You can catch them in the Missouri River in both Dakotas, as well. But it's Devils Lake that's getting the reputation. "It is not the most difficult fish in the world to catch," said Hiltner. "In early June they are still spawning a bit. And you can find white bass close to shore well into the heat of summer. They can suspend off the shore quite a ways, too. They are pretty good at herding a school of minnows and getting after them in 1 or 2 feet of water."

White bass are very plentiful in the Missouri River at this time of year in the Dakotas. But June is also the prime panfishing month for many other species across the northern Great Plains.

All of that is putting the fishery more in demand. "White bass have been popular up here for the last decade, at least," said Hiltner. "Before that, they were considered trash fish by a lot of people. Even the walleye types like to catch them for recreation. They may not keep any. Then there are people who come up here and target white bass and keep them for eating purposes."

The daily white bass limit is 20, with 80 in possession. "They can bring back some serious weight," said Hiltner. "If you find a nice school of white bass, you can keep entertained for hours. They will get spooked and move away. And you can catch them quite well from shore. You aren't quite as mobile, but there are miles of roadways that cut across Devils Lake. You can fish off that."

Anglers can also pick up a few crappie in Devils Lake. Some weigh 2 pounds, but their numbers aren't high, which biologists suspect is due to high predator fish numbers, which knock the crappie populations back.

And for a change of pace, Hiltner offered, anglers may want to try channel-cat fishing over on the Red Rive, the best of that being found north of Grand Forks. "There are people who target them," he said. "They grow relatively large in the Red River. It is primarily north of Grand Forks and all the way up to Winnipeg. It's not uncommon to catch channel cats up to 20 pounds, but that is not the average. Lots of people from Iowa go there. You can't have more than one channel cat more than 24 inches. We are trying to protect the big catfish."

Lakes in the Jamestown area offer good sport with good fish populations. Bluegills are plentiful in Brewer Lake, Heinrich-Martin Dam and Pheasant Lake, said Brandon Kratz, fish biologist with the NDGFD at Jamestown.

Brewer gets lots of pressure during the summer months. But catches of 8-inch bluegills are made. The lake also has largemouth and smallmouth bass. Pheasant Lake and Heinrich-Martin Dam also have good bluegill fishing.

Trophy-sized crappie are being caught in Pipestem Reservoir as well. "They are old fish, and it isn't uncommon to catch 13-inchers in there," said Kratz. "They are down from previous years. We are hoping to see some recruitment there before they go by the wayside."

Ashtabula Reservoir also has some crappie, though not a great many of them. Some are nice-sized 10- to 13-inchers. And Ashtabula is still the place to go for bullheads.

"It is still the champion amongst bullhead lakes," said Kratz. "It is pretty much a shoo-in. It is a big 5,000-acre impoundment, so there is plenty of access for fishermen."

Anglers at Ashtabula should be able to fish a white-bass population that appears to be on the upswing. "Ashtabula has enough white bass to catch at times," said Kratz. "They can be prolific; then, as quickly as they appear, they disappear. People have had times when they had difficulty keeping them off their hooks when they were walleye fishing. There is some potential for white bass this summer. It looks like the average size was 12.5 inches, and there were a fair amount caught (in test nettings) last year. This year should see 15-inchers."