Back to Basics: 2026 Fish Challenge
Zachary Eshleman
It’s a crisp Tuesday morning, and normally I would have woken up around 6 a.m., eaten breakfast with a cup of coffee, taken a shower, and made my way to work. Instead, it’s sunrise and I’m standing on the bank of the Missouri River, making my first casts as a new resident of the state. I have only just moved up here, but if I want 100 fish by Aug. 15, I figured I had better get started.
It’s moments like these that are the whole point of the fish challenges the North Dakota Game and Fish Department has offered for the past five years. Each of the five choices is unique, but the effects are the same. They get new and experienced anglers alike to step out of their comfort zone, discover new places to fish and chase species they might otherwise ignore.
“We’ve gotten a lot of interest each year; that’s why we keep trying to come back with a new one. Over the last five years, we’ve had probably close to 1,000 different entries,” said Cayla Bendel, North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s marketing coordinator in Bismarck. “I just always love hearing all the stories and seeing the same people come back to complete the new challenge.”
Past challenges include the classic, sportfish, rough fish and total catch challenges, with the parameters of each outlined at gf.nd.gov/fishing/fish-challenge.
This year’s addition is the 100-fish challenge. It doesn’t matter what species you target, and we’re not chasing size records with this one. You simply have to submit one photo of yourself with one of your catches and record a list detailing how many of each species you caught.
This challenge was chosen for a couple of reasons. “Well, for one thing we were just running out of species,” Bendel said, laughing, “but we also just want to bring people back to the joy of fishing, what it’s like to just catch any fish.”
With the challenge running from May 1 through Aug. 15, accomplishing it will take a little less than a fish a day. “No problem,” you might think, but if you are working five days a week, this brings your total of non-working days to just 33. It’s an unfortunate calculation, but it’s what makes this year’s challenge such a unique opportunity. Instead of waiting for the weekend to try and pile it all on at once, it inspires anglers to chip away at the total anytime they can.
Find your community fisheries, figure out the local access areas you have always overlooked, and maybe most importantly, find the half-hour in your day where you can get in a few casts and remember what makes being an angler in North Dakota so special. With more than 400 lakes managed by the Department, completing this challenge in your own area should be more than doable.
For me, these tools have made it way less intimidating to explore new areas, and they remove a lot of the uncertainty around fishing public access. The Department also offers a free fishing weekend June 6-7, 2026, creating an ideal opportunity for beginners or those introducing friends and family to the sport without the need for a license that weekend.
Once you have completed one of the challenges, you can submit it on the same fish challenge page, and those who complete the challenge will receive a certificate and sticker. You will also get your photo on the website, and you can go back to the past years and see all those who completed the other challenges.
I don’t know if I’m going to hit 100 fish this summer. I might, but that number is not the point of participating in this challenge. There is one outcome I can guarantee: If I keep trying to complete it, explore new places and diligently keep notes on species and locations as I go, I will be a better fisherman by the end of the summer. There will be more food on the table, more memories to look back on, and more friends in my life than if I had not. Whether you’re chasing walleyes out on the lake or bluegills in a neighborhood pond, the 2026 fish challenge invites you to get outside and celebrate what makes North Dakota special.