Anglers fishing North Dakota waters this winter are reminded of new regulations implemented since last year.

• The statewide possession limit for bluegill, yellow perch and white bass has been reduced from 80 to 40 each.
• Sweet Briar Dam and Braun Lake are now open to darkhouse spearfishing, while Larimore Dam and Wood Lake are closed to darkhouse spearers.
• Materials used to mark holes must be in possession of anglers and spearers as soon as a hole greater than 10 inches in diameter is made in the ice. In the past, anglers could search for materials used for markers after making holes.
• Fishing poles must be easily visible and within a maximum distance of 150 feet of a participating angler.
• All unoccupied fish houses must be removed from all waters after midnightMarch 15.
• North Dakota residents can fish for free during a free fishing weekend Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

North Dakota anglers are encouraged to refer to the 2016-18 North Dakota Fishing Guide or the State Game and Fish Department’s website for winter fishing regulations.

In addition, anglers can visit the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov, for an extensive list of fishing questions and answers.

North Dakota waterfowl hunters are reminded the statewide duck and white-fronted goose seasons close Dec. 4. However, duck hunting in the high plains unit reopens Dec. 10 and continues through Jan. 1, 2017.

In addition, the season for Canada geese closes Dec. 22, except for the Missouri River Zone, which closes Dec. 30. Light goose hunting closes statewide Jan. 1, 2017.

Archery deer, fall turkey, sharp-tailed and ruffed grouse, partridge, pheasant and tree squirrel hunting seasons continue through Jan. 8, 2017.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s advisory board meetings scheduled for tonight and tomorrow in Berthold, Hankinson, Jamestown and Bismarck have been postponed two weeks due to inclement weather.

The meetings in Berthold and Hankinson are rescheduled for Monday, Dec. 12; and Bismarck and Jamestown are rescheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 13.

 

District 2 – Counties: Bottineau, Burke, McHenry, Mountrail, Pierce, Renville and Ward

Date: Dec. 12 – 7 p.m.

Location: Berthold Sportsmen Club, 210 Main St., Berthold

Host: Berthold Sportsmen Club

Contact: Joe Lautenschlager, 721-1882

Advisory board member: Robert Gjellstad, Voltaire, 338-2281

 

District 5 – Counties: Cass, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele and Traill

Date: Dec. 12 – 7 p.m.

Location: American Legion (south of Lake Elsie), Hankinson

Host: Hankinson American Legion

Contact: Terry Puetz, 640-3294

Advisory board member: Duane Hanson, West Fargo, 367-4249

 

District 6 – Counties: Barnes, Dickey, Foster, Griggs, Logan, LaMoure, McIntosh, Stutsman and Wells

Date: Dec. 13 – 7 p.m.

Location: The Bunker, 1520 3rd St. SE, Jamestown

Host: United Sportsmen

Contact: Larry Kukla, 320-4182

Advisory board member: Joel Christoferson, Litchville, 973-4981

 

District 7 – Counties: Burleigh, Emmons, Grant, Kidder, McLean, Mercer, Morton, Oliver, Sheridan and Sioux

Date: Dec. 13 – 7 p.m.

Location: North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Bismarck

Host: North Dakota Natural Resources Trust

Contact: Keith Trego, 220-0978

Advisory board member: Dave Nehring, Bismarck, 214-3184

 

Hunting Surveys

North Dakota Outdoors Webcast

Hunter surveys are critical for successful game management. Learn more about these surveys in this week’s webcast with game management section leader Stephanie Tucker. Watch the full video right here

The Game and Fish Department YouTube channel is hereHave You Seen?

 

Organizers planning fishing tournaments, including ice fishing contests this winter, are reminded to submit an application along with fishing tournament regulations to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department at least 30 days prior to the start of the event.

The 30-day advance notice allows for review by agency staff to ensure the proposed tournament will not have negative consequences or conflicts with other proposed tournaments for the same location and/or time.

Tournaments may not occur without first obtaining a valid permit from the department.

In addition, the number of open-water tournaments on lakes Sakakawea and Oahe, the Missouri River and Devils Lake are capped each year, depending on the time of the year and location.

Most hunter education courses have wrapped up for 2016.

However, individuals or parents with children who will need to take a course in 2017 should monitor the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov, as classes that begin in January will be added to the Buy and Apply link as soon as times and locations are finalized.

After accessing the Buy and Apply link, click on the hunter ed enrollment link and “list of hunter education courses.” Classes are listed by city, and can also be sorted by start date. To register for a class, click on “enroll” next to the specific class, and follow the simple instructions. Personal information is required.

Individuals interested in receiving a notice by email when each hunter education class is added can click on the “subscribe to news and alerts” link found below the news section on the Game and Fish home page. Check the box labeled “hunter education” under the education program updates.

In addition, SMS text notifications of new classes can be sent directly to a cell phone. Simply text “NDGF HunterClass” to 468311 to subscribe to this feature.

State law requires anyone born after December 31, 1961 to pass a certified hunter education course to hunt in the state. Hunter education is mandatory for youth who are turning 12 years old, and children can take the class at age 11.

 

 

North Dakota’s early mountain lion season in Zone 1 closed Sunday, Nov. 20, and the late season, when hunters can pursue lions with dogs, is now open.

During the early season, hunters took three cats from a harvest limit of eight. Under a new season structure this year, a conditional season could open five days after the late season closes, for hunters to pursue the additional five mountain lions that were not taken.

The late season in Zone 1 opened Monday, Nov. 21 and is scheduled to run through March 31, 2017, or until the harvest limit is reached. The late season harvest limit is seven total lions or three female lions, whichever comes first.

The late season harvest limit in Zone 1 filled early last year, so hunters are advised to check for updates by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.

Zone 1 includes land in western North Dakota south of ND Highway 1804 from the Montana border to the point where ND Highway 1804 lies directly across Lake Sakakawea from ND Highway 8, crossing Lake Sakakawea then south along ND Highway 8 to ND Highway 200, then west on ND Highway 200 to U.S. Highway 85, then south on U.S. Highway 85 to the South Dakota border.

The mountain lion season in Zone 2, which is the rest of the state outside Zone 1, has no harvest limit and is open through March 31, 2017.

The mountain lion season is open only to North Dakota residents. Hunters need a furbearer or combination license to participate.

You may not realize that salmon are found in the Missouri River System in North Dakota. This weeks North Dakota Outdoors Webcast updates the fall Salmon Egg Collection Update

Find out how this year’s salmon egg collection on Lake Sakakawea went in this week’s webcast with fisheries biologist Russ Kinzler.

There’s more on salmon on our Game and Fish Department website right here

A full catalog of North Dakota Game and Fish Department video’s can be found right here

 

The 2016 November  issue of North Dakota Outdoors magazine is available FREE online right now here.

One of my favorite stories takes you into some of my Game and Fish coworkers lives with first person accounts of “First Deer, Trophy Memories” The state’s first modern deer season was 1931. That was the first year a specific deer license was required to hunt.

If we start there, that means we’ve been hunting deer in North Dakota for 85 years. That’s a long time.

Deer hunting, from the Red River Valley to the badlands, is a big deal here. For so many, no matter their ages, the November season is long anticipated and its arrival applauded.

The full story is here: “First Deer, Trophy Memories”.

You’ll also want to be sure to check out a feature by Greg Freeman on the Game and Fish Considering River Otter Season  Stephanie Tucker, Department game management section leader and furbearer biologist, said the subject is up for discussion in late November and early December as a topic at fall district advisory board meetings, and again next spring when Department officials hold another round of advisory board meetings across the state.

With ice fishing season on the way fisheries biologist Paul Bailey has a great primer on Targeting Big Pike in Winter

If there is such a thing as an embarrassment of riches, North Dakota’s anglers have experienced it in recent years.

Our “big three” walleye fisheries – Lake Sakakawea, Devils Lake and the Missouri River/Lake Oahe – continue to validate their nationally renowned reputations as destination fisheries. Other new lakes created from the abundant snowfall during the winters of 2008-09 to 2010-11 have now developed into outstanding fisheries.

Outdoor enthusiasts are invited to attend a North Dakota Game and Fish Department fall advisory board meeting in their area.

These public meetings, held each spring and fall, provide citizens with an opportunity to discuss fish and wildlife issues and ask questions of their district advisors and agency personnel.

The governor appoints eight Game and Fish Department advisors, each representing a multi-county section of the state, to serve as a liaison between the department and public.

Any person who requires an auxiliary aid or service must notify the contact person at least five days prior to the scheduled meeting date.

 

District 2 – Counties: Bottineau, Burke, McHenry, Mountrail, Pierce, Renville and Ward

Date: Nov. 28 – 7 p.m.

Location: Berthold Sportsmen Club, 210 Main St., Berthold

Host: Berthold Sportsmen Club

Contact: Joe Lautenschlager, 721-1882

Advisory board member: Robert Gjellstad, Voltaire, 338-2281

 

District 5 – Counties: Cass, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele and Traill

Date: Nov. 28 – 7 p.m.

Location: American Legion (south of Lake Elsie), Hankinson

Host: Hankinson American Legion

Contact: Terry Puetz, 640-3294

Advisory board member: Duane Hanson, West Fargo, 367-4249

 

District 6 – Counties: Barnes, Dickey, Foster, Griggs, Logan, LaMoure, McIntosh, Stutsman and Wells

Date: Nov. 29 – 7 p.m.

Location: The Bunker, 1520 3rd St. SE, Jamestown

Host: United Sportsmen

Contact: Larry Kukla, 320-4182

Advisory board member: Joel Christoferson, Litchville, 973-4981

 

District 7 – Counties: Burleigh, Emmons, Grant, Kidder, McLean, Mercer, Morton, Oliver, Sheridan and Sioux

Date: Nov. 29 – 7 p.m.

Location: North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Bismarck

Host: North Dakota Natural Resources Trust

Contact: Keith Trego, 220-0978

Advisory board member: Dave Nehring, Bismarck, 214-3184

 

District 1 – Counties: Divide, McKenzie and Williams

Date: Dec. 5 – 7 p.m.

Location: Rough Rider Center, 2209 Wolves Den Parkway, Watford City

Host: Mule Deer Foundation

Advisory board member: Jason Leiseth, Arnegard, 586-3714

 

District 8 – Counties: Adams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Golden Valley, Hettinger, Slope and Stark

Date: Dec. 5 – 7 p.m.

Location: La Quinta Inn & Suites, Dickinson

Host: Mule Deer Foundation

Contact: Arnold Karsky, 290-9754

Advisory board member: Dwight Hecker, Fairfield, 575-4952

 

District 3 – Counties: Benson, Cavalier, Eddy, Ramsey, Rolette and Towner

Date: Dec. 6 – 7 p.m.

Location: Armory, Cando

Host: Cando Gun Club

Advisory board member: Tom Rost, Devils Lake, 350-1424

 

District 4 – Counties: Grand Forks, Nelson, Pembina and Walsh

Date: Dec. 6 – 7 p.m.

Location: American Legion Club, 208 N. Main St., Fordville

Host: Dakota Prairie Wildlife Club

Contact: Lynn Baier, 331-1074

Advisory board member: Joe Solseng, 317-5009