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Nelson Lake Fishing Report

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

A power-plant lake near Center that North Dakota Game and Fish calls the best largemouth bass lake in the state.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
71 / 74 F
Wind
SSE 18 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.

Nelson Lake sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 18 mph, falling pressure near 1002 hPa and a high of 74. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:21 AM-12:21 PM and 10:52 PM-12:52 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

CrappieGood

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

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 largemouth bass 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.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp71 F
High / Low74 / 54 F
WindSSE 18-27 mph
Pressure1001.9 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain47% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset08:15 / 18:42
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 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 Nelson Lake this week

The best day on Nelson Lake this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 β€” excellent at 5/5, 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
10:21 AM-12:21 PM and 10:52 PM-12:52 AM
Minor period
4:45 AM-5:45 AM
Sun
08:15 to 18:42
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 19 mph
Rain chance
2%

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

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

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. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

When to come: the Nelson Lake 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
Largemouth bass
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Nelson Lake 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. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 78 F, wind to 15 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 71 F, wind to 11 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

A North Dakota fishing license is required. The Game and Fish Fishing Waters entry lists no special rule for Nelson Lake; check the current North Dakota fishing proclamation for limits.

Access

Boat ramp, fishing pier and vault toilet, 5 miles east and 3 miles south of Center (Game and Fish).

About this water

A 581-acre cooling lake for the Milton R. Young Station in Oliver County, North Dakota.

Fishing Nelson Lake: the full guide

Warm water from the Milton R. Young Station

Nelson Lake lies 5 miles east and 3 miles south of Center in Oliver County. Warm water released by the Milton R. Young Station, a coal-fired power plant, keeps the lake open year-round, which Game and Fish says gives largemouth bass a longer growing season than anywhere else in North Dakota.

Bass, bluegill and crappie

Game and Fish's 2025 Fishing Waters list calls Nelson the best largemouth bass lake in the state and notes abundant, quality-sized bluegill and crappie. Biologists electrofish the lake each year from about mid- to late May to check the balance between bass and their prey; one survey measured and released more than 60 largemouth.

The lake by the numbers

The department's 2020–21 contour map gives 581 acres, 12.5 miles of shoreline, an average depth of 14.4 feet and a maximum of 33.4 feet at full pool. It marks a boat ramp, a fishing pier and a vault toilet.

Common questions

Why does Nelson Lake stay open in winter?

Warm water released by the Milton R. Young Station keeps it open year-round, according to North Dakota Game and Fish.

What else can I catch besides bass?

Game and Fish describes quality-sized bluegill and crappie as abundant.

Is there shore access?

Yes. The Game and Fish contour map shows a fishing pier as well as the boat ramp.

Is fishing good at Nelson Lake 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

Missouri River28 miLake Audubon35 miLake Tschida44 miLake Sakakawea69 miLake Ilo69 miLake Darling97 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 47.0900, -101.2500 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.