Dakota Recreation Report: Jan. 24, 2022

Outdoor notes:

*Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges, and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night.

*Remember to keep fish caught in 25 feet and deeper; they rarely survive coming up from deep depths.

Tournaments:

*Jan. 29: Devils Lake, 6-Mile Bay.

Fishing:

*Devils Lake elevation, Jan. 18: 1,447.2 feet above mean sea level (MSL).

*Stump Lake elevation: 1,447.16 MSL.

*Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,827.87 MSL; 16,200 cubic feet per second average (CFS) Garrison Dam daily releases.

*N.D. Game and Fish Dept. Dist. game wardens: Devils Lake access difficult unless on a plowed trail. Improving perch and walleye success in Creel Bay with nice white bass activity. East Devils Lake and Black Tiger Bay producing fair to good perch success with numbers of small ones, but some nice-sized ones mixed in. Access remains a problem on small area lakes with tracked vehicles needed.

*Devils Lake, Ed’s Bait Shop, Devils Lake: Lots of activity on Creel Bay with good, nice-sized perch success. Work shallower for walleye. Also try East Devils Lake, Black Tiger Bay for perch or Lake Irvine for walleye. Tracked vehicles necessary unless on trails, which are limited in some areas.

*Devils Lake, Lakeview Lodge, Minnewaukan: Try East or Black Tiger bays on Devils Lake for perch, but getting around on the ice is difficult at best. Tracked vehicles are a must. Some walleye activity on Pelican Lake, but access and moving around on the ice is also extremely difficult.

*Devils Lake, Woodland Resort, Devils Lake: Don’t go beyond the plowed trail between Rocky and Military points due to poor ice conditions and potential open water. Otherwise, continued fair to good walleye success with some plowed trails. Use tracked vehicles if going off trail due to snow on the ice.

*Foster County area lakes, Dry Dock, Carrington: Snow continues creating access issues on area lakes. Tracked vehicles needed to get on lakes and move around on the ice, but some anglers are finding fair but mixed success.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Pioneer Bait and Tackle, Jamestown: Access difficult on many area lakes, but some activity when and where anglers can get onto the ice, weather permitting.

*Jamestown Reservoir, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Some activity on Jamestown Reservoir using jigs and minnows. No reports from smaller area lakes.

*Lake Ashtabula, Ashtabula Crossing, Luverne: No new reports.

*Lake Ashtabula, Bayshore, Valley City: Weather and access permitting, anglers finding fair success for a mix of walleye and small perch. Tracked vehicles needed to get around on the lake with heavy snow cover, however.

*Lake Sakakawea, Cenex Bait and Tackle, Garrison: Occasional walleye from the east end of Lake Sakakawea. Look for a mix of walleye and pike with occasional small perch from Lake Audubon. Try 18- to 20-feet.

*Lake Sakakawea and Lake Audubon, Hwy. 83 Lawn and Leisure, Garrison: Work shallow water in the evening; deeper in the afternoon for walleye on Lake Audubon. Fair bite, but not steady. Fair for walleye on Steinke Bay and the south shore at Wolf Creek in 20- to 25-feet on the east end of Lake Sakakawea. Water is clear enough for pike spearing in those areas.

*Lake Sakakawea/Lake Audubon/Missouri River, Scott’s Bait and Tackle, Pick City: Limited anglers on the Missouri River tailrace with generally slow success. Lake Audubon walleye success hit-and-miss.

*Lonetree WMA area lakes, Harvey: No new reports with access difficult on many area lakes.

*Spiritwood Lake, Sooper Stop, Jamestown: Some activity with jigs and minnows.

N.D. Parks and Recreation Dept. trails:

*Grahams Island, Devils Lake: 4- to 8-inch trail base.

*Turtle River, Arvilla: Cross-country ski trails groomed. Ungroomed trails open for hiking, snowshoeing, or fat tire biking and in nice condition. Sledding hill also open with snow cover. Warming house open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Downhill skiing. Conditions can vary. Contact for updates and days of operation:

*Bottineau Winter Park, Bottineau, (701) 263-4556: 18-inch base with one chair, two magic carpets, four runs, and all tubing runs open. Terrain Park closed.

*Buena Vista Ski Area, Bemidji, Minn., (218) 843-2231: 24- to 48-inch machine-groomed base. 14 trails open with Terrain Park features set up on Snowflake.

*Frostfire Ski Area, Walhalla, (701) 549-3600: Trails open Saturdays and Sundays.

*Huff Hills Ski Area, Mandan, (701) 663-6421: 12- to 28-inch machine-groomed, loose granular base with two lifts, one tow, and 10 groomed and ungroomed runs open. Table tops and rail jump terrain features open on Green Lift area.

Snowmobile N.D. (conditions can vary):

*Cattail (Barnes, Cass, Steele, and Traill counties): 8- to 14-inch base with trails open and in fair condition.

*East-Central Valley (Cass and Richland counties) 8- to 12-inch base with all trails open.

*Lake Region (Nelson and Ramsey counties): 7- to 10-inch base with trails open and in fair to good early season condition.

*Missouri Valley (Emmons and Burleigh counties): 4- to 8-inch base with trails open and in fair condition with some drifting.

*North-central (Benson, McHenry, Pierce, Ramsey, and Towner counties): Trail open with 8- to 12-inch base.

*Northeast (Cavalier, Pembina, and Walsh counties): 8- to 12-inch base with Langdon to Osnabrock to Milton to Nekoma back to Langdon loop open.

*Red River South (Grand Forks and Walsh counties): 8- to 12-inch base with all trails open and in fair condition.

*Sakakawea (McLean and Ward counties) 4- to 8-inch base with trails open and in fair condition, but many drifts.

*Sheyenne Valley (Barnes, Dickey, LaMoure, Ransom, and Stutsman counties): 8- to 16-inch base. J-3, V-1, V-2, V-3, V-4, V-5, V-6, L-1, L-3, L-4, and O-2 trails open.

*Sno-trails (Bottineau, McHenry, Renville, and Ward counties: 6- to 10-inch base. Trails open and groomed when possible. Some drifting in areas.

*Southern Valley (Richland County): 8- to 12-inch base with trails open and in fair condition with some drifts.

*All other trails remain closed.

Numbers to know:

*N.D. Game and Fish Department, main Bismarck office: (701) 328-6300, website: (http://gf.nd.gov).

*N.D. Game and Fish Department, Devils Lake office: (701) 662-3617.

*N.D. Game and Fish Department, Jamestown office: (701) 253-6480.

*Report All Poachers: (701) 328-9921.