Dakota Recreation Report: Nov. 11, 2019

Outdoor notes:

*Use caution with dogs when hunting around frozen wetlands for cuts from ice, breaking through, etc.

*Nov. 24: Deer gun season closes.

Fishing:

*Devils Lake elevation, Nov. 5: 1,448.7 feet above mean sea level (MSL).

*Stump Lake elevation: 1,448.71 MSL.

*Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,841.71 MSL; 48,800 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases.

*N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Dist. game wardens: No reports with little activity throughout most lakes across the state. Stay off any area lakes that iced over with thin, early season ice conditions.

*Devils Lake, Ed’s Bait Shop, Woodland Resort: Little activity.

*Devils Lake, Lakeview Lodge, Minnewaukan: No activity with edges of the bays starting to ice-over in sheltered areas.

*Foster County area lakes, Dry Dock, Carrington: Area lakes remain quiet.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: No activity with anglers waiting for ice-out.

*Lake Ashtabula, Ashtabula Crossing, Luverne: Limited activity but the few anglers out are finding walleye. Fish are in the cold water lethargic state of mind.

*Lake Ashtabula, Bayshore, Valley City: Lake remains above typical fall elevation but is slowly starting to drop. Little to no activity, however.

*Lake Sakakawea, Cenex Bait & Tackle, Garrison: Weather permitting, a few anglers on the east end of Lake Sakakawea. Opportunities are limited. Few reports.

*Lake Sakakawea/Lake Audubon/Missouri River, Scott’s Bait and Tackle, Pick City: Missouri River tailrace continues producing walleye from shore and in the chutes. Try crankbaits. Occasional salmon and trout, as well, during the day but best success is after midnight. Not many anglers. No reports from Lake Sakakawea.

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

*Pipestem Res., Spiritwood Lake, Jamestown: No reports.

Hunting:

*Deer: Look for fair to good success in the Devils Lake area and throughout the region with generally better deer numbers in many areas.

*Pheasants: Improving success in some area as harvest continues.

*Waterfowl: Some birds still in the Devils Lake area but they’re concentrated on large, open water lakes. Small to mid-sized lakes and wetlands iced over throughout the state. Move around to locate flocks with inconsistent success. Some Canada geese lingering in the Towner area and north-central part of the state around the Canadian border on larger lakes but birds generally moving out. Nice numbers remained in east-central North Dakota around Lonetree WMA earlier in the week. Fair success around the Valley City area with good numbers on large open water lakes. Large numbers of geese moved in throughout the Missouri River System region with its open water, including good snow goose numbers. Fair numbers still around in the northwest around Williston’s portion of Lake Sakakawea.

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.