The land between the Game & Fish office and the State Penitentiary east of Bismarck is set aside as an Outdoor Wildlife Learning Something-or-other, or OWLS (I believe the S is actually for Site). With acres of grasslands, small drainage streams, trees, and a spring-fed lake, this area is a host to a lot of wildlife, frequent fishers, and a few photographers. I’ve come home with some spectacular one-of-a-kind photos from this site!

Today they’re having a fishing day to kick off the year, and promise the possibility of catching any number of fish species. They’ve got bluegill, trout, bass…you name it, apparently they’ve stocked it! This is a catch-and-release area, by the way. I often see people bring their children out to fish from the floating bridge as an introduction to fishing, and it’s a great place to enjoy an afternoon with a hook in the water. It’s in town, it’s well maintained, and it’s a nice place in general.

Last year this lake was groomed, if that’s the correct word; the low water levels made it an opportune time to come in with heavy equipment and scoop all the slimy muck out of the bottom of the lake while regrading the shoreline. There are other habitat items here such as gravel beds, shelves carved into the bottom, and sunken culverts to help aid in the spawning processes of the various fish. It looks like everything went very well, the area around the lake is tilled and seeded, and we’re set to have a really nice OWLS site. We even got the rain we needed to help bring the water level up!