05/09/08
The final tally for the year end up at nine hundred and eighty two after a one hundred and seventy eight fish final day on Wednesday. Obviously all the old records were shattered. While it was a successful year for lots of fishermen it was also a frustrating year for not only some fishermen but also anyone who was attempting to keep up with the unprecedented demand. I am not sure that anything can be done to make it better but I am sure it will be looked at carefully before our next paddlefishing season rolls around. I had one fisherman in today who after spending three days here moved on to above Fort Peck to try there luck paddlefishing there. He said it was very slow up there and there group of seven, which had caught six in a couple of days here had gotten skunked up there. The season on the Yellowstone in Montana starts on Thursday the 15th of this month. It will be interesting to see how the luck is there. The Yellowstone is still continuing to drop and is now back to about sixty eight hundred cubic feet per second.
05/07/08 11:15 AM
ATTENTION PADDLEFISHERMEN:
It cannot not get much stranger than this! Now a fishermen has supposedly pulled in human hair at the Sundheim Park area and the NDG&F has closed the area to the south of the Highway 200 bridge down while divers goes in and search for a body. Fishing for paddlefish has been good on the Yellowstone and at the Confluence and the size is also much better. This is the final day of catch and keep and fish numbers were over forty so far today. Not a huge crowd but it does sound like a few folks are coming for the catch and release this weekend. We do now have combos back in and are in good shape on 8/0 hooks and weights. Thanks Andy
A women who was reported missing on April 12th was found yesterday in the Yellowstone near Fallon Montana so this appears to have nothing to do with the human hair that was reported to have been snagged in the area of Sundheim Park. If we here anything more about this we will let you know.
Beth Kurz with her eighty seven pound paddlefish caught at the Pumphouse.
05/05/08
Paddlefish Report:
Our supply of paddlefish rods has been replenished and we are still in ok shape on hooks and weights. It appears that the catch and release has been going quite well and while the numbers are down success has been quite high with those coming in reporting catching numerous fish. The Yellowstone did pick up but you also have to wonder if there is not some monster females entering the system now. We have gotten a lot of emails good and bad and appreciate knowing of any problems and/or if you had a great time. Sounds like several of our customers had a hard time getting paddlefish shuttled from the Pumphouse area and hopefully we can provide the service again next year if things work out. We will not have much for photos this year as we were not our doing the shuttle and in the past that is when we took pictures, if you have a digital photo you would like to get on our website email it to us and we will try our best. Thanks Andy
05/05/08
Paddlefish Report:
The North Dakota Game & Fish has announced that the 2008 paddlefish season will be over with on Wednesday, May 7th at 10:00 PM. Catch and release will continue for one week at the Confluence area until Wednesday the 14th. The rest of today and tomorrow catch and release will continue as normal at all open areas. Good luck and thanks for all the business even though it was awful short and sweet!
05/04/08 5:00 PM
Paddlefish Report:
Talked with Scott again and he said the numbers for yesterday were three hundred and sixteen and the number for so far today is one hundred and forty. That brings the total for the year to seven hundred and forty nine. The fishing at the Confluence has obviously slowed down and the fish are now moving up the Yellowstone with fishing improving at Sundheim Park. There has not been any announcement of closing yet but at best I feel we may still get Wednesday for catch and keep. There are more people leaving than coming right now but a fare amount are coming for catch and release. Thanks to all of you who made it in for opening weekend. Andy
05/04/08 7:00 AM
Paddlefish Report:
A another record was smashed yesterday! The old record of a two hundred fish day fell to three hundred and nine by 10:30 and the cleaning station was still waiting to see if more fish would show up. That brings the total for the first three days to at least six hundred and two. The water coming down the Yellowstone has leveled off so it looks like the nice weather may be melting some snow as it crept back up to over seventy eight hundred cfs yesterday. While the water is up and running dirty, the fish are still there and very few have moved up into the Yellowstone. One fisherman calling from the Stateline, which is the last place you can fish on the Yellowstone in North Dakota, said no fish at all were being caught there with about twenty fishermen fishing. With the success they are having now with one day of catch and keep remaining I cannot imagine we will see another open weekend. I made a trip through the Pumphouse last night but the fishermen there reported slower fishing. This morning we have already had people in that were fishing the Pumphouse yesterday heading for the Confluence early to find a spot. It is strange how good the Confluence has been this year so early as normally we would see it pick up there at least four or five days into the season. We are seeing a huge amount of males from the earlier catch as well. The shuttle and the fish cleaning station are both having a hard time keeping up and I suppose as a result, I have never seen so many people cleaning there own fish. I understand the freezers at the Confluence are full so bring a cooler with you and some ice if you are feeling lucky today.
05/03/08 5:30 PM
Paddlefish Report:
Absolute insanity has hit the Confluence! I cannot get the cleaning station to answer the phone but from talking with customers who are coming in they said the fish are stacked up and those guys are swamped. It sounds like it will be at least a two hundred fish day and everyone is running to keep up. We have had numerous calls from people in other areas waiting to have fish shuttled but we can only wish we could help out. The fish shuttle is not being handled by us this year and the number to call is 570-1327. It is looking very scary for next weekend not being open but nothing official at all. We have more gear coming but have sold out almost all of our combos, rods and reels. We had everything in stock that we sold last year plus ten percent and sold it all in three days. We have a good stock yet of hooks, weights and line and will not have any problem making it through next week. I will have a better report of what is going on as soon as possible! Andy
05/03/08 8:20 AM
Paddlefish Report:
I could not get a firm number from the cleaning station but they did say there was about one hundred and fifty paddlefish caught again on the second day. The biggest we have heard of was one hundred pounds. They were already cleaning fish again this morning with about five on the conveyor belt waiting. The water has peaked on the Yellowstone at Glendive from the recent rain and snow to the south. The Yellowstone has raised a couple feet and that still may be enough to get the paddlefish moving. I am sure we will be getting in reports from Sundheim Park today. Regardless the numbers and the success rate for fishermen have been very good. I am amazed at the size of the females that are being caught for it being so early in the season. The Pumphouse area has also been quite good but from what fishermen are saying the best success is in the Confluence area and some are only staying at the Pumphouse to avoid the crowd. It is going to be interesting to see what we end up with for this first four day week and how many people hang around for catch and release on Monday and Tuesday. Andy
05/02/2008 9:00 PM
Paddlefish Report:
The cleaning station
at the Confluence hit the one hundred fish mark for the day at about
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv/?site_no=06327500&PARAmeter_cd=00060,00065,00010
Right now there is
more water coming down the
Scott from North Star
said the campers pretty much have the lot at the Confluence filled but
some are camping farther east. Some
groups are filling out and leaving though so you never know when there
will be more room. Sunday
night for sure there will be lots of room as we go into the catch and
release days on Monday and Tuesday. While
you can’t beat the fun, the catch and release is not as popular as the
catch and keep. Should be a
great week next week with the size getting bigger.
There was even a noticeable difference today with a little slower
fishing but the average size bigger. Good
luck and see you tomorrow. Andy
05/02/08 8:30 AM
Paddlefish Report:
Paddlefish, paddlefish and paddlefish, what a crazy
opener! A new record was set
for opening day with one hundred and forty one fish coming through the
cleaning station. In the old
records the top year was 2004 with eighty six cleaned.
The hot spot was the Confluence area and it appears the paddlefish
are staging in that area waiting for the
05/01/2008 8:15 PM
A new record for the number of fish cleaned at the Confluence on opening day. With almost two hours to go till the 10:00 closing for the day, there are already one hundred and fourteen fish that have been cleaned. In 2004 there was eighty six caught on opening day. About eighty five to ninety percent have been males. We could see a one hundred and fifty fish, opening day! The bulk of the fish are still from the Confluence but they also seem to be through out the river system with the accept ion of the Yellowstone which is still to low. Some of the campers have filled out and will be pulling out before the weekend to make room for more fishermen.
05/01/08 12:30AM
Paddlefish Report:
I ran up to the Confluence to see for myself how they were doing and snap a couple of photos. By noon there were fifty one paddlefish caught with the biggest being a ninety five pound female. A sixty two pound was also brought in while I was taking pictures. Like we had expected the low water in the Yellowstone seems to be making the fish stage in the area of the Confluence. I talked to fishermen who were doing well on the south shore, lone tree and even east of the boat ramp at the Confluence. They had some rain right there but not enough to dampen the spirits of some gun ho fishermen. My wife Donna had talked to a fisherman who's group had went to Sundheim Park but said that area was slow and they did not see any fish caught. I have not made it out to the Pumphouse yet but I know a few fish have come from there but not near the numbers that we are seeing at the Confluence. Here are a few pictures to see how the water levels look at the Confluence.
This is a picture looking East from the boat ramp at the Confluence.
This is a photo looking West from Lone Tree which is about a half mile East of the Confluence parking lot. The point out in the water were you can see some fishermen standing is the south shore across from the boat ramp.
Just in case you doubt my fishing report I though I better throw in this shot of the conveyor belt full of paddlefish. I did not think Rory was still around cleaning fish but he is there and smiling as usual!
05/01/08 10:15AM
Paddlefish Report:
We are two hours and fifteen minutes into the season and there has been twenty paddlefish cleaned at the Confluence caviar station. Most of the fish came from right at the Confluence with the best spot being the south shore on what is called Neu's. It is public land now and the water has gotten deep right off the shore. Some females but the bulk of the fish are males. The game & fish is watching the temperatures in the Yellowstone but with low water and cool water temps the fish are not expected to make much of a move up the Yellowstone at this time. The boat shuttle at the Confluence is running with a new operator and are hauling fishermen across. Typically they also haul downstream to the Ryder area as well. Fair numbers of early fishermen but I am sure we will see a lot more this weekend.
According to second hand reports the North Dakota Game & Fish did quite well netting paddlefish in the Confluence area with a one day catch over a hundred and eighty.
Keith from the Williams County water board was just here and they have completed two more picnic shelters at the Confluence parking area. These will be a great addition.
I have gotten a couple of calls from South Dakota and they are getting a bunch of snow and were concerned about the roads. Here we have gotten a sprinkle of rain and it is overcast but roads are good and considering it is paddlefishing season the weather is great. Sounds like the weather will even be nicer for the weekend.
There is a burn ban in place so don't haul to much firewood along. Rain would really help that but I am not sure if to many of you care to paddlefish in the rain!
04/30/08
Paddlefish Report:
We were not awarded the contract this year to shuttle paddlefish to have them cleaned at the Confluence. Therefore we will not be out there as much for taking pictures. If you would like to get your photo on our website bring a digital camera or you are welcome to stop by the store for a picture if you are coming this way. We will also not have the freezer service available at the store but let us know if we can help you out in some way. Once again I apologize for any inconvenience to our customers but our bid for providing these services was rejected by North Star Caviar. We appreciate your support in the past and being able to help make your time here more enjoyable. We do not know what they have lined up for a shuttle service but encourage you to continue supporting North Star Caviar in this non-profit venture. Maybe next year we will be awarded the contract and can continue with the services as we have done in the past. Good luck and see you soon! Andy, Shane and the staff at Scenic Sports
The water coming down the Missouri is still close to 8000 cfs which is not much of an increase but may help to get the fish moving upstream. If the fish do move they will hold up below the Confluence as the Yellowstone is still very low at about 5600 cfs. If you remember last year on about the 8th the Yellowstone rose to about 18,000 cfs and pulled the fish up to Intake real quickly. This is suppose to be Sakakawea's year for stable or rising water to get a spawn so that may also help us out. Our water temps are still quite low but yesterday the air temp was pushing eighty real hard, more days like this will warm our low water. If the fish come out of the lake and stage we could have excellent fishing in the Ryder Point and Confluence area. Ryder is just below the Confluence and pretty much on the west edge of the closed area. Fishermen are starting to show up but not in big numbers yet. This evening we will probably see the campers start coming in quite regular. Be careful when you are in the Williston area as we are all terribly short of help and even if you do not want it, you may end up with a job! Andy
04/29/08
Paddlefish Report:
The water remains quite low and it looks like it could be easy fishing for the paddlefish that are in the system at this point. I still believe we are going to see a longer season than last year but I guess we will see how season progresses. The new shorter notice on the closure is thirty six hours but that may help all of us with more flexibility the NDG&F can call it more accurately. We have seen the Missouri rise at Culberston about twenty five hundred cubic feet per second which makes for about a two foot rise in the water level. This almost has to be coming from Ft. Peck as we have not seen any moisture to speak of. Our stock is still great and we are looking forward to seeing our old friends. Fishing for sauger and walleye is still pretty good as well and the water remains quite clean. I have heard there are good numbers of paddlefish in the closed area below the Confluence which should make the action good there right off the bat. They have also been working on a couple of new shelters at the Confluence parking lot which are supposed to be done for opener. I am looking forward to seeing some of my fellow houndsmen and be sure and look me up if you are game for some late night coon hunting. That's is about the only time I will have off for a while!
Our hundred dollar combo has been a real good seller with rave revues from the customers over the last couple years. If you only plan on minimal time fishing the $49.95 combo has been pretty impressive for the price. We still have the hottest price on treble hooks and lots of them. About fifteen thousand to be exact! We have had a few calls on the one piece hook and weight but we had them years ago and it was a real flop. They sang up real bad with the hook right at the bottom, the hot ticket for salmon snagging but not much good on our river full of logs. See ya soon, Andy
04/25/08
Paddlefish Report:
Fred Ryckman of the North Dakota Game & Fish talks about paddlefishing and the outlook for the season. Well worth taking the time to listen to.
http://www.gf.nd.gov/multimedia/ndoutdoors/webcast-new.html
Scenic View
Five more days and we are going to be paddlefishing!
But in the mean time the turkeys are calling and the walleyes are
biting so the time will go fast. Paddlefish
season could be quick this year but I don’t believe it will be as short
as last year when it did not even make it to the second weekend.
Last years season started on Tuesday which of course was a catch
and release day and continued through Friday the 11th.
The Game & Fish announced on Tuesday the 8th that
season would close at the end of the day on the 11th.
Even though there were two hundred fish caught on Saturday the 5th
the numbers per day fell dramatically once the river started coming up and
the paddlefish headed up the
This week has been the best so far for the turkey
hunters with good reports of gobblers coming in to the call.
Even though
As long as our water stays clean the fishing on the river will continue to be good. Both walleye and sauger are being caught in the river in decent numbers by both the bank and boat fishermen. Not every year presents us with clean water in the spring so get out and enjoy it!
04/23/08
Paddlefish Update:
Both the Yellowstone and the Missouri have been very stable slightly under 6000 cubic feet per second each. We have not seen a substantial rise yet and that is what sends the paddlefish upstream in big numbers. There are some paddlefish that stay in the river system pretty much all the time and the NDG&F has done some tagging already this year. While it would be nice to see more water coming in the fishing should be great regardless. We have expanded our hours and now open at 6 AM and will be open till 10 PM when it gets closer to season. We are open seven days a week and all of our paddlefishing equipemnt is now in stock. I spoke with one motel manager at the Airport International Inn and he said the oil activity has slowed down and there are plenty of rooms available for early May. We do have a city water faucet in front of the store if any of you need to add water to your campers when you get here and there is also a camper sewer dump about three blocks from the store. We also have gotten in fire wood as long as we get some moisture so there is not a burn ban in place. The paddlefish gear is really rolling out of here but our stock is huge so don't worry about getting yours. If you would like to call and pre-buy on a credit card that is not a problem either. Our phone number is 701-572-8696. The walleye and Sauger bite has been great, don't forget to bring some gear! The Airport International Inn is 701-774-0241, El Rancho Hotel is 701-572-6321 and Super 8 is 701-572-8371. Looking forward to seeing lots of old customers. Andy and the crew at Scenic!
04/18/08
Paddlefish Update:
The river is still low and the area very dry but some moisture and cooler weather are in the forecast for next week. The farmers in the area are very concerned about the dry conditions going into our ninth year of drought. I understand the game & fish were doing some paddlefish tagging but have not talked directly to those involved. Early reports indicated only fair numbers in the system yet. I should know more within a few days. We are starting to see some of the early season paddlefishermen shopping and getting their rigs ready but it is a very small part of the crowd. We got in a bunch of really nice paddlefish caps and shirts, something new for this season. Everything else is here and ready and like I mentioned in my last paddlefish report our prices cannot be beat. I noticed one of the box stores is trying to sell some paddlefish gear but becareful as a Avenger 50 is not enough reel for this tough sport. A rod as well has to be damn strong to handle the abuse that it is going to get. Hook prices seem to be a little crazy through out the state so once again do some shopping before you buy. Single 10/0 hooks here are 69 cents and 8/0 are 59 cents. We have grosses which are 144 hooks as well as quarter gross and once again bags of twenty. Gaffs is probably our weakest product and it is hard to find something with enough length. We have 16/0 hooks for making gaffs and hopefully will have time to crank some out this week. Twelve days to go!