Paddlefish, East Grand Forks archery hunt and sturgeon nuggets that didn't make the cut

May 25—In writing about the outdoors — or any other subject, for that matter — deciding what to include and what to omit in a particular story often is a challenge.

It might be something that's not completely relevant to the story, for example — interesting though it may be — or, perhaps, it's a paragraph or 10 that gets cut on the editing desk.

I thought about that while pondering a topic for this week's Northland Outdoors column and quickly came up with at least three items I didn't include in recent stories — on paddlefishing in western North Dakota,

the recent catch (and release) of a

56-inch lake sturgeon on the Red River

in Grand Forks and the

possible sighting of a bobcat (or mountain lion)

on the East Grand Forks side of the Greenway.

So, here goes.

Paddlefish — those weird, long-snouted fish that can weigh 100 pounds or more even though they eat only plankton — apparently have an uncanny ability to heal themselves.

So says Greg Power, fisheries chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck.

Years ago, Power said, researchers from Clemson University were closely studying paddlefish to learn more about the species' immune system and ability to recover from injuries.

"They have a real remarkable immune system, and they can self heal," Power said. "I mean, they can endure some pretty significant prop hits and all kinds of (injuries) and they seem to weather that storm pretty well.

"They're neat," Power added. "To think they get, in North Dakota, to 130 pounds and don't eat any fish. It's just on things you can barely see with your naked eye."

The continued recovery of lake sturgeon populations in the Red River Basin, along with Lake of the Woods and Rainy River, has presented some enforcement challenges this spring as people who gather to watch sturgeon spawn have had trouble resisting the temptation to interfere with and handle the fish.

Nicholas Prachar, a conservation officer for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Baudette, reported in the

weekly DNR Enforcement report

for Monday, May 20, that he took enforcement action for sturgeon-"noodling" violations.

It is unlawful to catch fish by hand in Minnesota, particularly sturgeon when they congregate in shallow water to spawn.

Nick Kludt, Red River fisheries specialist for the DNR in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, mentioned similar issues have occurred this spring in the Upper Otter Tail River, another area where lake sturgeon converge to spawn in the spring.

The DNR in May 2022

documented sturgeon spawning

in the Upper Otter Tail River, a Red River tributary, for the first time in 100 years.

"Now that we have fish that are spawning in more public places across the riverscape, we've seen a need for some education about what you can and cannot do with spawning sturgeon," Kludt said. "You can look at them, you can appreciate them, certainly, and I sure hope people enjoy looking at them and seeing the spectacle. But along with that, we need folks to be respectful of the fact that the season is closed and those fish are spawning.

"They're really vulnerable to disturbance and, frankly, poaching when they're spawning, and so we ask that people be on their best behavior and maybe self-police a little bit."

In talking with East Grand Forks Police Chief Mike Hedlund on Wednesday about the recent possible sighting of a bobcat (or mountain lion) on the Minnesota side of the Greenway, he mentioned the city is exploring a limited archery deer season this fall.

The

East Grand Forks City Council on April 23 voted 5-0

to apply for a permit from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to proceed with the archery hunt, council minutes show. The hunt could be finalized as early as the next council meeting, Hedlund said.

The current plan, he said, would include offering 10 tags — nine antlerless and one any-deer — for a 10-day season in five designated areas along the East Grand Forks portion of the Greenway. Two hunters would be allowed per zone.

Hunters who receive a tag would have to attend an orientation session and demonstrate proficiency with their archery equipment, he said.