From Delta Waterfowl:

At first glance, the results of the 2009 duck breeding population and habitat survey are eye-popping: May ponds across the prairie breeding grounds increased 45 percent from a year ago, the total duck population was up 25 percent and mallard numbers climbed 10 percent.

Look closer, however, and some of the survey’s findings explode from the pages like a Fourth of July fireworks display.

"If you would have told me 10 years ago we’d have twice as many pintails nesting on the U.S. side of the breeding grounds as Canadian prairie, I would have laughed in your face," said Dr. Frank Rohwer, Delta’s scientific director.

Yet that's exactly what happened this year as 1.4 million pintails nested in the Dakotas and eastern Montana while only 664,000 set up housekeeping in prairie Canada. The U.S. side of the region also attracted 78 percent more blue-winged teal (4.5 million) than prairie Canada (2.5 million) and a higher percentage of mallards than any other year since the survey began in 1955.

The results of the breeding-population and habitat survey were released Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service. The B-pop, as it’s called, is the most extensive wildlife inventory on the continent.

The total duck breeding population rose 13 percent from 37.3 million to 42 million, and for the first time ever more ducks (14 million) settled on the U.S. side of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) than the Canadian side (12.7 million).

"That's sobering news for prairie Canada, which continues to experience sub-par duck production, but exciting news for the U.S., where nest success has been excellent because of an abundance of grass and a scarcity of red fox," says Dr. Rohwer,

"Ducks track ponds and the Dakotas and eastern Montana are wet," says Senior Vice President John Devney. "Not only that, but thanks to heavy rains in June, our grass cover is in excellent shape and we’ve maintained good wetlands, which bodes well for re-nesting and brood survival.

"We ought to be making a bunch of baby ducks this year," echoed John Solberg, the USFWS pilot-biologist who flies the eastern Dakotas survey each spring.  "We're very wet, and the cover response to recent rains has been incredible."

A breakdown of the numbers shows the PPR had a 45-percent year-over-year increase in May ponds to 6.4 million. Prairie Canada was 17 percent wetter than a year ago and 5 percent wetter than the long-term average while the U.S. side had a whopping 108 percent increase in wetlands and was 87 percent wetter than the LTA.

The mallard population climbed from 7.7 million to 8.5 million. The U.S. attracted a 2.96 million mallards while 3.04 million settled in prairie Canada.

Among the other most popular species, gadwall numbers were up 12 percent to 3.1 million; green-winged teal rose to an all-time record of 3.4 million; blue-winged teal rose 11 percent to 7.4 million; northern shovelers climbed 25 percent to 4.4 million; northern pintails were up 23 percent to 3.2 million; canvasbacks were up 35 percent to 662,000, and scaup rose for the third straight year, up 12 percent to 4.2 million, the highest level since 1999.

The only species to show a drop in breeding numbers were redheads, which were down one percent to 1.0 million, and wigeon, down one percent to 2.5 million.

The PPR constitutes only 10 percent of North America's breeding habitat but annually attracts two-thirds or more of all nesting ducks.  The surveyed portion of the region includes North and South Dakota and a sliver of eastern Montana in the U.S., and prairie Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada. About 75 percent of the PPR exists in Canada, which historically attracted 75 percent of the ducks that nest there.

During the wet cycle of the 1990s, duck production on the U.S. side of the border increased dramatically thanks to 5 million acres of grass nesting cover provided by the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

"Things look great right now," Devney says, "but hunters need to remember we've lost more than a million acres of CRP just since 2007 and more contracts will expire this year. On top of that, we’ve been losing native prairie at an alarming rate and several million more acres are at risk.  If we can’t find a way to preserve existing upland cover, we simply won’t enjoy this kind of production in the future."

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Fishing Reports

UPDATED: July 27, 2009 Regional Fishing Update:  A fair to good bite for walleyes, crappies and bluegills overall, and a good bite for bass on area lakes.   Area forecast:  Daily highs forecasted for the low to mid 80s the rest of this week.  40% chance of rain today, and 20% chance of rain on Friday. At least partly to mostly sunny skies much of the mid-week. Book your summer fishing trips now!  Check out our resort and bait shop links below for more information. Tell them Glacial Lakes sent you! Lake Thompson, Lake Preston & Whitewood Lake area:  (Courtesy of Bo at Bait Box: 1-605-847-4590) A fair to good bite for walleyes and crappies, along with a few northerns and perch being caught.   Bitter Lake, Blue Dog Lake & Waubay Lake area: (Courtesy of Circle Pines Motel 1-877-324-5161)   Waubay, BLue Dog , Antelope and Bitter all producing nice size fish... Fishin should be very good for the next month or so...thats about it some really nice fish went thru the fish cleaning house all weekend!! good weekend for the free fishin!!! looking forward to Memorial day  until next week good fishin'!!!! Waubay Lakes, Horseshoe Lake, Antelope Lake, & Pickerel Lake areas:  (Courtesy of Doug at Sportsman's Cove, 1-605-345-2468) (Sportsman's Cabin available for up to 7 people. For rental information call 605-380-7590.)   A really good bite for walleyes continued this past week.  Fishermen also catching some northerns and perch.  (Courtesy of Penny & Roy atGrenville Sport Mart, 1-605-486-4641  We have house rentals available>  Fishermen experiencing a real good bite for walleyes in the past week. Enemy Swim, & Waubay Lake area:  (Courtesy of Ray atBur-Oak Lodge 1-605-947-4445) (Bur-Oak Lodge is for sale.  Contact Jackie Schaefer, Coldwell Banker Roby Agency Realtors, Watertown, SD. (605)-886-0000.  Fishermen experiencing a fair bite for walleye, with the bluegill and crappie bite fair to good also. Lake Kampeska, Grass Lake & Dry Lake area:  (Courtesy of Doris at Kampeska Lodge 1-605-882-1313)   Fishermen catching a few walleyes.   Big Stone Lake area:  (Courtesy of Donna at Schmidt's Landing 1-800-610-4928)  gregorys@schmidtslanding.com Fishing remains slow on Big Stone Lake. Typical dog days of summer have hit the area with warmer water and lazier fish. We continue to see some white bass, largemouth bass, an occassional northern, catfish, bullhead (lots of variety) and even a stray walleye here and there, but unfortunately no significant numbers of anything are being caught. Sorry, perch fishermen, nothing to report yet! Fishing techniques have not changed. Most anglers are pulling bottom bouncers with spinners tipped with a crawler or leech. The dock fishermen like to use crappie rigs or slip bobbers tipped with a minnow. Of course a little wind on the lake improves a fisherman's odds when trolling but on the calm days we see a lot of anchoring and bobber fishing. A very good time of the year to enjoy the water recreational opportunities Big Stone Lake has to offer. And, if you are an advid fishermen, throw  out your line as the wife views the shoreline, you just may be able to set the hook on one of those elusive walleye! Donna Schmidts Landing 800-610-4928 Please make a note of our new e-mail address: gregorys@schmidtslanding.com Schmidt's Landing at Big Stone Lake 1 (800) 610-4928 (Courtesy of Chris at Silent Falls Resort 1-605-862-8205) no report available. Lake Traverse area:  Roy Lake area:  (Courtesy of Jan at Roy Lake Resort 1-605-448-5498) Some good fishing to be had on area lakes now that spring is arriving.  Fishermen catching some nice walleyes and northerns, and bass. Now is the time to plan next springs' fishing vacation.  Book your cabins now.   Picture courtesy of Jan Thames, Roy Lake Resort

South Dakota

Last year, approximately 78,000 residents and 103,000 non-residents hunters harvested just over 2.1 million pheasants. Simply put, hunters again should experience a very memorable fall season. Another mild winter and timely spring precipitation set the stage for widespread habitat conditions that were ideal for nesting, most notably in the central portion of the state where pheasant production was phenomenal. Results from the 2008 pheasant brood survey indicate the statewide Pheasants Per Mile (PPM) index increased by 9 percent (7.85 to 8.56) compared to the 2007 index and is the highest PPM recorded in the past 45 years! Unlike 2007 when pheasant numbers were up across the state, local survey results were mixed this year, with pheasant counts down in the eastern regions of the state while overall counts in east-central regions are largely unchanged from 2007. That said, excellent hunting opportunities should be available in all areas of the South Dakota pheasant range. Lost in all the excitement, however, is the fact that 300,000 CRP acres expired in 2007 - equivalent to a one mile wide strip of nesting habitat positioned from Sioux Falls to the Black Hills of South Dakota - and hundreds of thousands more are set to expire in the near future. Landowner interest in CRP remains, however, as South Dakota's SAFE program for pheasant habitat was fully subscribed within two weeks (20,200 acres) and a CREP proposal for the James River Watershed Basin will give landowners an opportunity to voluntarily enroll more acres by early 2009. The equation is simple - if pheasant numbers are to remain high, some of those lost acres need to come back. "The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has helped increase South Dakota's pheasant population to a level not seen in nearly 40 years," said Chad Switzer, the state's Sr. Upland Game Biologist.

• Season Opener: Multiple
• Daily Bag / Possession Limits: 3 / 15

                                                                                                               If you're interested in a change, something that is truly refreshing, relaxing and rejuvenating, a vacation in the mid-west can provide that change with its slower pace.  The typical summertime family vacation has become very costly and a sensory overload, with the long lines, $5  1 minute rides and over-priced souvenirs.  Wall-to-wall people and the hour that it takes to win a prize for your kids that's worth 5 cents after you've spent $10...that's NOT "ideal" vacation time with the family.  By the time the vacation is over, the adults need a vacation to recuperate from the vacation!