Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
May conjures up images of the first crocus on the prairie, lingering snow geese and turkey season winding down. We’ll also likely spot the first brood of Canada goose goslings and find a few ticks to remove from you or your dog.
While May doesn't have a true statewide fishing opener in North Dakota, it does have a special season that attracts a lot of attention in the northwestern part of the state.
May 1 every year marks the start of North Dakota's paddlefish snagging season. If history is any indication, over the course of the month, a few thousand people will buy a special tag and trek to the shoreline of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers for a chance to reel in the state's largest fish.
Paddlefish commonly weigh well over 50 pounds, and the current state record tops the scale at 130 pounds. They are as big as they are unique, and hooking one is not a sure thing, as roughly only one in three people who buy a tag actually get to put it on a paddlefish.
North Dakota’s 2019 paddlefish snagging season opens May 1 and is scheduled to continue through May 21. However, depending on the overall harvest, an early in-season closure may occur with a 24-hour notice issued by the state Game and Fish Department.
Legal snagging hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Snaggers can only purchase one tag per year.
Snagging is legal in all areas of the Yellowstone River in North Dakota, and in the area of the Missouri River lying west of the U.S. Highway 85 bridge to the Montana border, excluding that portion from the pipeline crossing (river mile 1,577) downstream to the upper end of the Lewis and Clark Wildlife Management Area (river mile 1,565).
If the season closes early because the harvest cap is reached, an extended snag-and-release-only period will be allowed for up to four days immediately following the early closure, but not to extend beyond May 21. Only a limited area at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers is open to this extended season snagging opportunity.
Mandatory harvest of all snagged paddlefish is required on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. On these days, all paddlefish caught must be kept and tagged immediately. All paddlefish snagged and tagged must be removed from the river by 7 p.m. of each snagging day.
Snag-and-release of all paddlefish is required on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. Participants during snag-and-release-only days need to have in their possession a current season, unused paddlefish snagging tag. Use or possession of gaffs is prohibited on snag-and-release-only days.
All paddlefish snaggers must possess a paddlefish tag in addition to a valid fishing license. Cost of a paddlefish tag is $10 for residents and $25.50 for nonresidents. Lost or destroyed tags will not be replaced.
A list of vendors selling paddlefish tag is available on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov
