I鈥檝e been around long enough to remember when North Dakota didn鈥檛 have a year-round fishing season. The last time the state actually had an opening day was more than three decades ago.
North Dakota established a statewide year-round fishing season in 1993, with a license year that runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.
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So, if you fish in North Dakota, you needed a new fishing license April 1.
In my experience, at least, the fishing opener in North Dakota wasn鈥檛 the marketing event it is in Minnesota. And year-round fishing hasn鈥檛 had an impact on fish populations. Walleye fishing in North Dakota has never been better 鈥� a scenario that has sounded a bit like a broken record in recent years (but in a very good way). Since many North Dakota lakes are reliant on stocking, catching a fish before it has spawned is less of an issue than it is in neighboring Minnesota or Canadian provinces such as Manitoba and Ontario.
Thanks to a series of several wet years beginning in 1993 or so, walleye opportunities in North Dakota these days extend far beyond the 鈥淏ig 3鈥� 鈥� Devils Lake, Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri River. Dozens of new, so-called 鈥減rairie lakes鈥� have popped up across the state in the past decade or two, and they鈥檝e proven extremely effective at producing catchable-size walleyes in a short amount of time.
It鈥檚 not uncommon, I鈥檝e been told, for a walleye to reach 15 inches in 16 to 18 months. That鈥檚 an off-the-charts fast growth rate.
North Dakota today has about 450 fishable waters 鈥� an all-time high 鈥� compared with 250 or so just a couple of decades ago.
Greg Power, fisheries chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, touched on the popularity of year-round fishing Tuesday night, April 16, during the department鈥檚 spring Advisory Board meeting in Larimore.
Much-needed rain was falling that night, but the weather was beautiful a couple of days earlier, and anglers were making the most of it. Wardens and department fisheries staff across the state reported they had probably never seen so much spring fishing activity, Power said.
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鈥淔or sure this early in the year 鈥� I mean, that鈥檚 unheard of in the middle of April鈥� most years, Power said. 鈥淎nd I was thinking while driving up here that 20 years or so ago, that wouldn鈥檛 have happened because we had a closed season. The spring fishing you see now in years like this, it鈥檚 kind of cool that people can get out in the boat and do it.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of fishing activity already going on.鈥�
Year-round fishing has been especially popular among anglers who target northern pike shortly after ice-out, Power said, an opportunity that didn鈥檛 exist statewide before 1993.
鈥淲hat was really cool was that it opened up that spring pike fishing that used to be closed,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou still see in the month of April, a lot of shore fishermen. Not as many as there used to be because we鈥檙e starting to age out 鈥� the people that like pike 鈥� but we didn鈥檛 touch the population with a year-round season; we really didn鈥檛.鈥�
While Game and Fish now manages nearly 450 lakes across the state, the new two-year proclamation of fishing regulations is about 500 words shorter than the previous one.
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鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the goals of the department 鈥� keeping things as simple as possible,鈥� Game and Fish Director Jeb Williams said at the Larimore meeting. 鈥淲e have more fishing opportunity than we鈥檝e ever had in North Dakota, but yet our regulation guide, our proclamation, got smaller.
鈥淧eople appreciate that (and) we appreciate that,鈥� Williams added. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we have to look very far east to see, sometimes, some complicated regulations from lake to lake to lake.鈥�
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Despite the differences in the way Minnesota and North Dakota manage their fisheries, anglers in the two states share a passion for walleyes. Northern pike might be the North Dakota state fish, but there鈥檚 no question that walleyes rank first in many anglers鈥� hearts.
鈥淲e know people love walleye in North Dakota, and the prairie lakes have just exploded,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a nice thing for folks where Lake Sakakawea, Devils Lake or Lake Oahe isn鈥檛 necessarily in their backyard. They can have those opportunities for nice fishing on some of those smaller lakes close to home, where they don鈥檛 have to take those longer trips.
鈥淎nd that鈥檚 really been something fun to watch.鈥�
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