Darkhouse spearing and bowfishing open on November 15 and run to March 15, and hook-and-line fishing is open all year, so the winter has few dates: unoccupied fish houses come off the ice by midnight on March 15, and licenses run to March 31. The 2026-28 rules took effect on April 1 and hold through this winter and next.
What to fish for in early November
North Dakota's winter is an ice season from the first safe sheets of late autumn to the houses coming off in March, and Devils Lake is the center of it. Sakakawea's arms and the Missouri's backwaters are fished once they hold, the open water below Garrison Dam draws walleye and sauger all winter, and the reservoirs of the James and Sheyenne valleys round out the east.
Yellow Perch
Wanders the flats in big schools, and the jumbo perch of Devils Lake are what many visitors make the drive for; a school found one morning is often a long way off by the next.
Where. The open flats and the flooded timber of Devils Lake, Six-Mile Bay and East Devils Lake, and Stump Lake.
Walleye
Comes up to feed at first and last light and goes quiet through the bright middle of a still day, holding on the edges the rising lake drowned.
Where. Points, humps and old roadbeds on Devils Lake, the arms of Sakakawea and Oahe, and Jamestown, Pipestem and Ashtabula in the east.
The walleye waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Sakakawea about 44F Best Sun, Nov 8, B+Today's forecast Missouri River at Bismarck about 46F Best Sun, Nov 8, A+Today's forecast Jamestown Reservoir about 40F Best Sun, Nov 8, B+Today's forecast Northern Pike
The fish of the darkhouse spearers and the tip-ups, cruising the weedy shallows all season.
Where. Shallow bays of Devils Lake, the backwaters of the Missouri River reservoirs, and the southwest lakes from Tschida to Bowman-Haley.
Crappie
Gathers in the deeper holes of the eastern reservoirs and rises toward the ice at dusk.
Where. Jamestown and Pipestem reservoirs and Lake Ashtabula behind Baldhill Dam.
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
The next six weeks of this report's calendar for North Dakota.
- Sun November 15North Dakota's darkhouse spearing and bowfishing season opens, to March 15.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
North Dakota's winter reporting is Devils Lake's: Devils Lake Fishing Report, a guide service, posted 39 times from late November to late February last winter, a weekly fishing report among them. Game and Fish publishes no weekly report, Outdoor News's is for subscribers, and Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri River had no winter reporter that could be found.
Where to fish in North Dakota, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
Devils Lake
Devils Lake · Six-Mile Bay · East Devils Lake · Stump Lake
The largest natural lake in the state, a prairie basin near the town of Devils Lake that has risen over decades to drown trees, roads and fields, and the bays and flooded timber that came with it: walleye, perch and pike water from shore to shore.
Who reports here. Devils Lake Fishing Report, a guide service, posted 39 times from November 24 to February 25 last winter, its weekly fishing report on Mondays in December and Tuesdays from January, with the ice, the travel and where the perch, walleye and pike were.
Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri River
Lake Sakakawea · Garrison Dam tailrace · Missouri River · Lake Oahe
The Missouri River system across the west and middle of the state: Lake Sakakawea, the huge reservoir behind Garrison Dam, the river itself past Bismarck and Mandan, and the upper end of Lake Oahe, with walleye, sauger and pike the whole way down.
Who reports here. No winter reporter could be found for Sakakawea, the river at Bismarck or Oahe's North Dakota end, and Game and Fish publishes no weekly report. A forum and a computed forecast page were all that turned up.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, B+7 good hours46F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 3h
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, A+10 good hours52F measured Nov 3 at MISSOURI RIVER AT BISMARCK, NDbest run 5h12800 cfsat MISSOURI RIVER AT BISMARCK, NDon this water
The southeast reservoirs and the Red
Jamestown Reservoir · Pipestem Reservoir · Lake Ashtabula · Red River
The reservoirs of the James and Sheyenne valleys around Jamestown and Valley City, Jamestown, Pipestem and Lake Ashtabula behind Baldhill Dam, walleye, perch, crappie and pike water under the ice, and the Red River along the Minnesota line for catfish.
Who reports here. No winter reporter could be found: the New Rockford Transcript's weekly Dakota Recreation Report, which carried these lakes, ended with its edition of January 1, 2024.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, B+9 good hours43F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 4h
The southwest lakes
Lake Tschida · Patterson Lake · Lake Ilo · Bowman-Haley Reservoir
The reservoirs and small lakes of the Missouri Slope and the badlands around Dickinson, Lake Tschida behind Heart Butte Dam, Patterson Lake at Dickinson, Lake Ilo near Dunn Center and Bowman-Haley in the southwest corner, walleye, perch and pike water fished through the ice.
Who reports here. No dated winter report could be found for these lakes.
Engine outlook
- Best: Mon, Nov 9, B+9 good hours43F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 4h
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- The 2026-28 fishing proclamation took effect on April 1, 2026, and runs to March 31, 2028, so this winter and next run under the same rules.
Read on October 20, 2026, from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (its 2026-28 fishing proclamation and fishing guide, its license and fee pages and its ice safety page).
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- A license runs from April 1 to March 31, so this year's covers the whole winter. Residents pay $27 ($10 at 65 and older); nonresidents $68 for the season, $48 for three days or $58 for ten. Anglers under 16 need no license, though a nonresident child must fish with a licensed angler.
- On the Red and Bois de Sioux rivers a North Dakota or a Minnesota license covers the water between the banks and the licensing state's shore. Walleye, sauger and saugeye together, and northern pike, are three a day there.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- Two poles, one line each with one or two lures. Through the ice up to four poles, tip-ups included, with no more than two of them in open water where both are being fished. Every pole stays in sight within 150 feet and is checked at least once an hour.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Hook-and-line fishing is open all year on waters open to fishing. Daily limits: five walleye, sauger and saugeye combined; five northern pike; five bass; three trout; one muskellunge of at least 48 inches; ten crappie; ten bluegill; 20 yellow perch; 30 white bass.
Through the ice
- Darkhouse spearing and bowfishing run from November 15 to March 15 for northern pike and nongame fish on waters open to fishing, and for walleye and channel catfish only on named waters (the Devils Lake complex south of US 2 and Lakes Sakakawea and Oahe among them).
- No fish-house license is needed, but an unoccupied house must show a Game and Fish equipment registration number, or the owner's name with address or phone number, in characters at least 3 inches high. Every unoccupied house comes off the water from midnight March 15 until ice-out, and off state land after March 15. A hole wider than 10 inches must be marked, visibly from 150 feet, when the angler leaves it.
- Game and Fish's rule of thumb for good ice: stay off 2 inches; 4 inches for a person on foot, 6 for a snowmobile or ATV, 8 to 12 for a car or small pickup. Snow on ice insulates it and hides cracks and open water.
Read on these agency pages: North Dakota Game and Fish: Fishing License, North Dakota Game and Fish: Resident Licenses and Fees, North Dakota Game and Fish: Nonresident Licenses and Fees, North Dakota Game and Fish: Fishing Regulations (the 2026-28 Fishing Proclamation, HTML), North Dakota Game and Fish: 2026-28 Fishing Guide (PDF), North Dakota Game and Fish: Ice Safety.
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devils Lake | 41F | 36F | 35F | 34F | 34F |
| Jamestown Reservoir | 41F | 35F | 35F | 35F | 35F |
| Lake Sakakawea | 45F | 37F | 36F | 35F | 34F |
| Lake Tschida | 42F | 35F | 35F | 35F | 35F |
Each river's own gauge: its average for these dates across the years it has recorded, measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri River at BismarckMISSOURI RIVER AT BISMARCK, ND, 2009 to 2026 | 47F | 38F | 32F | 32F | 32F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devils Lakeat Devils Lake | 8h 22m, Dec 21 | 4:45pm, around Dec 12 | 8:28am, around Jan 1 |
| Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri Riverat Lake Sakakawea | 8h 24m, Dec 21 | 4:58pm, around Dec 11 | 8:40am, around Jan 1 |
| The southeast reservoirs and the Redat Jamestown Reservoir | 8h 30m, Dec 21 | 4:47pm, around Dec 11 | 8:22am, around Jan 1 |
| The southwest lakesat Lake Tschida, on Mountain time | 8h 33m, Dec 21 | 4:01pm, around Dec 11 | 7:33am, around Jan 1 |