NDG&F Press Release

Just in time for the height of spring fishing, the NDG&F Department has released its spring waters report.  Options abound more than ever as North Dakota now has more than 420 fishing waters that have public access and some degree of management by state Game and Fish Department biologists.

The state is broken down into six regions with each individual water called out, along with driving directions and infrastructure information for these managed waters, plus additional fish population remarks for many of them.

The number in parenthesis that follows each fishery is simply a code used by biologists to help identify those waters. The codes are also found on the accompanying maps to help readers locate specific waters.

The fishery outlooks provided by Game and Fish Department district fisheries supervisors and biologists are not all-inclusive reports, but rather a summary of each water’s fish populations to help frame angler expectations. With a record number of lakes scattered across North Dakota, fisheries biologists have yet to conduct thorough population assessments on many of these waters.

Any changes and updates on managed lakes appear on the “Where to Fish” page.

Most state public fishing waters have boat ramps. Lakes or rivers where no ramp exists are listed as “no ramp.” Check signs at each area for further restrictions.