North Dakota Outdoors - "Drumfishing"

By Doug Leier, North Dakota Game and Fish Department

June 30, 2004 - If you're planning a summer fishing excursion in North Dakota, I'm here to help.

On any given day, if I were to wager, I'd bet most anglers would have fresh walleye fillets in mind, except perhaps for some winter days when perch might climb the ladder of preferred species.

For sheer pleasure and pursuit of happiness, however, North Dakota has more than walleye, perch and an occasional northern pike.

Depending on whom you ask, North Dakota waters are home to some 100 or so fish species. While a majority of these are minnow-sized, anglers yearning for nothing less than a walleye on the end of their line are setting themselves up for disappointment.

With an array of game fish from smallmouth bass to channel catfish, anglers are missing out if they've never deviated from the social pressure of straight walleye fishing.

It's like hunting deer and only being satisfied if a Boone and Crockett buck is tagged. With such a narrow definition of success, unhappiness is always a reasonable expectation.

Likewise, anglers should take a step back and enjoy the does and small bucks of the fishing world.

Remember your time as a young angler when just reeling in a bullhead, bluegill or even a clam would wind up as a great tale of adventure? For better or worse, over the years our expectations evolve and once you reach a certain level, it's hard to be satisfied with anything less. With fishing, however, that can happen.

You may wonder about the point of all this rambling?

Here goes: late last summer I set out with a rouge group of friends for a day chasing channel catfish on the Red River. As luck would have it, my life-long affliction with HCF - that's my curse of the human cold front – turned our fishing trip into more of a social gathering.

As the cats weren't cooperating, I drifted off to a dream of air conditioning and a backyard barbecue when my buddy Corey's fishing pole bent over like it's supposed to when a fish grabs the bait and takes off like a discharged cannonball.

A fight for the ages ensued and our mental scale were estimating the size and length of this sure-lunker catfish. All aboard just knew the fighting fish darting port and starboard surely was of whopper proportions.

After what seemed like hours a freshwater drum was landed, [not a huge one], but the look on Corey's face could have said he'd just landed the loch ness monster. The fight was admirable and the fish a beauty by any standard.

While our boat did eventually land a lunker catfish that August afternoon, I think we all learned - or relearned - that no matter what's at the end of the line, the friends, fight and fish make it all worth while.

The list of tertiary fish is long and each species provides enjoyment in its own way. Take burbot or ling, for instance. For years they were despised, myself included, but after a tasty feast of boiled ling smothered in butter, I've new respect for eelpout as table fare.

It's all part of the learning process. This summer I urge everyone with an interest in fishing to expand a horizon, as city folk would say, get some culture, and try fishing for something besides walleye, walleye and walleye.

My buddy Corey would argue that fighting a drum ain't a bad way to spend a day on the water.

Leier is a biologist for the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached via email: dleier@state.nd.us