March_April 2013.pdf - North Dakota Game and Fish

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surveys continue to show that walleyeand northern pike are very abundant,with about 75 percent of the adultwalleye between 10-15 inches long,and about 20 percent are between15-20 inches long. About one in 20walleye are 20 inches or longer. Thecurrent walleye size structure is on thesmall side, but should improve in thenext few years as the abundant youngerfish age and grow.Northern pike are running larger,with about 75 percent between 21-28inches and about 15 percent arebetween 28-34 inches.South Dakota State Universityis just completing a bioenergeticsstudy on Devils Lake. Randy Hiltner,Department fisheries supervisor inDevils Lake, has helped guide thisstudy to determine not only food habits,but also growth and mortality rates.Nothing too earth shattering in termsof what the predator fish eat. Scuds(freshwater shrimp), various otheraquatic insects, leeches and small fish,such as fathead minnows, are commontable fare. One finding of interest fromthe study showed that adult white bassdo not eat many small yellow perch.Regarding walleye reproduction, ithas been good for some time. Highlake levels provide good spawninghabitat as “new” shoreline is scouredby wave action and exposes clean rockand gravel.Q: Any thoughts on where the next, ifany, state record walleye might comefrom?A: Obviously the big three – Sakakawea,Oahe/Missouri River and DevilsLake – come quickly to mind. DevilsLake put out some very large walleyelast year, some of the largest ever outof that lake. However, sleepers for apossible state record include many ofour midsize reservoirs such as Darling,Audubon, Heart Butte and Ashtabula.And believe it or not, the Red Riverhas the ability to produce large walleye.Q: You work with fish all the time. Whatis your personal favorite type of fishing?Surveys on Devils Lake continueto show that about 75 percent ofthe adult walleye are between10-15 inches, and about one in20 are 20 inches or longer.A: Perch in the winter and walleye duringthe open-water season leads my list,but with a caveat. The only fishing Iwill do is where the crowds are not, soI pass up some hot bites. There’s nothingbetter than casting cranks fromshore at night or working the electricmotor on the Missouri pursuingwalleye in peace and quiet. It’s not justabout catching fish, but all the neatthings you see or hear while fishing inthe back 40. You may have to get upearly or stay out late, but thankfullyNorth Dakota still offers quality fishingwithout the crowds.Q: Any creel surveys coming up thisyear?A: If all goes according to plan, there willbe a creel survey on Devils Lake thissummer and again next winter.Q: Game and Fish conducts populationsurveys on most of the perchlakes each year. Is there a place whereanglers can find out the results ofthose tests to eliminate wasted timeand zero in on big perch lakes andavoid lakes with stunted perch?A: Though this may be a simple question,trying to answer it is anythingbut. However, the Department has notbeen, nor plans to be a repository of“where are the fish biting.” We continueto direct the public to the localbait shops, as they often have the latestfirst-hand fishing reports. In terms ofavailable information, we do currentlyprovide, and periodically update, directionsto a given lake, what species arecommon, and if available, a contourmap. This information is included inthe North Dakota OUTDOORS magazineand online at http://gf.nd.gov/fishing/fishing-waters.However, we haven’t provided catchrecord information. This matter hasbeen both a practical and philosophicaldebate for years with pros and conson both sides. The reality is that of thecurrent 400 water bodies in the statethat we’re actively managing, we areonly able to get to slightly more thanhalf of them during the course of theyear to assess the adult fish population.And for the water bodies we doget to, the catches can vary based on anumber of factors and so interpretationof catch records often require a broaderworking knowledge.For example, a high catch rate froma given lake does not necessarily translateinto angler success. Saying all that,we are providing additional informationabout our lakes in this magazine.(See Page 6). This is not catch recorddata, but summaries from the respectivefisheries supervisors for anglers touse and frame realistic expectations.This information will be updatedperiodically online at http://gf.nd.gov/fishing/fishing-waters.34 ND Outdoors March-April 2013SANDRA JOHNSON
BUFFALOBERRYPATCHBy Greg Freeman, Department News EditorCRAPPIE TIES RECORDChris Rick’s catch in January tied a staterecord for crappie that’s been on the booksfor nearly 15 years.The Jamestown angler reeled in a 3-pound,4-ounce crappie from Jamestown Reservoir.The record was established in 1998 by DonNewcomb, a Mandan angler who was fishingLake Oahe.2012 DEER GUN SEASON SUMMARIZEDNorth Dakota deer hunters took approximately34,500 deer during the 2012 deer gunhunting season.The State Game and Fish Departmentmade available 65,150 deer gun licenses in2012, and more than 95 percent were issued.Overall hunter success was 63 percent, andeach hunter spent an average of 4.4 days inthe field.Randy Kreil, Department wildlife chief,said this past season’s hunter success ratebounced back from an all-time low of 51percent in 2011. “The 63 percent clip is fairlygood, but still below the long-term average ofaround 70 percent,” he said. “In addition, thenumber of days spent hunting is still higherASHLEY SALWEYthan usual, which is expected with lower deerpopulations.”Hunter success for antlered white-taileddeer was 76 percent, and antlerless whitetailwas 62 percent.Mule deer buck success was 81 percent.No mule deer doe licenses were issued in2012.Hunters with any-antlered or any-antlerlesslicenses almost exclusively harvest whitetaileddeer. These buck and doe hunters eachhad a success rate of 64 percent.The Department is in the process of determiningrecommendations for licenses in the2013 deer proclamation, which will go to thegovernor’s office for approval in late April.RON WILSON SUBMITTED PHOTOMore LakeContourMaps AddedNorth Dakota Game and Fish Departmentfisheries personnel continue toupdate or add new fishing waters to thelist of available contour maps on theDepartment’s website.Jerry Weigel, Department fisheriesproduction and development sectionleader, said each year data is collected ona few new waters, or existing waters thathave experienced significant change. Contourfishing maps are developed from thisdata to show the layout of the lake, publicaccess and local facilities.Contour maps recently added to thewebsite are Battle Lake, Eddie County;Buffalo Lake, Pierce County; Coe Lake,Eddy County; Consolidated Lake, SargentCounty; Dry Lake, Foster County;Horseshoe Lake, Richland County;Hurdsfield-Tuffy Lake, Wells County;Lueck Lake, Richland County; MarvinMiller, Logan County; New RockfordReservoir, Eddy County; Ryan Pond,Grand Forks County; Shutte Lake,Rolette County; Silver Creek Dam,Nelson County; and Wahl Lake, RichlandCounty.All contour maps available to date canbe found by accessing the fishing link atgf.nd.gov/fishing, then clicking on “fishingwaters and access.”March-April 2013 ND Outdoors 35
Page 4 and 5: Greg Power, NorthDakota Game and Fi
Page 6 and 7: information/education campaign high
Page 8 and 9: 2013NORTH DAKOTAFISHING WATERS REPO
Page 10 and 11: East Spring Lake Pond (380) - North
Page 13 and 14: Long Lake (078) - 8 miles north, 7
Page 15 and 16: Vollrath Lake (699) - 5.5 miles nor
Page 17: Frettim Lake (180) - 2 miles east,
Page 22 and 23: Lindemann Lake (703) - 2 miles east
Page 24 and 25: north of Medina. Good numbers of 6-
Page 26 and 27: MISSOURIRIVERSYSTEMCRAIG BIHRLEFoll
Page 28 and 29: 30. LAKE SAKAKAWEA STATEPARK - Just
Page 30 and 31: FISH2012STOCKINGREPORTAll numbers m
Page 32 and 33: Anglers jockey for positionduring a
Page 34 and 35: eservoir, but most pike are still l
Page 38 and 39: 2012 BIGHORN, MOOSEAND ELK HARVESTS
Page 40 and 41: YOUTH GRANT PROGRAM APPLICATION DEA
Page 42 and 43: TOP WHOPPER CLUB APPLICATIONS FOR 2
Page 44: GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT PHOTOA Loo

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