Fishing Report Card Revisted-Again

By Fisheries Division Cheif Greg Power

For the past 15 years, I have periodically played teacher and provided a North Dakota fishing report card. Considering that it’s been four years since the last assessment of the state’s fisheries, I believe it’s time to look inside the classroom again.

Access and Opportunity – 2023 Grade A (2019 Grade A; 2014 Grade A; 2011 Grade A; 2008 Grade A-)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, and most assuredly I am, fishing opportunities in North Dakota have never been better. Today, there are more than 450 fishing lakes totaling nearly 800,000 acres in North Dakota (see accompanying graph).

With a record number of lakes, the goal of improving these fishing opportunities (including access) remains a priority for Game and Fish Department staff. To that end, in the past four years the following have been completed: 26 new boat ramps; nine boat ramp upgrades; 73 lakes with new docks or piers; and 19 waters with new or upgraded fish cleaning stations. All total, the Department has participated in funding/developing approximately 290 public boat ramps across the state.

Given there are a substantial number of North Dakotans who like to fish but don’t have access to boats, in the past four years Game and Fish has engaged in the following to better the conditions for shore anglers:

• Efforts to improve shore-fishing access as dams have been renovated.
• Numerous fishing piers installed across the state.
• Partnered with various entities to provide fishing piers for anglers as well as physically disabled anglers to utilize.
• Installed stairway for anglers to access the shoreline without walking down highway riprap.
• Coordinated with local entities regarding use of roadways often popular for shore-fishing areas.
• Excavated cattails and removed vegetation that had encroached around shoreline access sites on a few lakes.
• Constructed earthen/wooden steps to facilitate access to a popular shore-fishing locations.
• Obtained shore-fishing access from private landowners.
• Major renovation project on a lake that should enhance shore-fishing by creating deeper water areas close to shore.

Another opportunity the Department continues to address is to expand the number of community fisheries across the state. In recent years, through working with local partners, we’ve added one to two new community ponds per year. All total, there are more the 50 community ponds within or very near North Dakota cities and towns.

Future Challenges – Department staff share the same crystal ball as all others when it comes to forecasting the weather including droughts and floods. Undoubtedly, these future weather patterns will determine if there will be even more new lakes with new fishing opportunities or will we regress to the limited opportunities of the 1980s. Future challenges will remain to maintain hundreds of boating access sites and thousands of pieces of infrastructure. Historically, Game and Fish has generally relied on local assistance from managing partners. However, for various reasons, much of the needed maintenance has increasingly fallen on the Department. Fortunately, in the past year or so the fisheries development staff has doubled in size (from 2 to 4) in hopes of keeping up with this needed maintenance and new construction projects.

Fish Abundance and Health – 2023 Grade A (2019 Grade A-; 2014 Grade A; 2011 Grade A; 2008 Grade B+)

The number of fishing waters and fish populations within these waters continue to be record setting. And many of these waters are destination fisheries for various species including channel catfish, smallmouth bass, white bass, paddlefish, brown trout, walleye, northern pike and yellow perch.

It’s no surprise that walleye are the most sought-after species in the state. And fortunately, the good news regarding the current walleye populations is positive. Today, there are more than 70 new walleye fisheries scattered across central and eastern North Dakota than what existed 20 years ago. Over this time, hundreds of thousands of walleye have been harvested by anglers from these new waters.

Lake Sakakawea, Devils Lake and the Missouri River/Lake Oahe are the big three fisheries representing approximately half of all angling in North Dakota annually. The overall health of walleye and other fish populations in Sakakawea and Devils Lake remain very good. In fact, the walleye catch and harvest by anglers in a few recent years in Sakakawea and Devils Lake was likely amongst the best ever noted. Only the fish health in the Missouri River/Lake Oahe remains substandard (compared to the long-term).

Future Challenges – Grounded in history, the abundance and health of fish populations in North Dakota will continue to be based on the frequent nature of floods and droughts. Recent wet events (embedded within some very dry periods) have maintained or even increased lake levels throughout the state, further increasing long-term expectations of good fishing in years to come. The most prominent, short-term concern is the number and magnitude of fish kills (winterkill) that occurred in our fishing lakes this past winter. Fisheries staff will be restocking many of these lakes in spring to assist in restoring the respective fish populations.

Management – 2023 Grade A (2019 Grade A; 2014 Grade A; 2011 Grade A; 2008 Grade A-)

With the steady growth in the number of fishing waters in the past few decades, Department biologists use a tiered lake priority system to determine how many lakes get surveyed and for what purposes. This is needed as there simply isn’t enough field staff to sample all lakes all years.

All tier 1 and 2 waters are surveyed at least once a year to help with fish management decisions such as regulation changes and stocking plans. The accompanying table is from a few years back and outlines the general activities fisheries staff incorporate depending upon the lake tier priority.

In addition to the normal fish population surveys, other routine activities include water quality monitoring, research and creel surveys. It should be noted that in recent years, tagging projects have increased to provide managing biologists with specific and important information. Species tagged include walleye, northern pike, chinook salmon and paddlefish.

Utilizing our survey data, we’ve been fortunate in North Dakota to keep fishing regulations simple and straightforward, while at the same time protect, sustain or improve fish populations. There have been very few regulation changes since the last report card was issued.

Stocking efforts are one of those high-profile activities that many anglers closely monitor. What some anglers don’t realize is the connection between the Department’s survey (netting) efforts and subsequent stocking recommendations, which drive what and how many fish species are stocked. And to meet these stocking needs, North Dakota is extremely fortunate to have the expertise at North Dakota’s two federal hatcheries, Garrison Dam and Valley City.

In 2022 alone, the combination of hatchery production, coupled with the Department’s trap and transport efforts, resulted in the stocking of 11.2 million fingerling-sized fish and 120,000 adult (generally with eggs) fish, representing more than a dozen species, into approximately 250 North Dakota waters.

Future Challenges – As in the past, the Department’s biggest concern that could greatly compromise management efforts is the future expansion of aquatic nuisance species. In the past few years, the ANS program was greatly enhanced with additional staff and resources. This has improved the Department’s ANS prevention and education activities including watercraft inspections. Although North Dakota is fortunate to date to have few ANS infestations (no new finds in 2022), the threat and consequences of ANS infestations remain a significant concern and could greatly impact North Dakota fisheries in years to come.

Habitat (Water Quantity and Quality) – 2023 Grade B (2019 Grade B-; 2014 Grade B; 2011 Grade A; 2008 Grade B-)

As noted in past report cards, habitat can be a rather vague word but in simple terms, the quality of North Dakota’s fishing waters is predicated upon both the quality and quantity of water.

In terms of water quality, its long-term performance in the classroom continues to be satisfactory at best. In some waters, especially reservoirs, excessive nutrients have led to fish kills. And for some of our fishing lakes, blue-green algae blooms (again caused by excessive nutrients) have resulted in warnings and advisories issued by the Department of Environment Quality.

For 20 years the Department’s Save Our Lakes program attempted to “plant seeds” and address best management practices on land but met only marginal success. It should be noted that primarily due to costs to address watershed water quality issues truly and fully, the water quality portion of the SOL program has been retired.

The other portion of the fish habitat formula is water quantity. As stated earlier, conditions have never been better as we currently have a record number of fishing lakes on the landscape. The big moisture events in fall 2019 and again in spring of 2022 have benefited our lakes greatly. Although numerous North Dakota lakes will likely experience above-normal winterkill (due to the prolonged, heavy 2022-23 snowpack), given most of our lakes are full or nearly full, the prognosis in terms of water quantity (and thus fishing lakes) the next few years remains promising.

Future Challenges – Of all the subjects to be graded in the classroom, habitat is the most difficult to improve upon. The reason being, is both parameters, water quantity and quality, are far outside the ability of the teacher, school administration, school board and parents to adequately address. Water quantity is driven by Mother Nature who doesn’t attend school. And issues dealing with water quality, although within human hands, involves macro-economic issues including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm bill. As mentioned in the past, finding long-term solutions to landscape use will be one of the largest challenges facing many resource professionals in the years and decades to come.

Overall – 2023 Grade A- (2019 Grade A-; 2014 Grade A-; 2011 Grade A; 2008 Grade B+)

There is no grade inflation in North Dakota’s fishing industry as obtaining an A remains both a goal and challenge. Although close, the current state of fishing and the fishery resource comes up just short of a near perfect grade. Ongoing water quality issues (fewer fish kills and blue-green algae advisories) and some shortcomings in the important Missouri River/Lake Oahe fishery, are a couple obvious areas in need of some improvement.

Nonetheless, an A- certainly means a much, much better than average fishery (classroom). Mother Nature has been very kind to North Dakotas fishing resources for decades and fisheries staff have been ready and willing to develop and manage the new and/or enhanced fisheries. Moving forward, it never has been so important to match anglers and their expectations with the different fisheries’ abilities to produce fish. Accomplishing this will be foundational to the Department’s R3 efforts to recruit, retain and reactivate anglers.

The time is now to make some time to relax with family and friends and wet a line. If you’re new to fishing, you may become hooked.