Lake Sakakawea Salmon Fishing article for Dakota Country Magazine.

This article was published in Dakota Country Magazine. If you want a print or digital magazine subscription or looking to do some advertising click the link Dakota Country Magazine.

“Salmon are very good fighters. Sometimes they go deep and sometimes they want to come right to the surface. Sometimes they will take out 100-150 feet of line in 10 seconds,” explained Aaron Hayden owner and guide for Big Lake Guide Service which is going on their 10th year guiding.

Zach Kjos said, “Chinook salmon were first stocked into Lake Sakakawea in 1976. The salmon are stocked in the lake to take advantage of the cold-water habitat and the forage not utilized exclusively by other species. He added currently chinook are the only species of salmon stocked in Sakakawea and the simple reason is because they have done better than any other trout/salmon that have been stocked in the past.” Kjos is the Missouri River System Fisheries Biologist, this is his second year at this position and he has been with the department for 12 years.

Skylar and Levi Johnson with a nice one.

Salmon need pristine cold-water streams to reproduce naturally. The tributaries of Lake Sakakawea are too warm and turbid for natural production to take place. This is why they are stocked annually, the fishery is reliant on it said Kjos.

Salmon are stocked as smolts, roughly 3-5 inches long. They can also grow quickly, almost 3 pounds in the first year. Kjos explained, “Smelt are the main forage fish for salmon in Sakakawea. They will also eat young cisco when available. Lake Sakakawea only produces sporadic strong year classes of cisco. When a strong year class is recruited, salmon grow a bit larger. Salmon this year were a bit larger due to a good year class of cisco in 2023.”

Salmon do compete with other species that feed on rainbow smelt such as walleye and sauger.

Adam Johnson with a keeper.

“Water levels are important to salmon and their forage. The most important thing is having enough cold-water habitat available for salmon, rainbow smelt and cisco. During droughts emotive cold-water habitat is diminished and populations of cold-water fish will follow,” answered Kjos.

When fishing for chinook salmon the general range for temperature they like to be at is from 52-58 degrees. Kjos who gets a chance to fish for salmon on Sakakawea explained in the spring they can be caught by anglers in 10-20 feet. As the water warms, they will be found deeper to stay in their preferred cold-water habitat. In August and September, they can be found in 60-100 feet. In October when they come into spawn they can again be found up shallow and along the shorelines.

Stephanie Hayden with a 12 pound salmon from the 25 season.

This means depending on the time of year you can catch fish from shore if you don’t have a boat or you’re up to the challenge.

“August and September would be my suggestion for the best time to target salmon. Downrigging in August and early September and then switching to long-lining crankbaits in September,” explained Kjos.

Hayden who has been fishing Sakakawea for salmon since the late 90s agrees. He says, “Mid-August through mid-September is when I guide for salmon on Sakakawea in deep water, downrigging. I still chase them when they are shallow but not a lot. When they come up shallow they are slowly dying, getting ready to spawn and by that time I am salmoned out. That’s when they are going off the feed, not eating as much. The salmon actually turn darker when coming up shallow. They usually like 52-55°. When they are slowly dying, they can handle warmer water and this is when they go shallow to spawn.” He added some guys use downriggers for them late June and July as well. 

Hayden who also fishes Fort Peck and Lake Michigan every year plus fishes for salmon in South Dakota every other year says that he catches a good percentage of his salmon on Sakakawea from 9 AM until 4 PM. He went on to say you can catch them early morning and late evenings but he and his fellow guides on the lake agree on that midday time for catching.

“Salmon are the least consistent fish that he has ever fished. You may get 10 one-day and none the next,” explained Hayden. He considers catching 10 salmon a day to be a good day. Hayden added, “The last three or four years have been really good. We don’t get that 10 every day but that’s what they hope for. Before this last three or four years, five fish a day was considered a good day. Last year we actually hooked 26 and landed 17 in one day and I have never done that before.” The biggest salmon he has ever seen caught on Sakakawea was caught by his wife Stephanie, who reeled in an 18 lbs 5 oz slab.

With potentially big fish, Hayden runs 8 ½ to 10-foot medium rods with 40-pound braided line and leaders being 30–50-pound mono depending if they’re running flashers or spoons. Most of the time they like to use a flasher with a fly or a flasher with a squid. The squid is just an artificial lure. They also use herring with spoons. They run downriggers and dipsy divers plus certain times of year he uses copper and lead core. Hayden added salmon are a structure fish even though they spend a lot of time trolling for them in deep water but they do like structure also.

Dad Adam Johnson and son Levi with a double.

If you do find yourself with some salmon in your boat or freezer, Hayden likes salmon when they are smoked or grilled. But they also find canned salmon a treat also.

Salmon are the number two species targeted on Lake Sakakawea, according to the NDGF creel survey period which is from May through September. That means at certain times a year a lot of anglers do target salmon on the big lake.

Hayden added, “Yeah there is a lot of pressure on Sakakawea from fishermen targeting salmon because it is such a confined area compared to fishing salmon in South Dakota or Fort Peck. Those places you can fish 40–50-mile stretches. All the salmon fishing on Sakakawea is from the dam up to a place called Dead Man, the lower end where all the deep cold water is at. This is where the fish congregate before they go shallow. And this is where you find the mass of fishermen also. He says you can fish them all up the lake but the chances of getting a bite are not good compared to the lower end.”

The NDGF started tagging salmon in 1991. Kjos added the last year we tagged any salmon was 2022. This year, 2025, was the last year of any tagged salmon returning to anglers or to spawn. From now on the fisheries department will now be able to age the salmon using otoliths. They will give the game and fish similar information that the tagging did.

When Kjos was asked if there is a good year class of salmon in the lake right now, he answered, “We just finished with spawning operations and we had good numbers of one-year-old males show up, which we call, jacks. This is an early indicator that we should have good returning numbers of fish into 2026.” When asked if he predicts a good year for fishing salmon, he laughed and said, “Things look good for the next year but I won’t make a prediction on how the fishing might be.”

Records:

Chinook Salmon - 31 lbs 2 oz. - 41" - Garrison Dam Tailrace - 6/10/86 - Thomas Schwartz.

Chinook Salmon - 31 lbs 8 oz - Lake Oahe - 7/29/2016 - Darrick Koch.

Chinook Salmon - 32.62 lbs. - 38” - Fort Peck Reservoir - 08/08/24 - Jim Fauth.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Do what you love more and more often…

Every year I tell myself this summer I am going to fish more and fish more often. Every year I tell myself this summer I’m going to shoot more and shoot more often. The fact is, it seems like I have done less and less fishing and shooting the last few summers. But this year is going to be different.

I don’t think I have done open water fishing the last two summers for sure. I have been lucky enough to get out on the ice on a local lake a handful of times the last two winters. That doesn’t suck. But I love fishing so much I can’t waste another summer of not enjoying my line in the water waiting for that tug that we all crave.

The last handful of summers I always tell myself I’m going to shoot my rifles more often just to make sure I’m still on and I just love the aroma of used casing. If they would bottle that smell and use it as a cologne, I know what I would be wearing. I was lucky enough to draw a North Dakota turkey tag this Spring, so I will have to shoot my shotgun a couple times before the season.

During the summer I usually fish the local rivers in my area which consist of the Maple and Sheyenne. I usually don’t catch much but if I do it’s either a walleye, northern or bullhead. I have a couple holes in each river that I like to go to and also a couple bridges that I like to hang my line off of. We are lucky in Enderlin because our park board purchased a fishing pier that gets placed in Patrick Pierce Park on the banks of the Maple River right in town. That doesn’t suck. Thank you park board. Hopefully this summer I will be at these fishing spots more and more often.

Where I can go fishing is limited because I am in an electric wheelchair but this does not stop me from getting out there. Being limited to the spots I can get to doesn’t mean I don’t have the opportunity to catch fish; I just need to be more particular in the spots I can get in and out of. There have been numerous times I thought I was never going to get back up the banks of the river but my buddies would drag me through some pretty gnarly spots just to get my line in the water. Good times.

Years ago, I was gifted an electric fishing reel from some family members that got me fishing again after my accident. It works pretty slick. A friend made a rod holder that attaches to my chair and the reel’s battery cord goes from there to a battery that hangs in a bag from the back of my wheelchair. I cannot cast due to my limited arm movement but I usually just drop the line and start fishing unless one of my buddies’ casts for me.

Just like fishing, I have failed to get out and do more shooting during the summer. Every spring I tell myself I am going to shoot my Ruger 22, Tikka 270, Weatherby 12gauge and crossbow more often. I love shooting just at paper and am lucky that our local wildlife club’s shooting range is only a couple miles away.

Many years ago, I was gifted a rifle mount that attaches to my wheelchair from a friend. This thing does not suck. All of my rifles and shotgun work with this mount. It attaches to the wheelchair pretty quickly and my friends have gotten good at strapping down my guns in a hurry if needed. But always safe. The elongated trigger my friend made for me is really the key to all of these guns working for me. It doesn’t suck. It attaches straight to the trigger guard on each weapon and can even attach to my crossbow.

I love shooting my crossbow. It is a Carbon Express Intercept. It is built AR platform, meaning parts can be changed and taken off easily. My dad made my crossbow mount that attaches to my wheelchair with just one bolt. This also is pretty slick. I aim with my chin and pull the elongated trigger with my right arm, even though I have less movement in my right arm it somehow works better on that side. I was born right-handed but after my injury I have learned to do most things left-handed. But my left-handed writing looks like chicken scratch.

 I have had my newest crossbow for probably 10 years with no problems. It can easily shoot out to 70 yards but I only set up while hunting around 20 yards or even closer. For me there is nothing more fun than shooting an arrow. Hopefully this summer I will be shooting crossbows and guns more and more often.

I still do more in my position than most do in a wheelchair but I would like to do a lot more. No matter what our physical conditions are, we all want to do more fishing, shooting and hunting right? Nobody knows how much time they have left to do what they love. Don’t take it for granted.

So, I challenge myself and everyone reading this to get out there and do what you love to do more and do it more often this summer.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Spring Turkey Season 2026.

So, I drew another turkey tag for this year’s spring season. I believe this is my eighth tag and I have yet to fill a turkey tag. But this year I just knew this was going to be the year. I kept telling myself over the years when I would fail to fill the tag, if I ever do kill a turk it will be my once-in-a-lifetime tag. Meaning it will be my last. But after that hunt, I’m not so sure it will be my last.

My cousin Christopher was more excited about this turkey hunt that I think I was. He had a bunch of turkeys on his land and he wanted me to come down and exterminate one. All spring long he had been planning and scouting them. Yesterday April 21 was perfect weather and Chris was going to be home so Don B and I decided to head east of Kindred to try and fill my tag.

Chris told us to get there around 4 PM and I think we got there right at 3:30. Chris filled us in about the set up and where the turkeys should come from while Don B got my gun mount attached to my wheelchair and got the trigger on the shotgun. We made our way to the food plot where the pop-up blind was set. As we were still chatting, Don B noticed a lone hen working her way towards us slowly. We panicked. They lifted the pop-up blind and I drove in. Chris skedaddled back towards the house and Don B snuck into the blind with me.

That hen walked around and walked around the whole evening. She even took a nap 5 yards from us for a while. She had no clue. Evidently she was knocked up earlier and was just looking for food.

My cousin Christopher who is the landowner was about 100 yards behind us running the electric call. The speaker was about 20 yards behind us. It worked perfectly. We had four decoys in front of us; one jake and three toms. In front of us was a food plot, it is a couple acres. Behind that was some trees and then the Wild Rice River. On the other side of the river is a huge grove of trees, really thick stuff. It was a perfect set up.

Every time he would call the four toms across the river would start bugling. We played with them for 2 hours until they made the mistake to jump the river and head our way. They hung up for about 30 seconds and then came right into the decoys. 

They came like a string to the decoys in front of us. They first picked on the standing jake and then they moved to the tom laying on the ground. They did their little dance with their fans up around that decoy numerous times. At this time I was trying to maneuver my chair without making too much noise in the blind. They were less than 10 yards away. But they were making enough noise that they didn’t hear me when I engaged my chair to move.

They were completely twitterpated. No care in the world except for beating up that decoy. This gave me plenty of time to get the elevation right for my shotgun to be lined up. I just needed them to move to my right a little bit and I could take a shot. They were zigzagging in between each other strutting their stuff. It was hard to pick just one out. I didn’t want to kill two of them or all four. Then one made the mistake of coming directly in front of me and I pulled the trigger. He dropped like a sack of taters. After the shot the other three toms didn’t even move. They started beating up on the dead one now. Don B and I were smiling ear to ear as I think we were both amazed at what just took place and I actually killed one. Don B has been along with many of my failed turkey hunts. It was great to have him there. He was also videoing the whole thing. Shining times.

The three remaining toms didn’t leave until Don B got out of the blind and Chris and his son Carter came to congratulate us. I was just about to give up because it was warm in the blind but glad I didn’t. It was 71° but it was like a sauna in that blind.

Now it was story time and we went over how everything happened. Then Staci Chris’s wife, Ellie Chris’s daughter and Ellie’s boyfriend Jack came with the side-by-side and we started taking pictures and some shenanigans happened.

After pictures we all made it back to the house as there was roast beast in the crockpot along with pasta salad. That didn’t suck. It was also Staci’s birthday that day so we celebrated that also with well-deserved cocktails. It’s always fun hanging out with them. Good people.

Don B and I stayed for little over an hour and made our way west. Don dropped me off at home and then I called my cousin Luke, my next-door neighbor and we cleaned the turkey in his garage. Going to make a fan mount with the beard and the spent shotgun shell. Now I need to find room on my wall…

Thanks Don B for always being there when I ask to go on any kind of hunt. Thanks to my cousins who let me on their land and made the day truly memorable. You all don’t suck…

Thanks for reading, Clint.

2025 Mule Deer Hunt story and stuff.

Here’s a little recap of this year’s mule deer buck hunt in 4D. Evidently, I am the lucky boy in the wheelchair for drawing another tag. It must be the clean living or something like that…

This year we took off on November 13. We planned on hunting Friday, November 14 through Sunday, November 16 and on the 17th we would make our way home. We this year included Brad the designated driver, Shelie the snack girl in back, Mom/Deb who makes sure that the hot tub works daily at the American Inn while the other three of us are hunting the back roads and myself the one with the tag.

Thursday when we got to Medora in the new Trail Boss, we had about an hour and ½ of daylight left, so we dumped off our luggage at the motel and took a little cruise east to see if any animals were moving. In that short time before dark, we actually saw quite a few deer but were all on posted land.

When we got back to town, we decided to go to the Little Mo Saloon for supper and cocktails. While we were there we ran into Clay and Ross Erdmann. We have known these guys forever as they are from the Enderlin area. Ross also had a tag in 4D. It was a good night at the saloon. Thanks again Ross for supper.

Friday when we started hunting around noon, Brad, Shelie and I were by ourselves so we decided to go down to the Brown Ranch where we have had luck before. It is about an hour drive from Medora. When we got onto the Brown Ranch, I decided I needed to tilt back a while. As we were sitting there on the side of the driveway, the owner of the ranch John Brown came driving up. We hadn’t seen each other for a couple years. He is a great person like the rest of the family.

He said he was going to check mail and he also needed to make a phone call. I’m not sure how far their mailbox is from the ranch but it’s gotta be 10+ miles. And evidently the cell service on his phone is sketchy at best down in the valley. He said this which also cracked me up, “I didn’t know you are coming down this year to hunt. Nick (his son) never mentioned anything to him about it.” Later when I talked to Nick, he said he told his dad many times that I was coming down that weekend to hunt. Classic. Of course, John didn’t care he told us just like Nick said, “You are welcome down here anytime and you can go anywhere on the ranch.” That is good stuff right there.

We saw a lot of animals that first day cruising around their place. We decided to go to the honey hole where I shot my last buck in 2023, the story here. As we were making our way in there, I noticed some deer in a deep draw. There were a couple skinheads and a buck who was sniffing around. He spotted us right away and bounced up a tall butte and there he was, gone. We kept going down the path to see if we could bump him again. But we never did see him. It was a good sign.

We made it all the way to the bottom of the draw which is a long ways off the driveway and parked for a while, we got out and glassed a hillside across the Horse Creek. There were skinheads here and there then we finally found another buck. We took out the rangefinder and he was at 600 yards laying on a hillside. Long distance AT&T. Brad did get a picture of him through the spotting scope. He looked like a 2 x 2 with tall daggers. The longest shot I have taken with my Tika 270 is at 300 yards. So we decided to move on to try and find something a little closer.

We saw quite a few animals including antelope and upland game cruising around the outskirts of the ranch. There was one group of antelope that numbered in the 60s. That was quite the sight to see. By this time, it was starting to get dark on us and we decided to head back to Medora slowly checking out other spots on the way back to town.

This night when we got back to town we decided to go to the other bar, Boots Bar and Grill. We knew that Sam was going to be there with some of the Olson family. In 2022 I hunted with these guys and I got my first mule deer buck. Here is the story of that hunt…

There was a big table filled with the Olson family and Sam. While they were having supper we decided to order. When everyone was done eating, we started talking about a plan for the next day, Saturday. That’s when the Olson boy’s dad, Shawn mentioned that he had a hunting shack I could get in if we wanted somewhere else to hunt. I thought that was quite the offer for someone that he just met. We really didn’t know what the hunting shack was but he said the deer come out from the draw at the same time every night around 4 PM. It was a great night at Boots.

On Saturday, I called Sam in the morning and he was west of town doing some scouting. That morning it was foggy, raining and the further west we went turned into snow. It melted when it hit the ground but it was tough to see anything at a long distance.

We drove around the Sentinel Butte area. If you have never done this you should. Great scenery everywhere you look. Again, we saw a lot of animals but mostly on posted land. When I got to 3 PM we decided we would meet Sam at the hunting shack to make sure I could get in before the deer started moving.

When we got to the hunting shack, it is about a couple hundred yards off of a main road. When we saw the shack, we could tell it was no shack at all. I named it the Taj Mahal of hunting shacks. The shack is probably 15’ x 15’, with a deck in front overlooking a steep draw. We used a couple of the wooden ramps in the back of the 2026 Trail Boss to get onto the deck and into the shack.

When we got inside, we were all amazed. Shawn turned the heat on earlier in the day. It was toasty warm. It had a bathroom, small kitchen, heat, air conditioning, TV, hardwood floors, comfortable recliner, leather couch and windows with no screens so you can stick your pipe out while waiting for deer. What else do you need in life… I can’t thank Shawn enough for the great offer and hospitality. It was nice being inside while it was raining pretty good.

Like clockwork, we started seeing deer right at 4 PM. There was a doe following a three-legged coyote down deep in the draw around 300 yards away. Sam knew that I had never shot I coyote before. The deer hunt turned into a coyote hunt very quick. Sam asked if I could get on him and he was ready to take the safety off when the three-legged coyote went deep in the draw out of site. That doe did not like him in that area. A pretty neat site to see.

Not long after that a muley doe with twins started walking up the draw straight towards the shack. There was a huge path they were following right towards us. They got within 100 yards and they knew something was up. At the same time there was a 4 x 4 muley buck about 500 yards straight to our south going in a different direction. There was also a bunch of sharp-tales that kept us entertained right below the window.

The muley doe with twins still wanted to come up the path towards us but they were on edge. All of a sudden to the west of them coming over top of a hill was another 4 x 4 muley with a kicker on one side. He was chasing two does. They were hot and he was willing. But for some reason when they got within a couple hundred yards of the shack they were also on edge. We watched them for a little bit but it was a hard angle for me to get on him. By that time, they started bouncing over the hillside, out of sight. But the doe and twins came right up to the shack and were eating within 5 yards of us right below the window. That was neat.

By this time, it was dark and we decided to head back to Medora. That night we decided to meet Clay and Ross at the Little Mo for supper and cocktails. That night we met some others that we knew from back home. We seem to always run into someone. When I was coming into the bar that night I ran into Stephen Sveet. He was there with his wife and daughter. They were going to Theodore's Dining Room to have supper but he said they would come back afterwards. We have a mutual aunt in Enderlin but different sides of the family. He grew up in Grenora but now lives in Beach with his family. I’ve known him and his family forever, what are the odds of running into them.

That night I also met Clay and Ross’s cousin AJ whose land they hunt on just southeast of town. AJ the Hawaiian cowboy is pretty neat. He told me next year he will hopefully have a cabin/trailer house on his land that he will let hunters use. That would be entertaining. He is another good dude.

On Sunday morning it was bright with blue skies. We got out of Medora around noon and decided to head down to the Brown Ranch again. We went back to the place we were a couple days before. Going into the area again we spooked a buck and he was nice. Again, he ran over a butte and we looked for him for quite a while but could never spot him. We found a spot in the valley and glassed trying to find one of the bucks from Friday. We saw a bunch of skinheads on the eastern slope of the ridge but never did see a buck while we were there. With that many skinheads there must’ve been a buck or two but it was hard to see in the shade 600 or so yards away.

We sat there for a couple hours and decided to go peruse other parts of the ranch and I also had a gift for the Brown family I needed to drop off at their place. Nick and his family were all gone that weekend. Him and Maria were at a Bobcats football game in Bozeman. I can’t wait to see them and the kids again.

On our way down their long driveway, we spotted another buck. He was only a couple hundred yards off the road. But by the time we found a spot flat enough for me to get out of the pickup, he was gone. I thought he was going to be the one but that’s hunting.

In the meantime, I was in touch with Sam and he was down some two track road when he noticed he had a fuel leak. Not so good. I told him what we saw and asked if we could use the Olson shack again that night. He talked to Shawn and Shawn said the heat is on and we were more than welcome.

We took the back way to the Taj Mahal and saw quite a few animals here and there. A lot of pheasants and some great scenery. Brad, Shelie and I got to the Taj Mahal at the perfect time. It was a perfect night but we never did see any deer while sitting. We did hear quite a few coyotes in every direction. That was cool.

When we got everything packed up and into the pickup, we noticed some deer silhouetted against the sunset to the west. There was a muley buck chasing skinheads a couple hundred yards away from the shack. Pretty sure he was the same one we sought to the west the night before. It was fun watching them run around twitterpated but it was too dark to take a shot.

Then we headed back to Medora. On the way back I decided I wasn’t going uptown that night. I needed some rest because I knew the next day would be a long trip home. Brad, Shelie and mom went uptown and brought me back some food. Then they went to the hot tub as I was sleeping hard.

Medora town deer playing leapfrog.

On Monday we got up and headed back east river to home. I can’t say enough how well the new pickup worked out there. The smooth ride was not comparable to the old three-quarter ton pickup. The 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Trail Boss LT is the perfect machine for what I do. Can’t thank everyone enough for that. The story is here…

It was another great hunt out west. I think I had just as much fun this time as any other time. People always say it’s not about the kill; it’s about the hunt. And those words couldn’t be truer. It’s what the hunt all entails. Meeting new people, seeing different sites, reminiscing with old friends and just being out there is well worth it.

I would like to thank everyone involved including all of the great landowners, my friend Sam, my family and everyone else who make my dreams come true. I can’t wait to do it again and again and again…

Thanks for reading, Clint.