Posted By:
John-Cottenham
Field Editor
South Dakota 06-30-2010 07:46
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
For the past couple of days I have been traveling across South Dakota. Good news is I am seeing water and ducks in places I have not seen them in the past. Mostly Gadwalls as near as I can tell in a drive by but ducks just the same. No clutches of any magnitude except the few local geese I have seen.
I am wondering if the birds short stopped here instead of heading to Canada like they did last year. That could explain the increase in Scaup in the ND counts.
My favorite marsh has been cleaned out by high waters and looks great.
jacduck I worked out a new deal in Texas this past winter. I quit hunting snows when I get 5 or have used all 12 of the shells I carried. Worked pretty well since I tended to control my shooting. Mostly came home with ammo left over and often with the self imposed limit.
Posted By:
John-Cottenham
Field Editor
ND report revisited 06-28-2010 22:23
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“John just curious about the “no prarie duck” statement?”
Several years ago in a presentation by DNR folks at a CWAC meeting the statement was made that most of the mallards harvested in MI were from the great lakes basin. The reason we have often done well in bad prarie years was because GL mallards were doing better than prarie birds. Of course my thoughts interjected that this is not always true but as a general rule band recovery evidence shows it holds.
Is that the question or did I miss something?
Posted By:
rick-hungerford
Field Editor
Saginaw Bay Fish Point Area 06-27-2010 23:33
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
I fished on Friday. Calm seas, great day, and even a few dumb fish came to the net. Fished 20-25 ft, crawlers outproduced plastic. Could not get suspended fish to go. Rainbow and copper back blades worked best.
Water is still down from last year 5-6 inches, even after all the rain. Corn is way past knee high, more like waist high. Managed area is a month behind, but corn looks good.
Ditches still holding water. I have seen numerous broods in the drains. I haven’t been in the marshes since March. Will try this weekend.
John just curious about the “no prarie duck” statement?
Again the forecast is for an abundance of teal. Still waiting to hers about the CWAC meeting this Spring.
Strong rebound on bluebills and a great hatch of redheads. Maybe we’ll see some change in the bag limit?
Everything else is between seasons!
Posted By:
rick-hungerford
Field Editor
Saginaw Bay Fish Point Area 06-27-2010 23:27
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
I fished on Friday. Calm seas, great day, and even a few dumb fish came to the net. Fished 20-25 ft, crawlers outproduced plastic. Could not get suspended fish to go. Rainbow and copper back blades worked best.
Water is still down from last year 5-6 inches, even after all the rain. Corn is way past knee high, more like waist high. Managed area is a month behind, but corn looks good.
Ditches still holding water. I have seen numerous broods in the drains. I haven’t been in the marshes since March. Will try this weekend.
John just curious about the “no prarie duck” statement?
Again the forecast is for an abundance of teal. Still waiting to hers about the CWAC meeting this Spring.
Strong rebound on bluebills and a great hatch of redheads. Maybe we’ll see some change in the bag limit?
Everything else is between seasons!
Posted By:
John-Cottenham
Field Editor
ND report 06-21-2010 10:28
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
You all know that mallards in MI don’t come from the prairie as a general rule but many others do so here tis- Spring Duck Index, Water Conditions Up
Spring Duck Index, Water Conditions Up
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual spring breeding duck survey showed an index of more than 4.5 million birds, an increase of 12 percent from last year and 107 percent above the long-term average (1948-2009). The 2010 index is the third highest on record.
All species, except for wigeon (-9 percent), showed an increase from last year. Pintails were up 10 percent and were at the highest level since 1970. Mallards were up 12 percent and were the fourth highest on record. The most significant increases were ruddy ducks (+162 percent), green-winged teal (+91 percent), scaup (+54 percent), and redhead (+33 percent).
In addition, all species were above the long-term average.
The spring water index was up 5 percent from 2009 and 76 percent above the long-term average. It was the fifth highest in survey history and the highest since 1999.
Mike Johnson, game management section leader, cautions that the water index is based on basins with water, and does not necessarily represent the amount of water contained in wetlands. “Water conditions were generally good throughout the state, with the abundant snow cover and significant spring rains filling most basins,” he added. “The large number of ducks tallied during our survey is consistent with the well-above-average populations we have been carrying since 1994. These high numbers are the result of abundant Conservation Reserve Program nesting cover combined with the wet conditions that have been in place since the summer of 1993.”
Additionally, reports indicate that much of the Prairie Pothole Region in South Dakota and Montana was in good shape this spring. While much of prairie Saskatchewan and Manitoba were dry at the time of spring migration and settling, Johnson said Saskatchewan has since experienced significant improvement in water conditions that should benefit renesting and brood survival for those birds that did settle.
However, nesting cover in North Dakota continues to decline. Since the beginning of 2007, North Dakota has lost more than 700,000 CRP acres, and projections for the next two years indicate up to another 1.7 million acres could be converted to cropland.
“This loss of our critical nesting cover will be disastrous for breeding ducks and hunting opportunities in North Dakota,” Johnson said.
The July brood survey will provide a better idea of duck production and insight into what to expect this fall. Observations to date indicate that production will be improved across the state due to improved water conditions and increased wetland availability for brood production.
jacduck
I worked out a new deal in Texas this past winter. I quit hunting snows when I get 5 or have used all 12 of the shells I carried. Worked pretty well since I tended to control my shooting. Mostly came home with ammo left over and often with the self imposed limit.
[Edited By John-Cottenham on 2010-06-21 10:30]
Posted By:
rick-hungerford
Field Editor
Saginaw Bay Fish Point Area 06-13-2010 22:08
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – Over 70 Degrees
I was up to the Bay this weekend. Tried to fish but had boat problems. That freed up time to work on duck stuff and such. Also took my wife and Bell for a tour of the area.
The wet weather has brought the water back slighlty. It still appers to be down approximately 4-5 inches over last year at the same time. Goose broods are showing up, some with full size goslings already. Haven’t seen any duck flotilas as of yet, but many are renesting after the rain out two-three weeks ago.
Farm crops have exploded with the hot, wet weather. Corn apppears to be be excellent in most areas. I have never seen sugar beets this far along so early. Baring a real dry July, the Thumb farmers should be smiling this year. A bumper corn crop may hold some mallards this year.
The weed beds around the Sebewaing River mouth appear to be flourishing. And most walleye fishermen that have been running bottom bouncers will tell you the zebra and quagga mussles are expanding into deeper water. Water clarity is unbelievable. I have never seen the lower Bay waters this clear. The water is actually very blue and you can see bottom in 10 feet of water. This bodes well for holding diver flights this fall.
I toured the managed area on the way home today. All the corn is in and appears to be doing well.
The first reports coming in from duck counts sounds promising. Hope to see another 60 days season and maybe even more liberal diver bag limits.
I made refernce last fall to meeting some guys from Luuuheeesseianuh last Fall. Sounds like their duck season is in flux due to the oil spill. Let’s hope our ducks don’t get that far south this year.
Let me hear from some of you guys!
Everything else is between seasons!
Posted By:
John-Cottenham
Field Editor
N D looking good 06-03-2010 09:14
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http://www.gf.nd.gov/
Latest in from ND.
jacduck I worked out a new deal in Texas this past winter. I quit hunting snows when I get 5 or have used all 12 of the shells I carried. Worked pretty well since I tended to control my shooting. Mostly came home with ammo left over and often with the self imposed limit.
Posted By:
John-Cottenham
Field Editor
middle of the mitten 05-26-2010 18:43
– – Over 70 Degrees
Had to drive up I-75 from N of Fnt today and ponds were holding flocks of geese. Looks like the molt migrants are flocking up a little early. I normally see them pass here (Gladwin area) around the 5th of June. Keep your eyes on the sky and if you see them moving rush to a radar site and follow them. Usually they make it to the up from here in Gladwin and it is cool to see them moving.
jacduck I worked out a new deal in Texas this past winter. I quit hunting snows when I get 5 or have used all 12 of the shells I carried. Worked pretty well since I tended to control my shooting. Mostly came home with ammo left over and often with the self imposed limit.
Posted By:
rick-hungerford
Field Editor
Saginaw Bay Fish Point Area 05-23-2010 10:19
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Fished the last two days. Water temps and activity are behind last year. We had four boats out and had 35 fish in two days of fishing. Not very good for this time of year.
Carp spawning is in full motion. Get a bow and small boat and you can fill the boat in less than an hour. almost every shoeline is full of fish. They just don’t eat so very well.
Geese are all paired off. Haven’t seen any broods yet, but I did see young swans already. Hot weather this week should bring on the hatches. Didn’t run the marshes this week with the airboats. Leaving the nester alone. Water apears to be 6 inches lower than last year at the same time. I’m afraid we’re giving up last years gains. Pray for rain.
PS – New carp recipe, put the fish in the oven on a cedar board at 350 for 4 hours. Take the fish out, put it in the dumpster and eat the board.
Posted By:
rick-hungerford
Field Editor
Saginaw Bay Fish Point Area 03-29-2010 17:58
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
If I hadn’t seen it I wouldn’t believe it.
I was up to the Bay this weekend, putting duck stuff away and getting down walleye stuff, when I wasn’t watching birds.
I swear I hit the peak of the migration north on ducks. Full, courting plumage ducks. And I mean every species.
Divers: redheads, cans, both bluebills (you can now see the difference with spotting scope), goldeneyes, buffle heads, ring necks, mers (all of e’m). I even think I saw some scoters in the distance around the islands.
Puddlers: mallards, tons of pintails (with full sprigs), blacks, widgeon, gadwall, tons of teal (mostly green wings) and a few woodies.
Geese: Giants and Richardsons and Snows.
Tons of swans and sandhills.
Basicly a cornocopia of everything we wish to see that doesn’t happen in the Fall.
They are following the thaw back. With 25 degrees Saturday AM, my bet is most will be here through next weekend. Get out and take a zoom camera.
Go to Gieger Road landing, Pop’s Place (get a burger and say hi to Hank for me), Bayport launch site, Fillian Road access,and the end of Fish Point if you walk out.
My bet is that there were between 50,000 and 100,000 birds between Fish Point and Sand Point this weekend.
Now I just want to figure out how to have a Spring Season by myself (or maybe a select few of you guys).
PS – take a boat to get better pictures and do some scouting, they’ll be there again this Fall, I HOPE!
Everything else is between seasons!
