Power recently gave another history lesson in the March-April issue of North Dakota Outdoors. The full magazine article can be found on the Game and Fish Department's website at gf.nd.gov.

With more than 75 prairie lakes created in the last 20 years, plus the state's traditional waters – Sakakawea, Oahe and Devils Lake – fishing has probably never been better in recent years.

Times are changing, and if you are, for example, in your 60s or 70s and have been fishing in North Dakota your entire life, you have witnessed this first hand while boat fishing and ice fishing.

All the advances in developing more and better “stuff” – from 20-foot-plus fiberglass boats to 450-horsepower outboard motors, fishing houses with all the luxuries, trackable off-road vehicles, incredible electronics, to name a few – and the affluence of our society that allows many of us to buy that “stuff” has given the boat and ice angler a tremendous advantage overall compared to half a century ago.

Advances in the fishing industry have benefited both the people involved in the fishing industry and North Dakota's economy. Comparing the state's current spending of $788 million to that of just $5 million in 1965 underscores the growing importance of fishing.

Looking back in history (over 50 years), most of the fishing in North Dakota was done from shore.

Owning boats was just beginning to emerge and ice fishing was still a new thing for most people. Fishing from the shore was common practice at the time and finding a suitable access to the shore was always a top priority.

Fishing from the bank was and still is a mostly relaxed affair, where you cast a few lines, sit in a deck chair and wait for the friendly sounds of bells that might indicate that a fish has taken the bait. This type of fishing was and still is certainly gentle and does not require a lot of equipment.

In recent years, 70 to 80 percent of North Dakota anglers reported fishing from boats each year, reflected in the record number (over 78,000) of registered motorized watercraft.

Likewise, interest in ice fishing increased dramatically beginning in the late 1970s due to the boom in bass fishing on Devils Lake. This interest continued to grow especially since the mid-1990s as new walleye, bass and northern pike lakes began to appear in North Dakota.

To further increase interest in boat and ice fishing, manufacturers have developed a vast array of devices and adaptations designed to assist the boater and angler. The 16-foot aluminum boat with a 40- or 50-horsepower motor and the infamous Lowrance Green Box (fish finder) that were common in the 1970s and early 1980s have been replaced by bigger and better ones.

Meanwhile, shore fishing has changed little in the last 50 years. The same lawn chair, the same rod holder, the same bell as in 1974 could still be used in 2024. The same stringer, the same end tackle (often a bare hook or a floating jig) and often the same rod/reel are still in use today.

In the past, shore fishing was the key to a lifetime of fishing. Although reliable statistics are not available for the early 1970s, it is safe to assume that two-thirds of all fishing activity took place on our coasts.

Today it is less than 10%.

Looking ahead, it remains unclear whether we will be able to continue to attract a significant number of anglers who only know how to fish from a boat (and ice).