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Home › Waters › North Dakota › Missouri River (North Dakota)
River · Garrison Reach · North Dakota

Missouri River (North Dakota) Fishing Guides

The Garrison Reach below the dam, seventy-five miles of cold, clear, braided river through Bismarck that is the best walleye water in North Dakota.

A wide sand and gravel bar on a slow river below a timbered bank
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Missouri River (North Dakota)

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

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.

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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.

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Posting to Missouri River (North Dakota).

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.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Missouri River (North Dakota) cfs

Now: 13,100 cfs, read 1:15 am CDT, Mon Oct 19, 2026 (USGS 06342500, MISSOURI RIVER AT BISMARCK, ND).

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

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.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Missouri River (North Dakota)?

As of Oct 19, 1:15 am, the USGS gauge MISSOURI RIVER AT BISMARCK, ND reads 13,100 cfs, the 23rd percentile for this date, with water temperature 55 F. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Missouri River (North Dakota)?

Anglers target Channel Catfish, Chinook Salmon, Northern Pike, Paddlefish, Sauger, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye on the Missouri River (North Dakota) in North Dakota.

Are there fishing guides on the Missouri River (North Dakota)?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Missouri River (North Dakota). Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Missouri River (North Dakota)?

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.

When is the best time to fish the Missouri River (North Dakota)?

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.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Missouri River (North Dakota)?

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