News Release Archives - May 2008
May 12, 2008
Game and Fish Provides Darkhouse Spearfishing Stats
The 2007-08 North Dakota darkhouse spearfishing season saw five-year highs in both participation and the number of northern pike harvested.
Nearly 800 participants speared more than 6,300 pike last winter, according to state Game and Fish Department spearfishing data.
The state opened some of its waters to darkhouse spearfishing for the first time in 2001. The season that attracted the most participants (979) and saw the most pike harvested (6,770) was 2002-03.
Improved water clarity on a number of lakes played a large role in participation and success last winter, department fisheries officials said. Morrison Lake is a good example of improved clarity conditions as this Ramsey County fishery topped the list in terms of the number of pike speared in 2007-08. The prior two winters, the pike harvest at Morrison Lake was inconsequential due to turbid conditions.
Other top lakes for darkhouse spearfishing this past winter were Devils Lake, Grass Lake (Richland County), Buffalo Lodge Lake (McHenry County), Lake Sakakawea, and Island Lake (Rolette County).
These top six lakes accounted for 76 percent of the spearing harvest in the state.
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