Dakota Recreation Report: Nov. 4, 2019

Outdoor notes:

 *Nov. 4: Woodcock and crow seasons close.

 *Nov. 8: Deer gun season opens.

 *Nov. 10: Sandhill crane season closes.

Fishing:

*Devils Lake elevation, Nov. 5: 1,448.66 feet above mean sea level (MSL).

*Stump Lake elevation: 1,448.76 MSL.

*Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,843.03 MSL; 48,400 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases.

*N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Dist. game wardens: Little to no activity on Devils Lake, east-central area lakes, or the Missouri River System.

*Devils Lake, Ed’s Bait Shop, Devils Lake: Not much activity but a few anglers out, weather permitting. Water temperatures dropping and ranging between 35 and 38 degrees.

*Devils Lake, Lakeview Lodge, Minnewaukan: Little activity and no new reports.

*Devils Lake, Woodland Resort, Devils Lake: The few anglers on the water continue finding fair walleye success jigging around the bridges.

*Foster County area lakes, Dry Dock, Carrington: No activity on area lakes.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: No new reports.

*Lake Ashtabula, Ashtabula Crossing, Luverne: Slow.

*Lake Ashtabula, Bayshore, Valley City: The lake remains high with little activity.

*Lake Sakakawea, Cenex Bait & Tackle, Garrison: Weather continues limiting activity on both Lake Sakakawea and Lake Audubon.

*Lake Sakakawea/Lake Audubon/Missouri River, Scott’s Bait and Tackle, Pick City: Missouri River tailrace producing a few walleye. Try crankbaits from shore or 3-way swivels from boats in the chutes. Garrison Dam and spillway releases seem to be determining success. Lake Sakakawea quiet.

*Lonetree WMA area lakes, Harvey: No activity. Coal Mine Lake closed until ice-over.

*Pipestem Reservoir, Spiritwood Lake, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: No new reports.

Hunting:

*Pheasants: Standing crops continue making overall success more challenging, although there are good pockets of birds in some areas. Many areas with heavy snowfall earlier in October have flattened grasslands because of the snow. Try focusing on shrubby side hills and shelterbelts.

*Waterfowl: Smaller wetlands and sheet water icing over but larger sloughs remain open and could be holding birds. Fair numbers remain around the eastern side of Lake Sakakawea. Look for a major push south in the coming days with the Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea holding some birds in northwest N.D. as smaller lakes and wetlands ice over. More birds moving into east-central and central N.D. around Lonetree WMA. Lesser Canada geese and whitefronts moving in around the midsection of Lake Sakakawea and look for more birds to follow. Mixed success around Devils Lake. Numbers of birds moved out of that region with the earlier weather and hunters need more to migrate into the area. There is some movement but sloughs are icing over along the Canadian border, which is pushing birds out and over the area. Dabblers generally moved out of the Wells County area but hunters still finding divers on larger lakes. Fair to good snow goose numbers around central N.D. but they could move out with ice-over on sloughs and sheet water. Fair waterfowl movement in the Valley City area. Most of Lake Darling and area wetlands iced over around Upper Souris NWR with just a few birds flocked together on the refuge in open water below the dam. Most of the migration seems to east of the refuge.

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.