North Dakota Game and Fish Department
Lonnie Liebel caught a new state record lake whitefish that had been in the books for more than 40 years.
The Riverdale angler reeled in his 9-pound, 3-ounce whitefish on June 2 from the Garrison Dam Tailrace in the Missouri River.
The previous record of 8 pounds, 11 ounces was established in 1984 by Bill Mitzel, a Bismarck angler who was also fishing the tailrace.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual aerial pronghorn survey will begin June 28 and is scheduled to be completed within two weeks.
During the survey period, small airplanes will sometimes fly low over parts of western North Dakota.
The survey determines pronghorn abundance, herd demographics and fawn production. This data is used to set the number of licenses for the fall hunting season.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 78th annual spring breeding duck survey conducted in May showed an index of about 2.66 million birds, down from 2.9 million in 2024 and 3.4 million in 2023.
The 2025 breeding duck index was the 33rd highest on record and exceeded the long-term (1948-2024) average by 7%, according to Mike Szymanski, Department migratory game bird supervisor.
“Things are continuing to decline a little bit as far as duck populations go. The mallard population estimate was down 26% from last year and is the lowest estimated mallard breeding population on our survey since 1993,” Szymanski said. “Blue-winged teal, green-winged teal and pintails also had significant population declines, whereas the declines for gadwall, shovelers and ruddy ducks were not as significant. We did have a few species – wigeon, canvasbacks, redheads and lesser scaup – that showed increases from last year on our survey.”
Szymanski said there are a few things factoring into the declines, including poor wetland conditions for early migrating species like mallards and pintails. Many of these birds, which arrived in North Dakota before the nourishing rains in May, likely spurned the state because of dry conditions and headed to search for breeding areas farther north. Also, the decline in breeding duck numbers has a lot to do with the loss of CRP and perennial grasses on the landscape used for nesting cover by ducks.
“We've lost so much grass on the landscape that it makes it really hard for duck populations and other ground-nesting birds to do well,” Szymanski said. “One metric we look at is going back to 1994 to 2016 when we had really good wetland conditions and a lot of grass, a lot of CRP on the landscape. Our total duck population is now down 34% from that time period's average, and our mallard breeding population in North Dakota is down 57% from that average. Those are pretty significant declines.”
Like in year’s past, Szymanski and crew covered more than 1,800 miles of transects counting wetlands and waterfowl down to the species and social grouping on both sides of the road. This spring, the wetland count was the 52nd highest on record but was down 38% from last year.
“We do our survey based on phenology and migration ecology of ducks coming through the state and this year it happened to be timed before we got quite a bit of rain later in May. So, not having much snow melt in the spring, our wetland counts were down quite a bit,” he said. “Conditions were pretty dry and that affected how ducks settled in the state. The western third of the state was very dry and then the eastern two thirds of the state was still quite dry, but a little bit better when we ran the survey.”
Szymanski reiterated that for duck populations to rebound in North Dakota and provide good opportunities for hunters, more grass and water are needed.
“North Dakota is the duck factory of the United States and North America. We have a lot of folks relying on us to produce ducks, not just our hunters here in North Dakota, but hunters all across the Central and Mississippi flyways,” he said. “When we have poor production in North Dakota, other folks feel it as well. Unfortunately, the direction we're going right now is smaller and smaller fall flights.”
As always, Szymanski cautions waterfowl hunters about reading too much into our survey numbers just yet. He said that while the Mid-continent duck populations aren’t what they once were, we’ll know more once the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service releases their fall survey area results sometime in early fall.
“And we’ll see how July goes when we do our duck brood survey,” he said. “Wetland conditions are a little bit improved from where they were in early May, but they're still not great. We likely would have had disastrous production if we didn’t get the rain we got. Hopefully, having some fair wetland conditions going into June will help us out and get a little duck production this year.”
Jeb Williams, Game and Fish Department director, announced the appointment of Casey Anderson to the agency’s deputy director position.
Anderson has been with the Department for 24 years, seven years as assistant wildlife division chief, and for the last four years he led the wildlife division as chief. He replaces Scott Peterson who spent 40 years with the agency, the last 11 as deputy director.
“Casey Anderson brings a combination of field and administrative experience, strong leadership, and an unwavering commitment to North Dakota’s fish and wildlife resources,” Williams said. “His ability to communicate with both the public and staff, coupled with a lifelong passion for our state, makes him exceptionally well-suited to step into the deputy director position.”
Anderson started with the agency in 2001 as a wildlife seasonal in Riverdale, building fences, spraying noxious weeds and whatever else needed attention in the district.
“I believe in the outdoors experience and benefiting from the quality of life that comes with being outdoors in North Dakota,” Anderson said. “By taking this position, I want to help maintain those experiences we get in the outdoors for all North Dakota citizens.”
North Dakota state law requires youth ages 12-15 who want to operate a boat or personal watercraft by themselves with at least a 10-horsepower motor must pass the state’s boating basics course.
The course is available for home-study by contacting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Two commercial providers also offer the course online, and links to those sites are on the boat and water safety education page on the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov.
While the home-study course is free, there is a fee to take it online. The online provider charges for the course, not the Game and Fish Department. The fee remains with the online provider.
The course covers legal requirements, navigation rules, getting underway, accidents and special topics such as weather, rules of the road, laws, life saving and first aid.
North Dakota residents who want to give fishing a try can fish for free June 7-8.
That is the state’s free fishing weekend, when all residents 16 and older can fish any North Dakota water without a license. Residents 15 and younger do not need a fishing license at any time of year.
The weekend provides a great opportunity to try fishing for the first time or take someone new.
Information on regulations, where to fish and what equipment is needed is available on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department encourages public comment on the revision of its 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan.
The SWAP is North Dakota's guiding document for the conservation and restoration of at-risk species and their habitats, with a focus on preventing species from becoming endangered. It identifies species of greatest conservation need, including fish, wildlife and invertebrates.
The plan is revised every 10 years and represents a unified effort involving various stakeholders aimed at creating and implementing conservation strategies to ensure the long-term protection and sustainability of the state’s fish and wildlife.
North Dakota’s SWAP is a collaborative effort by Game and Fish staff, species experts, partner conservation groups, and state, federal and local agencies.
A draft of the plan is available on the Department’s website, gf.nd.gov, and public comments are accepted through June 30, 2025.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department removed the open fire ban on Oahe Wildlife Management Area. However, this area still falls under county burn restrictions.
More information, including restrictions, on current fire danger indexes is available at NDResponse.gov.
Oahe WMA covers more than 16,000 acres along the Missouri River south of Bismarck and Mandan within Burleigh, Emmons and Morton counties.
May 4-10 is Aquatic Nuisance Species Awareness Week in North Dakota in an effort to raise public understanding of the preventative steps recreationists need to follow to stop the introduction and spread of ANS in the state’s waterways.
ANS are nonnative plants, animals or pathogens that can affect the ecology of our lakes and rivers and the economic and recreational value of those waterways.
Ben Holen, state Game and Fish Department ANS coordinator, said ANS awareness week is comprised of state and federal agencies highlighting the ongoing efforts taking place in North Dakota.
“The pathways of ANS introductions are vast, so it is important to relay ANS awareness across diverse platforms to reach many unique water users,” he said. “Raising awareness is a collaborative approach among partners and conscientious citizens.”
North Dakota currently has low numbers of aquatic nuisance species. Other than zebra mussels, just a few invasive plants and animals – curly leaf pondweed, Eurasian watermilfoil, flowering rush, and grass, bighead, silver and common carp – are found in some state waters.
To fight the introduction and spread of unwanted invasives, Holen said some of the shared burden falls on water users. The Game and Fish Department encourages anglers, pleasure boaters and others to clean, drain and dry all equipment after every use. Clean and remove all plants or animals from watercraft or equipment prior to leaving any recreational area. Drain and remove water from all equipment prior to exiting designated access points. Not draining water can be extremely hazardous and may cause negligent transportation of ANS to various locations. Afterwards, verify that all equipment is completely dry before using again.
For more information on aquatic nuisance species, visit the department’s website at gf.nd.gov.