Missouri River (North Dakota) Fishing Guides and Conditions, North Dakota

About the Missouri River (North Dakota)

Below Garrison Dam the Missouri runs seventy-five miles to the head of Lake Oahe, and this stretch, the Garrison Reach, is the closest thing left to the river Lewis and Clark described. Cold water comes off the dam, the channel braids around wooded islands and sand bars, and the whole reach is bordered by cottonwood bottoms and bluffs. It is also the most productive fishery in the state, running right through Bismarck and Mandan.

Walleye are the reason people are here. The reach produces both numbers and size, fished from boats working the sand-bar drops, the wing dams, the island tips and the tributary mouths. Sauger mix in, particularly in the lower reach toward Oahe, and smallmouth bass have become an excellent secondary fishery on the rock. Northern pike sit in the backwaters and sloughs, channel catfish work the deeper holes, and chinook salmon that run out of Lake Sakakawea show up below the dam in late summer and fall. Paddlefish snagging in the Williston area upstream is a separate and heavily regulated pursuit.

The Bismarck gauge is the working number. Flow here is set by Garrison Dam releases rather than weather, and the Corps changes those releases seasonally for navigation, flood control and power. A change of a few thousand cfs moves the sand bars, changes which channels are runnable and repositions fish, so check the current reading and the release trend before a trip rather than relying on last month. The water stays cold most of the year, which is why the fishing holds up in July.

Bismarck and Mandan are the base, with ramps, guides and everything else. Washburn, Hazelton and Fort Rice serve the reaches above and below.

Access

Garrison Dam tailrace: the top of the reach, salmon and walleye water.
Washburn and Fort Clark: upper reach ramps.
Bismarck and Mandan: several city ramps including the Port of Bismarck.
Misty Waters and Kimball Bottoms: local access south of the city.
Fort Rice and Graner Park: lower reach ramps toward Oahe.
Hazelton and Beaver Bay: the head of Lake Oahe.
Knife and Heart River confluences: tributary mouths that concentrate fish.

Seasons

April and May: the strongest walleye months, cold water and heavy boat traffic.
June and July: summer patterns on the sand-bar drops and wing dams, smallmouth on the rock.
August through October: chinook salmon below the dam and excellent fall walleye fishing.
Winter: ice on the slower reaches; open water below the dam holds fish but conditions are severe.