Dakota Recreation Report

Outdoor notes:

*Use caution around open water shorelines.

Tournaments:

*May 5: Lake Ashtabula, Ashtabula Crossing; Spiritwood Lake.

Fishing:

*Devils Lake elevation, April 24: 1,449.76 feet above mean sea level (MSL).

*Stump Lake elevation: 1,449.71 MSL.

*Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,841.75 MSL; 32,000 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases.

*N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Dist. game wardens: Open water starting to show along Devils Lake bridges. Come coulees starting to open, but fishing remains somewhat slow with cool water temperatures. Look for open water soon. Decent access is along low-head dams and rock rapids of the Sheyenne, James and Red rivers. Water levels contributing to hit-and-miss success, however.

*Devils Lake, Ed’s Bait Shop, Devils Lake: Deteriorating shorelines limiting activity on Devils Lake. Look for some open water activity around the bridges.

*Devils Lake, Lakeview Lodge, Minnewaukan: No access recommended with poor ice conditions.

*Devils Lake, Woodland Resort, Devils Lake: Devils Lake transitioning from okay ice to bad and dangerous ice conditions. Bridges and culverts starting to open so look for some pike and walleye activity.

*Foster County area lakes, Dry Dock, Carrington: No activity with deteriorating ice conditions throughout area lakes. No access recommended.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Pioneer Bait & Tackle, Jamestown: James River starting to open with inflows. Try open water around the bridges for some pike activity, including around the Buchanan Bridge. No activity on area lakes with poor ice.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Poor ice conditions throughout area lakes.

*Lake Ashtabula, Bayshore, Valley City: Lake remains largely ice encased with fingers starting to open around the crossings. Water levels remain down but slowly rising with light runoff. No fishing activity.

*Lake Sakakawea, Cenex Bait & Tackle, Garrison: Look for late afternoon or early evening walleye bite on Lake Audubon in 10 to 20 feet but use extreme caution with rapidly deteriorating ice. Lake Sakakawea has pike activity around the Douglas Bay culverts with some pockets of open water fishing.

*Lake Sakakawea/Lake Audubon/Missouri River, Scott’s Bait and Tackle, Pick City: Missouri River remains inconsistent for walleye. Rising lake levels making Lake Sakakawea shorelines dangerous for access but look for some open water pike fishing.

*Lonetree WMA area lakes, Harvey: No new reports.

*Pipestem Reservoir, Pioneer Bait & Tackle, Jamestown: No reports.

*Pipestem Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Anglers advised to stay off ice.

*Spiritwood Lake, Pioneer Bait & Tackle, Jamestown: Quiet.

*Spiritwood Lake, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: No activity with poor ice conditions.

Migration:

*Major push of snow geese moved north but look for some late stragglers. Good numbers in north-central N.D. and around Devils Lake earlier in the week. Ducks starting to move in with shorebirds and other migratory species.

Numbers to know:

*N.D. Game and Fish Department, main Bismarck office: (701) 328-6300, website: (http://gf.nd.gov).

*N.D. Game and Fish Department, Devils Lake office: (701) 662-3617.

*N.D. Game & Fish Department, Jamestown office: (701) 253-6480.

*Report All Poachers: (800) 472-2121 or (701) 328-9921.