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Home › Waters › North Dakota › Eastern Stump Lake
Lake · Northeastern North Dakota, Nelson County, the eastern end of the Devils Lake basin between Lakota and Tolna · North Dakota

Eastern Stump Lake Fishing Guides

The eastern basin of Stump Lake at the downstream end of the Devils Lake chain, a prairie water whose fishing has been rebuilt by decades of rising water.

A small boat pulled up on a calm reservoir bank at sunset
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Eastern Stump Lake

Eastern Stump Lake is the far basin of Stump Lake, which sits at the downstream end of the Devils Lake chain in Nelson County, North Dakota. Its recent history is the single most important thing about it. For much of the twentieth century Stump Lake was shallow, saline and barely a fishery at all. Then the long wet cycle that raised Devils Lake so dramatically pushed water east through the chain, Stump Lake rose many metres, the two basins connected, and what had been a marginal prairie slough became a deep, large and genuinely productive lake.

The gauge reads lake elevation and stage, and on this water those numbers carry more meaning than on most. The flooded landscape is what makes the fishing: drowned trees, submerged fence lines, old roadbeds and shoreline brush that went under as the water came up, all of it now structure. Anglers who know the pre flood topography have a real advantage, and depth maps are worth studying before launching.

Walleye are the fish that matter most and the ones the North Dakota Game and Fish Department manages the chain for. Northern pike are abundant and reach good size in the flooded cover. White bass and yellow perch provide fast fishing when schools are located, black crappie hold on the submerged timber, and freshwater drum, carp and bullhead are common. This is a big water fishery in a state not overburdened with them.

Access is from public ramps, and a boat is close to essential given the size and the distance between productive areas. Wind is the practical limiting factor on any given day, because there is very little on the northern plains to break it. Ice fishing is a major part of the season here and draws more anglers than the open water months.

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The photo at the top of this page is not Eastern Stump Lake.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

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You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

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We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

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5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

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Pool right now

1,451.15ft NAVD88
  • 24 hours+0.04 ft → steady

Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 05056665, EASTERN STUMP LAKE NEAR LAKOTA, ND. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Eastern Stump Lake.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Eastern Stump Lake ft (NAVD88)

Now: 1,451.15 ft pool elevation, read 5:15 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 05056665, EASTERN STUMP LAKE NEAR LAKOTA, ND).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Lakota - the Nelson County seat nearby, with fuel, food and basic supplies.
Tolna - the small community at the western end of the lake, another approach to the water.
Public boat ramps on the lake - the practical access, with a boat close to essential.
Devils Lake - the far larger water upstream in the same chain, half an hour west with full guide services.
Devils Lake city - the regional centre, with lodging, tackle, guides and an airport.
Lake Ashtabula - another North Dakota reservoir fishery to the south, a good alternative trip.
Sheyenne River - the river this basin ultimately spills into, offering moving water nearby.

Seasons

Spring: ice goes off late and walleye move shallow onto the flooded structure as the water warms.
Summer: fish spread through the drowned timber and along the old shorelines, with wind dictating where a boat can work.
Fall: cooling water brings walleye and pike back within reach and produces the largest fish of the open water year.
Winter: ice fishing is the main event, with houses on the lake and consistent walleye and perch through the hard water months.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Eastern Stump Lake?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bullhead, Common Carp, Freshwater Drum, Northern Pike, Walleye, White Bass, Yellow Perch on the Eastern Stump Lake in North Dakota.

Where can you access the Eastern Stump Lake?

Lakota - the Nelson County seat nearby, with fuel, food and basic supplies. Tolna - the small community at the western end of the lake, another approach to the water. Public boat ramps on the lake - the practical access, with a boat close to essential. Devils Lake - the far larger water upstream in the same chain, half an hour west with full guide services. Devils Lake city - the regional centre, with lodging, tackle, guides and an airport. Lake Ashtabula - another North Dakota reservoir fishery to the south, a good alternative trip. Sheyenne River - the river this basin ultimately spills into...

When is the best time to fish the Eastern Stump Lake?

Spring: ice goes off late and walleye move shallow onto the flooded structure as the water warms. Summer: fish spread through the drowned timber and along the old shorelines, with wind dictating where a boat can work. Fall: cooling water brings walleye and pike back within reach and produces the largest fish of the open water year. Winter: ice fishing is the main event, with houses on the lake and consistent walleye and perch through the hard water months.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Eastern Stump Lake?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the North Dakota agency site: https://gf.nd.gov/regulations/fishing