Salmon snagging season runs through Oct. 31 in North Dakota

North Dakota’s Chinook salmon harvest window runs through Oct. 31 at Lake Sakakawea, with fisheries experts urging anglers to start sooner rather than waiting. The state is reopening salmon snagging for the first time since the mid-1990s, and it also marks the first year bow fishing is allowed. Officials say mid-October is typically the best time because later in the month fish quality drops as 3- and 4-year-old salmon age quickly. Salmon are stocked annually (usually in May) as smolts, and as spawning nears, they stop feeding. Fish have moved into shallower water.