Ron Wilson

Before waters hardened, signaling the start of the state’s ice fishing season, Greg Power, N.D. Game and Fish Department fisheries chief, said it’s important to look at where we were when the ice retreated last spring.

“At that time, we had roughly 430 lakes in North Dakota, and as we go into the new ice fishing season, we still have 430 lakes, which is kind of hard to comprehend, given how hot and dry it was this last summer,” Power said. “We fully expected conditions were such to have some serious summer die-offs, but it never happened.”

Nelson’s unique stature is a byproduct of the Milton R. Young Station, a coal-fired power plant in Oliver County that has produced electricity for a half-century. Even during the leanest months here on the Northern Plains, warm water released from the facility creates a year-round open water environment, which allows largemouth bass a longer growing season than anywhere else in the state.