Missouri River System (North Dakota) Fishing Reports

Put in a Beaver Bay,  Went south the rain stayed to the north so we were able to fish.  I thought we picked the right day.  We had the perfect chop and fished with crawlers and bouncers.  Then the lake went like glass.  Got hot 93 when we got back to the dock.  Caught (1) 6lb walleye and had 3 other dinks.  (5) 1.5 perch and caught 5 catfish all around 7 - 8 pounds good fight...  and about 12 Pike all around that 3 pounds.  One would have thought we must have been in shallow water  but we were at 14-16 fow.  Also missed a ton so all in all one never could guess what the next one was, take lots of crawlers along.. Good Luck...Talked to the cusion in Mobridge and the bite it still on nice fish 20 -23 inch fish...

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Put in south of Bismarck today, fished from 1:30 to about 6:30. 

Tally:  11 walleyes, one was greater than 14 inches.  At least two were a mere 6-7 inches.
4 drum, all nice size and put up a good fight.
1 white bass, literally the only 2 inch long fish I have caught in all my days.  Would have been nothing more than bait other than I noticed it on my hook as I reeled in a twig.

Most fish were caught on a plain hook with half a crawler, one eye came off a jig.

Didn't try cranks as there was too much crap in the water early on, but it seemed to dissipate as the day wore on.

Caught fish in every place I stopped, depths ranged from about 7 ft all the way to 22 ft, no distinct pattern.

Surprised that I caught zero pike, all though something hit a line and I pulled up either a broken or bit through snell.  The little eyes had moments of pure aggression followed by pickiness.

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any helpful info is thanked
 

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Fished south of Bismarck using jig and worms and came up with a nice limit of walleyes.  Caught a lot of finger lengths which is great see for future fishing on the river.  We were catching them in 20' fow and deeper, we found the spot late in the morning so we had to work for the keepers but the little guys kept us busy.  We tried fishing in 15' fow and less but no luck.

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hey everyone dont fish the river much and going  camping this next weekend down at beaver bay and just wondering wat to use to catch some nice walleyes any info would be nice thanks

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put in at Misty Waters on Saturday morning in an attempt to beat the recreational boaters...pretty slow fishing, threw back a couple dink walleyes and an 11# nordern. Used crawlers.

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I went out by the riverdale campgrounds and caught 2 small rainbow trout wasnt too exciting. used spinners offshore.

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Fishing the weeds with cranks and floating frogs and spoons as I often do. Bismarck Rifle Range right by the back up water. I wade in about 10 or 15 ft.

This spot has produced large northern pike for me late in the summer, and my line on the bottom with a worm almost always catches some good Walleye or White Bass. Yesterday sucked though, all I caught was sunburn and one White Bass about 2 lbs.

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Fished from shore south of Heskitt discharge water for a few hours Tuesday night.  Floating jigs and husky jerks rapala.  Nothing.  Very weedy with a lot of snags. 

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fished the tailrace from shore last night with little luck.  tried cranks from the rocks on the east side from 8 till 10 without a single bite.  There were no smelt coming through and not one seagull in the air.  the water is still very cold, 41 degrees, and the current was hard and heavy along the east side.  drifting moss was clogging up the cranks.  lots of other fisherman on the rocks, but I didn't see anyone else catch anything while I was there (I'm sure someone eventually did).

went to the wingwalls to try jigging, at the end of the first pier caught one 16" walleye and lost another at the surface.  2 small pike from the 3rd wall, and one small pike and a channel cat from the start of the first wall.  no wind, full moon, and a little fog.  Perfect night other than the water temp, needs a few more weeks.

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Downstream Disaster

Geez, downstream? You got to be kidding. You can do that if you want Schoneck, they’re your cranks.

The Missouri River is one remarkable walleye fishery that has a short beginning in ND west of Williston. The Sakakawea dam holds her back for the next 170 miles and then off she goes heading south to the SD border. Washburn is one of many great places but this time of year it is THE place in my opinion.

Heavy rain has been forecast for the day along with winds in the 20’s and gusts to 28. Leaving the house this morning we had both. By the time the 80 mile trip was ending the rain was all but stopped leaving only the wind to contend with.

The original plan was to put Gulp and live bait to the test vertical jigging. Two missed hits on live bait and one small walleye on Gulp before I called that plan quits. Too windy for me, the electric was on 5 just to keep me going downstream. Plus, I didn’t like the 40 degree wind in my face.

After a cautious trip upriver, didn’t hit a single sandbar, an accomplishment for me, we settled into one of my favorite Washburn locations. I still had jigs on the brain but that cleared out after a couple of guys in a Lund put on a seminar using cranks. Let the games begin!

First down was a jointed 5 in Firetiger with a Wonderbread Red Rip Shad next door. First fish, jointed 5 but that was when the Rip Shad took over. Before long the Shad Rap is being changed out for a Firetiger Rip Shad. They are hard to tune but I have no other lure I would place ahead of Rip Shads.

We are fishing a section of sand dunes running into a current break with a flat bottom. Depths average 8 to 9 feet. Current is pretty strong at the lower section but with the dunes to rest in the fish seem to be concentrated at the lower end. This would be an ideal setup for leadcore and it crossed my mind but we just didn’t need it to get fish.

I’ve done this before, I think Pepin in Red Wing was the first place. Smoking downstream with cranks can be a sure way of cleaning out the tackle boxes. It can also put fish, big fish in the livewell. I’m pretty safe here in the sand and get away with it today. I’ll admit I’m not always so lucky. If you have some old rusty cranks give it a try sometime.

By mid-afternoon winds died down and I went back to jigs for a vertical drift down to where I start back upstream with the cranks. Normally I can catch walleyes faster with cranks but jigs were quickly overtaking the crank catch. Nothing fancy, just a ¼ ounce jig and fathead minnow. Using the electric to match the current speed it’s a fun way to fish.

The river will likely stay good for another several weeks. The general theme is as summer progresses fish size and numbers begin to die down. We have had some unusually cool weather so perhaps the great fishing will continue longer that normal. For the few who really understand the river there is a lot of season left, regardless of the summer heat. I still have some cranks left. See ya on the river.

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where is the best place to go on shore in the bismarck mandan area i lost my spot south of mandan because i dont want to go mudding just to get to a fishing spot thanks

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Put in up north of Bismarck and pulled cranks with the wife and kids.  Fishing was great, kept 9 in about 2.5 hours on the water.  No really, it was GREAT, the kids are 4 and 2, so anything over the gunwale is a bonus!

Fished about 5-8 ft of water, #5 shadraps and #7 countdowns in charteuse and silver, or firetiger were the ticket.

Then again, the other boats in the area were also netting fish.  Must have heard the 4 and 2 year olds screams of joy every time we had a fish on.

Also lost 4 fish and missed a number of other bites.

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 Caught two around the Hazelton boat ramp.  A lot of boats in the area and fishing seemed to be on and off for most.  Heard things were much better further south at Beaver Bay.  The ones I caught were with spinners and crawlers in about 18 feet of water.   

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good day by beaver bay, landed 10 eyes-all eater size. also caught several northern.
most fish were caught on cranks in 10-14 fow

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