North Dakota
North Dakota Game and Fish to stock adult yellow perch into Devils Lake next spring
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is planning to stock adult yellow perch into Devils Lake next spring as part of a “trap-and-transport” effort to boost populations of the tasty panfish, which are a popular draw for anglers on the big lake, especially in the winter.
According to Greg Power, fisheries chief for Game and Fish in Bismarck, moving egg-laden adult perch from lakes with too many stunted fish has worked well in creating new perch fisheries in small prairie lakes, but has rarely been tried on a scale as large as Devils Lake.
Contributed / North Dakota Game and Fish Department
The window of opportunity isn’t open very long; perch are early spawners.
“The critical thing is to get the nets in (the water) right at ice out, and move them to the new lakes before they spawn,” Power said. “That really has provided tremendous dividends.”
Less successful, he says, has been stocking adult perch into lakes with already established populations.
“The results of that are a little more mixed,” Power said.
The upcoming trap-and-transport effort comes on the heels of a perch population that has lagged behind historic averages the past couple of years. Based on results from Game and Fish summer netting surveys, Devils Lake perch numbers have declined from 18.3 fish per net in 2021 to 8.8 fish per net in 2024. Much of that, Power says, is due to the cyclical nature of perch reproduction specifically and fish populations in general.
“Every prairie lake out there for every species, it’s all about ebbs and flows, peaks and valleys, and that’s certainly been the case at Devils Lake,” Power said. “Is it that bad right now? No – I mean, the last two years, it’s been below the long-term average.
“If you go back just four or five years ago, it was above it considerably.”
Game and Fish personnel, including department Director Jeb Williams, met with Devils Lake tourism interests over the summer to talk about the status of the perch fishery.
“The locals there at Devils Lake – in particular the guides and outfitters, but I think anybody that likes perch fishing – are concerned with where we’re going with the population,” Power said. “They requested us to do something more, so we’re going to re-look at moving adult perch into Devils Lake next spring.”
Brad Dokken / Grand Forks Herald file photo
Mark Bry, a Devils Lake fishing guide and owner of Bry’s Guide Service, participated in the meetings last summer and said the Game and Fish Department’s willingness to stock adult perch was appreciated.
“We’re just trying to stay proactive,” Bry said. “I’ve learned a lot about perch in the last five-six months. The numbers are probably not as strong as they have been, but I think this is fairly common. A couple of years ago, we had really good perch fishing – 12- to 13-inch perch were kind of everywhere. We still have some big perch in the system, but I think they just want to try and enhance it a little bit more.”
Perch favor flooded vegetation for spawning, and when the wet cycle that raised Devils Lake by upwards of 20 feet began in 1993, the influx of water created ideal spawning conditions, Power said.
“What we got was just tremendous back to back to back year-classes of perch, which is very atypical, but that’s what happened,” he said. As lake levels stabilized and began declining, quality perch spawning habitat also became less abundant.
“Occasionally, we get a decent – maybe not a great, but a decent – year-class,” Power said. “It helps sustain a fishery for a while, then it falls off. And the last year or two, it’s been falling off.”
Contributed / North Dakota Game and Fish Department
As part of the upcoming stocking effort, department fisheries crews also plan to tag perch next spring in Devils Lake, Power said.
“We’re going to come up with a population estimate if we can get enough fish, to know where we sit for a while, and whether or not we’re adding enough (prespawn) fish to make a difference,” Power said. “Then we’ll monitor that for a few years thereafter.
“That population estimate is going to be critical to see where we’re sitting exactly for what’s out there and how much (stocking) can help this along.”
Still to be determined, he says, is where the adult perch being moved to Devils Lake will come from and how many fish Game and Fish crews can collect. Reproduction in many perch lakes across the state has declined, Power said, along with water levels in many of the new prairie lakes.
“To be honest, it’s going to be a lot more challenging for us to move enough perch because we just don’t have as many sources as we once had,” Power said. “It was pretty easy when we had a lot of perch lakes to move perch. It’s tougher now; we just don’t have surplus perch like we did 15 years ago.
“I think we’ll find a few lakes (from which) we can move fish, see if they can bring off a year-class and probably do that for a few years.”
Also on tap is a plan to raise the white bass limit from the current limit of 20 daily and 40 in possession to 30 daily and 60 in possession.
“We’re at a point where we can increase our white bass daily limit to more than what it is,” Power said. “There’s probably some interaction with perch and white bass predation (and) competition, but that might help a little bit.”
Walleyes are by far the most abundant species in the Game and Fish test nets, routinely accounting for upwards of 50% of the total catch.
“They’re going to have to balance walleye stocking, too,” Power said. “Walleye obviously are a predator. In the end, everybody wants the same thing – more walleye, more perch, big perch, big walleye; it just doesn’t happen that way.”
With stocking on the horizon, the 2025 perch hatch on Devils Lake also looks promising, Power says. Spring conditions “weren’t anything outstanding,” he says, but Devils Lake fisheries crews tallied a “respectable” perch hatch in 2025, based on results from the department’s annual young-of-the-year fish survey.
If those young perch make it through the winter, they could provide a natural boost to the population in a few years.
“I think we’ll be good,” said Bry, of Bry’s Guide Service. “Not every year can be a home run, and I think that’s just the thing people need to understand. You may not catch as many perch this winter – and we don’t know that for sure – but I think the future looks pretty good.
“I think it’s just kind of how this goes – the ups and downs of perch cycles; you get a couple of good years and a couple of average years.”
Stocking adult perch into Devils Lake isn’t unprecedented, but it’s been 20 years since the last effort. According to Game and Fish records, adult perch – anywhere from 2,000 to 7,000 – were stocked into Devils Lake in 1970, 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1992, a year when the fisheries crews also stocked 6.7 million perch fry.
More recently, Game and Fish stocked 76,000 adult perch into Devils Lake, along with 110,000 fingerlings, in 2005. That was followed by nearly 1.4 million fingerlings in 2006 and 931,000 fingerlings in 2007.
Contributed / North Dakota Game and Fish Department
The fingerlings stocked during those three years were marked with oxytetracycline, a chemical that shows up in the ear bones when viewed under a microscope, to determine the survival and success of the stocking effort.
“Out of the three years stocked, 2007 produced a year-class that contributed to the fishery in later years,” Power said. “However, the large majority of the 2007 year-class originated from natural reproduction, as only 9% of the fish came from stocking.”
In other words, there are a lot of unknowns with the upcoming adult perch stocking, Power says – especially on a body of water the size of Devils Lake.
“If it was easy, it would have been done a long time ago,” he said. “But we’ll see what we can do.
“And to be fair, the group up there at Devils Lake, they totally understand that. They just would like us to do something, and they recognize there’s absolutely no guarantees.”
Buffalo Chip revs up opening day of 85th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
The Sturgis Buffalo Chip opens with big crowds and high-energy musical performances and vendors.
An agricultural tourism site has been awarded $1.5 million for a planned expansion, part of $4 million in tourism grants announced by the North Dakota Department of Commerce.
The $1.5 million is for the Black Leg Market and Eatery at Sterling, east of Bismarck, which will be part of Black Leg Ranch. The ranch raises cattle and bison and sells meat. It also has a wedding venue, lodging, hunting and a brewery.
The project involves building the Market and Eatery, adding guest cabins and developing full-service RV sites.
The money for the $4 million in the latest round of grants became available after Country Fest, a Morton County music festival, declined the grant money after it decided not to make major changes to the event.
The Department of Commerce opened a new round of Destination Development Grant applications after Country Fest declined.
Other North Dakota grant recipients include:
- Johnny’s Landing – Casselton, $870,000: To develop a lodging and wellness destination with 14 full hookup RV sites, 12 wellness-focused heritage cabins converted from granaries and grain bins, renovated farmhouse lodging, preserved barn space for agritourism and a conversion of a historic wooden water tower into a sauna.
- Great Northern Event Center – Williston, $550,000:To refurbish a historic Main Street property, turning the underground portion of the building into a lounge and other upgrades.
- The Prairie Experience at The Bins – Lakota, $500,000:For construction of the Bins Coffee and Spirits café, developing three grain bin lodging units and other amenities.
- Icelandic Rootshús – Mountain,$300,000: The Icelandic Rootshús is a permanent interpretive center, a welcoming place where this work can be experienced in person through learning, studying, and gathering.
A full list of grant recipients is available on the Department of Commerce website.
North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
WILLISTON, N.D. (KFYR) – UPDATE (5/10/2026 at 11:45 p.m.): A fire broke out at a Williston recycling business Sunday evening, and no one was injured.
Multiple crews responded to Pallet Green Recycling just before 8:30 p.m., according to the Williston Fire Department. Crews arrived at the scene where they fought heavy smoke and flames.
Industrial storage containers were on scene, and officials say it is unclear what, if any, chemical residue was inside them. Officials believe there is no danger to the public.
Williston Fire Chief Corey Johnson said the fire was contained to the business’s exterior storage yard, and crews were not concerned about it spreading beyond the property.
“Right now, the structures are protected in the area. We’re not concerned about the fire spreading off of the lot,” Johnson said.
Multiple departments from across Williams County responded, and extra water trucks were brought in due to the fire’s remote location.
The cause remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Your News Leader will provide updates as more information becomes available.
ORIGINAL STORY (5/10/2026 at 9:39 p.m.): Crews responded to a large fire at a storage yard in rural Williston on Sunday night.
The fire is located at Pallet Green Recycling, according to the business owner.
Sylvia Luebke captured video of the scene from a distance around 8 p.m. The fire sent a large plume of smoke over the area. Luebke said it was still burning as of around 9 p.m.
Williston Rural Fire is working to battle the fire. The department was unable to comment at this time.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
Copyright 2026 KFYR. All rights reserved.
Submitted Photo
U.S. soldiers with the Nebraska and North Dakota National Guards, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, pose for a group photo at a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, April 28. N.D. National Guard 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, front row, far left, served as the officer in charge of the mission when soldiers assigned to JTF-DC responded to the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner April 25. About 2,500 National Guard members are supporting the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, providing critical assistance to the Metropolitan Police Department to help ensure the safety of residents, commuters and visitors throughout the District. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Norris.
WASHINGTON – U.S. soldiers with the North Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska Army National Guard, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, responded to a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner (WHCAD) at the Washington Hilton in Northwest Washington April 25.
The Guardsmen were at the WHCAD at the request of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) as an additional patrol unit created specifically for the event, which celebrates the contribution of news organizations and independent journalists alike who provide notable coverage relating to the presidential administration.
“Our mission was to assist the U.S. Secret Service with crowd control,” said Capt. Kevin Peatrowsky, an operations officer with the Nebraska National Guard (NENG) assigned to JTF-DC.
As the Guardsmen were monitoring their area of operations, they saw USSS agents sprint toward the hotel entrance.
“They were running full speed with their weapons drawn,” said Sgt. 1st. Class Allen Haney, a team member with the Arkansas National Guard. “We immediately followed suit.”
Staff Sgt. Kirsten Confer, a NENG combat medic and battle captain, recalled her response to the incident: “We fell back on our basic training. You run toward danger and move in a way that makes sense for the situation.”
According to Confer, the Guardsmen entered the hotel and immediately began securing the scene and ensured that the guests evacuated safely. At the direction of a federal agent, Confer began a rapid trauma assessment on the suspect which resulted in finding knives and ammunition on the shooter. Simultaneously, the Arkansas soldiers moved outside to provide crowd control at a pedestrian barricade outside the hotel.
“From there, we assisted wherever we could,” said 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, a National Guardsman from North Dakota who served as the officer in charge for the mission. “We were initially helping with crowd control. After that, we realized that the USSS had begun rerouting everyone in the hotel, so we moved to the doors. We were controlling entry into the venue, so we had moved a couple more people outside, so we had five inside, eight outside.” Both Arkansas and Nebraska worked well alongside one another and, alongside the federal agencies. Hill also noted that relying on his soldiers allowed him to move to different teams, which helped allow him to plan and coordinate with different agencies.
According to 1st Lt. Jonathan Goins, a platoon leader with the Arkansas National Guard, Arkansas soldiers also helped establish a security perimeter for the staging of the presidential motorcade. Later, the team assisted federal agencies and MPD with crowd control, which helped clear the way for the president and administration officials, he said.
“Guardsmen on this mission represent the very best of the nation,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. “The world got a brief glimpse, but I see them each day serving and doing amazing things across the District.”
-
Montana1 minute ago
Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for May 11, 2026
-
Nebraska7 minutes agoTuesday’s primaries to set up key fall matchups in Nebraska
-
Nevada13 minutes agoSky Pointe sweeps Mojave, to play Desert Oasis for 4A volleyball title — PHOTOS
-
New Hampshire19 minutes agoNot For Granite: New Hampshire Man Isn’t Laughing At Anti-Cyclist Comments From State Elected Official — Streetsblog USA
-
New Jersey25 minutes ago24 hours with 3 teenage birders: Welcome to the World Series of Birding
-
New Mexico31 minutes agoSummerlike heat settles into New Mexico this week
-
North Carolina37 minutes ago
Proposed NC property tax cap, affordable housing exemption set for debate
-
North Dakota43 minutes agoNorth Dakota tourism sites get $4M after music fest declines funds
