Jamestown Sun
Dakota Recreation Report
July 29, 2011
Patricia Stockdill
Outdoor Notes:
Usable Devils Lake ramps: Round Lake, Pelican Lake, 6-Mile Bay, Creel Bay, Spirit Lake Casino. Grahams Island State Park ramp is usable but access is day-to-day. Call (701) 766-4015 for updates.
Marginal Missouri River ramps: Steckel, Fort Rice. All other ramps closed. Idle speed only from 1,000 feet south of the Steckel boat ramp on the Missouri River to MacLean Bottoms, including MacLean Bottoms. No boating from sunset to sunrise in that same area.
Usable Lake Oahe ramps: Hazelton, Beaver Bay, Walker Bottoms, Cattail Bay, Langelier’s Bay.
Tournaments:
Aug. 6: Devils Lake.
Aug. 6 & 7: Lake Sakakawea, Indian Hills.
Fishing:
Devils Lake elevation, July 27: 1,454.25 feet above mean sea level (msl).
Stump Lake elevation, July 27: 1,454.11 msl.
Lake Sakakawea elevation, July 27: 1,852.7 msl; 115,000 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases.
N.D. Game & Fish Dept. Dist. game wardens: Many area lakes are producing steady but not spectacular fishing success. In general, try live bait along the edges of weed lines, channels or areas transitioning to deeper water. Shore-fishing and pier-fishing is also producing success on many area lakes. Local southeastern rivers remain challenging due to high river levels limiting access. Docks aren’t in place even if ramps are open. Seasoned anglers continue finding catfish on the Red River now that the spawn is over but high flows are keeping water murky. Try fishing off the edge of mud clouds, channel edges or backwater snags with chicken liver, shrimp or nightcrawler balls if the usual cut sucker or goldeye isn’t working. As a reminder, please remove any garbage at landing and fishing sites, even if high water took out trashcans. East end of Lake Sakakawea is somewhat spotty with more consistent success coming from the midsection around Deepwater Bay and farther west.
Devils Lake, Ed’s Bait & Tackle, Devils Lake: Good numbers of small walleye throughout much of the lake. Try spinners and bottom bouncers along the railroad tracks in Pelican Lake. Pitching crankbaits along wind-blown shorelines is producing bigger fish. Try trolling crankbaits along the Golden Highway on the flats. Experiment with a variety of presentations in Howard’s Bay for walleye in a variety of sizes. Also try working the trees and weeds with crankbaits around Fort Totten. Work a variety of presentations in East Bay, as well. In general, move around and try a variety of depths. Overall bigger fish are coming when pitching crankbaits.
Devils Lake, Lakeview Lodge, Devils Lake: Continued good small walleye success although a few bigger fish are starting to show up occasionally. Work the weeds for bigger fish but small walleye are scattered throughout the lake. Work deeper in calmer weather. Northern pike remain good with nice-sized white bass starting to show up in better numbers.
Devils Lake, West Bay Resort, Minnewaukan: Work the Minnewaukan Flats area for small northern pike.
Devils Lake, Woodland Resort, Creel Bay, Devils Lake: Continued strong walleye bite but anglers are working harder to locate bigger fish. Lots of small walleye. Success is fairly lake-wide but better reports are coming from western part of the lake. Try variety of presentations in 12 to 20 feet. Try trolling crankbaits for northern pike. White bass are hit-and-miss but look for good success if they can be located.
Goose Lake, Harvey: Fair to good for northern pike and walleye.
Harvey Dam, Harvey: Slow.
Jamestown Reservoir, Dan’s Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Somewhat spotty walleye success.
Jamestown Reservoir, Pioneer Bait Shop, Jamestown: Walleye activity slowed somewhat but anglers are still finding a few fish.
Lake Ashtabula, Bayshore, Valley City: Lake levels remain high, although it’s receding slightly. However, anglers continue finding a fair mix of walleye, northern pike, bass and perch throughout much of the lake.
Missouri River, Dakota Tackle, Bismarck: Continued walleye activity on Lake Audubon. Fair to good for walleye on the Van Hook Arm of Lake Sakakawea. Some activity continues on Lake Oahe with the lake starting to drop slightly. Hazelton and Fort Rice areas are the closest access to Bismarck.
Red River, River Keepers, Fargo: The Red River is high in the Wahpeton and Fargo-Moorhead area with all Fargo ramps closed except for the Convent Landing ramp in south Fargo. However, levels are slowly going down and Wahpeton and Fargo areas are producing a mix of 2- to 10-pound catfish from shore and fishing piers.
Pipestem Reservoir, Dan’s Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Fair but spotty success.
Pipestem Reservoir, Pioneer Bait Shop, Jamestown: Scattered walleye success but crappie activity slowed.
Spiritwood Lake, Dan’s Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Try an evening bite for walleye.
Spiritwood Lake, Pioneer Bait Shop, Jamestown: Fair for walleye in the evening.
North Dakota river levels and streamflow, July 27:
Baldhill Creek, Dazey gauge: Creek stage, 10.18 feet; streamflow, 1,590 CFS.
James River, Jamestown gauge: River stage, 10.72 feet; streamflow, 1,540 CFS.
James River, Grace City gauge: Streamflow, 661 CFS.
Pipestem Creek, Pingree gauge: Creek stage, 10.97 feet; streamflow, 1,330 CFS.
Red River, Fargo gauge: River stage, 19.79 feet; streamflow, 4,670 CFS.
Sheyenne River, Cooperstown gauge: River stage, 12.51 feet; streamflow, 983 CFS.
Sheyenne River, Valley City gauge: Streamflow, 2,520 CFS.
Numbers to know:
N.D. Game & Fish Department, main Bismarck office: 328-6300; website: (http://gf.nd.gov).
N.D. Game & Fish Department, Jamestown office: 253-6480.
RAP, Report All Poachers: (800) 472-2121.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bismarck, website: (www.fws.gov/northdakotafieldoffice).
Tags: getting outside, outdoors, boating, fishing, recreation, hunting
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