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Lake Metigoshe Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

A Turtle Mountain lake on the Canadian line, with walleye stocked every year, northern pike and bluegill.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
62 / 68 F
Wind
SSE 17 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Lake Metigoshe rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 17 mph, falling pressure near 1004 hPa and a high of 68. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:17 AM-12:17 PM and 10:48 PM-12:48 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeExcellent

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Northern pikeExcellent

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Yellow perchExcellent

Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

CrappieGood

Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 59 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

North Dakota requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $29.00 for residents. What a North Dakota licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing walleye here? Check the size and bag limits with NDGF before you keep anything. The season dates for North Dakota, read off the agency, are on the North Dakota seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp62 F
High / Low68 / 48 F
WindSSE 17-35 mph
Pressure1003.9 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain54% cloud, 4%
Sunrise / Sunset08:14 / 18:36
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Lake Metigoshe this week

Today is the pick of the week on Lake Metigoshe, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
10:17 AM-12:17 PM and 10:48 PM-12:48 AM
Minor period
4:42 AM-5:42 AM
Sun
08:14 to 18:36
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 17 mph
Rain chance
4%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Metigoshe: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

When to come: the Lake Metigoshe calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Walleye
Northern pike
Yellow perch
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Metigoshe today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Walleye led the card at good. High of 69 F, wind to 16 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Walleye led the card at good. High of 57 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 61 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

North Dakota requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

North Dakota fishing license on North Dakota water; the Canadian part of the lake is in Manitoba, where Manitoba licensing and rules apply. Limits follow the current North Dakota Game and Fish fishing regulations.

Access

Ramps at Hahns Bay, Lake Metigoshe State Park and The Narrows; floating piers and shore fishing at Hahns Bay and The Narrows.

About this water

A 1,879.6-acre Turtle Mountain lake, 23.3 feet at its deepest, in Bottineau County, North Dakota, extending across the border into Manitoba.

Fishing Lake Metigoshe: the full guide

A lake on the border

North Dakota Game and Fish's 2020-21 contour map gives Lake Metigoshe 1,879.6 surface acres at full pool, an average depth of 8.9 feet and a maximum of 23.3 feet, and shows its northern bays crossing the international boundary into Canada. North Dakota Parks and Recreation describes the setting as the Turtle Mountains along the US-Canadian border.

What lives here

Game and Fish lists northern pike, walleye, bluegill, black bullhead, yellow perch and black crappie as the sport fish. Its outlook mentions several sizes of bluegill including some large fish, some nice crappie, walleye in a wide range of sizes up to 26 inches, and good pike fishing with some large fish. In the 2025 test netting, black bullhead were the most numerous fish and walleye averaged 17.5 inches.

Walleye stocking

The department stocks walleye every year: 107,900 fingerlings in 2026, 115,900 in 2025 and 184,000 in 2024, after several years of advanced fingerlings and some adult fish.

Ramps, piers and the state park

Game and Fish lists three ramps: Hahns Bay (ND Forest Service), the state park (ND Parks and Recreation) and The Narrows (Bottineau County Park Board), with floating fishing piers and shore fishing at Hahns Bay and The Narrows. Its directions put the lake 9 miles north, 4 miles east and 1 mile north of Bottineau. Lake Metigoshe State Park has cabins, a yurt, campgrounds and four fishing docks, and Parks and Recreation mentions ice fishing in winter.

Common questions

Does the lake cross into Canada?

Yes. Game and Fish's contour map shows the north end crossing the border, and those waters are under Manitoba's rules.

Is the lake stocked?

Yes, with walleye every year; Game and Fish released 107,900 fingerlings in 2026.

Where can I fish from shore?

Game and Fish lists shore fishing and floating piers at Hahns Bay and The Narrows.

Is fishing good at Lake Metigoshe right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Lake Darling67 miDevils Lake90 miLake Audubon103 miLake Sakakawea123 miNelson Lake137 miMissouri River151 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 48.9790, -100.3580 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.