Q. Is Ardoch National Wildlife Refuge open to ice fishing again this year? If so, what species are in the lake, how does one access it, and are there any special rules?
A. I was 99 percent sure Lake Ardoch was open to ice fishing again, but just to confirm, I reached out to Matt Sprenger, project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Devils Lake Wetland Management District.
"Lake Ardoch is open to ice and shore fishing," Sprenger confirmed in an email. "I have been told that there are walleye and northern pike in the lake, but we do not have any survey as to their abundance. The public can access from a minimum maintenance road on the east side of the lake. The road likely has no maintenance during the winter. There are no refuge specific rules for Lake Ardoch; state regulations apply."
So there you have it, Lake Ardoch is open. Getting there could be a challenge, though, if the road isn't maintained, given the amount of snow and wind we've had this winter.
Lake Ardoch also is loaded with carp, I know, and many bowfishing enthusiasts shoot carp at Lake Ardoch during the summer months-especially when water levels are high.
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During this past summer's frequent high-water events on the Red River, several catfish also made their way into Lake Ardoch. Stephen Siddons, who was overseeing a catfish-tagging study on the Manitoba portion of the Red River as part of a cooperative project between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and fisheries managers in Manitoba, Minnesota and North Dakota, said he had a number of tag returns from anglers who had caught tagged catfish from Lake Ardoch.
Catfish have a knack for heading upstream in high water and made their way into Lake Ardoch via the Forest River.
If you have a question for Talkin' with Dokken, call (701) 780-1148 or send an email to bdokken@gfherald.com .
