey hole and stumps. Some walleye activity from rocks along the boat ramp with best success in the evening and towards dark

- New Town, Van Hook Bait & Tackle, Lake Sakakawea: Van Hook Arm remains slow with occasional, scattered walleye. River portion of the lake producing a few sauger but generally slow for walleye.

- Ray, Lund’s Landing, Whitetail Bay, Lake Sakakawea: Walleye success slowed.

- Watford City, Tobacco Garden Resort, Lake Sakakawea: Water temperatures starting to warm, bringing a little more fishing activity. Try working east of the resort.

- Watford City, One-Stop, Lake Sakakawea: Tobacco Garden fair with scattered walleye success. Move around; there’s no set pattern or presentation.

- White Earth, White Earth Bay Trading Post, Lake Sakakawea: Continued walleye activity using Lindy rigs or jigs with minnows in 8 to 20 feet. Good for northern pike with occasional catfish mixed in.

- Williston, Scenic Sports, Lake Sakakawea/Missouri River: Lake Sakakawea still producing sauger deep but walleye activity in the shallows remains somewhat slow. Most success is on the upper end.

River report

- Bear Den Creek, Mandaree: Streamflow, 51 cfs; creek stage, 5.39 feet.

- Cannonball River, Regent: Streamflow, 9.3 feet; river stage, 2.1 feet.

- Green River, New Hradec: Streamflow, 37 cfs; river stage, 7.19 feet.

- Heart River, Richardton: Streamflow, 89 cfs; river stage, 5.64 feet.

- Knife River, Manning: Streamflow, 13 cfs; river stage, 6.97 feet.

- Little Missouri, Marmath: Streamflow, 3,270 cfs; river stage, 7.15 feet.

- Little Missouri, Medora: Streamflow, 453 cfs; river stage, 3.49 feet.

- Little Missouri, Long X: Streamflow, 240 cfs; river stage, 6.72 feet.

- Missouri River, Stanton: River stage, 9.37 feet.

- Missouri River, Williston: River stage, 22.29 feet.

- Yellowstone River, Sidney, Mont.: Streamflow, 45,700 cfs; river stage, 12.79 feet.

Numbers to know

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

- NDGF Dickinson office: 701-227-7431.

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

- Report poachers: 800-472-2121.

Tags: dakota report, outdoors, fishing