Early goose season opens today in ND
Welcome to another school year and a new outdoor column dedicated to giving up-to-date hunting and fishing reports, along with tips and tricks of the trade.
Both of us are graduate students in the School of Natural Resources and have spent our entire lives hunting and fishing in the outdoors.
Things you will be seeing in the future include hunting and fishing seasons and highlights of regulations, locations of migrating game and interviews with various experts in outdoor fields.
We will also cover local attractions and organizations that involve outdoor activities.
This past weekend we were at Devils Lake and fished the lake hard but the fishing was tough.
Little fish were not hard to find but the “eater” size fish were not as cooperative.
By far we had the best luck trolling leadcore with Salmo hornets in 20 to 25 feet of water.
We also tried pitching crankbaits, jigging with leaches, and pulling lindy rigs, with mixed results.
We covered a lot of structure, but the places that stood out were Mater Ridge, Channel A Road and Budweiser Bay.
Early Canada goose season starts Sept. 1 in North Dakota, whereas the season starts a day later in Minnesota.
Minnesota has different limits for different areas and requires the purchase of a special early goose season license that costs $4, so be sure to check the hunting regulations handbook.
North Dakota allows five birds taken and 10 in possession for the early season hunt.
Jason Riopel, NDSU Ducks Unlimited president, has spent many hours scouting for the upcoming season.
Riopel reports seeing concentrations of Canada geese around Hillsboro, N.D.; those might be birds from the Crystal Sugar lagoon, however.
There have also been reports of high numbers of geese north of Creole Bay on Devils Lake.
Ducks Unlimited is a branch geared toward college students in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
It was started last school year and is off to a great start with high interest.
We spoke with Riopel on the benefits of joining.
“ The purpose of NDSU (Ducks Unlimited) is to raise money to improve habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife,” he said. “This organization benefits that group of people who enjoy waterfowl hunting and being outdoors.”
Do not forget that the Red River is a great fishery that is underused and not given enough credit for the quality of fish it produces.
There are some great places to fish very close to campus that are great if you need a study break or have the afternoon off.
Large channel catfish and walleye are some of the more common species.
A good source to find Red River fishing information would be Gander Mountain Fishing Associate Ed Carlson (Back Water Eddy), who is arguably the best multispecies angler on the Red.
Next week we will be discussing where people had success the first weekend of the early goose season and what strategies seemed to stand out over others.
Good Luck!