By Doug Leier
North Dakota has a year-round fishing season, and every spring conversations pop up at gas stations, watering holes, cafe’s and online.
It often starts when anglers see photos of big, egg-laden walleyes or northern pike taken before spawning. That leads to questions: Should we have a closed season? Should we protect big fish with length limits?
Before getting too far into the debate, a little background helps.
In 1993, the Game and Fish Department moved to a year-round fishing season statewide. At the time, anglers could already harvest walleye and northern pike year-round on the Missouri River System. Elsewhere, however, the traditional “game fish” season closed from mid-March through early May – a regulation that had been in place since at least the 1930s.
When the change was considered, biologists weighed the pros and cons. Interestingly, the biggest concern wasn’t overharvest of pre-spawn fish. Instead, it was whether eliminating the traditional fishing opener would reduce angler interest.
Another factor was opportunity: opening the season in early spring would expand shore-fishing options and help anglers take advantage of abundant, and often underutilized northern pike populations.
Over three decades later, the year-round season has been largely well received. Not by everyone. But by many. Anglers appreciate the extra opportunity, and biologically, increased harvest of pre-spawn fish has not shown up as a problem in any of our waters.
Still, every spring – especially during early springs with open water statewide – we hear concerns. It’s good to hear the passion and concern of anglers. Much more welcome than apathy.
Anglers see people keeping large female pike or walleyes from shorelines, below dams, or in narrow rivers and channels. These fish are obvious spawners, and it’s easy to assume their harvest must hurt the fishery.
But while those fish are potential producers, they represent a very small fraction of the total population. For every large fish caught, many more remain in the system, each capable of producing tens of thousands of eggs.
In the end, fish populations are largely a numbers game.
A stringer of big walleyes or pike taken before the spawn might not sit well with everyone, but biologically it doesn’t do any more harm than harvesting those same fish over Memorial Day weekend.
That said, restrictive or experimental regulations are always on the table – if there’s a clear need and if they can be evaluated in a way that provides reliable, long-term results. Any regulation change needs to be based on solid data, not just perception.
Each year, fisheries biologists assess adult fish populations and reproduction on major waters. We also track angler success through creel surveys. Together, those tools help determine if and when changes to regulations are necessary.
Concerned anglers play an important role, too. Questions and comments, whether sent electronically or shared in person, help keep these conversations going and ensure our resources stay healthy.
There’s more information available on the Game and Fish Department website for those who want to dive deeper. And whether you choose to release big fish or keep a few for the fryer, what’s certain is spring fishing is a welcome sign to the end of winter.
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