Mary Lake Fishing in Rolette County, North Dakota

• Overview

  In North Dakota, Mary Lake falls inside Rolette County. What surrounds it is mixed forest. Surface area is around 82 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. There is roughly 2.4 miles of shoreline here, which is a short walk end to end. By elevation it is in the upper part of our North Dakota listings. Head to Boissevain, 12 miles away, for anything you forgot. For a city, Winnipeg is 144 miles off. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Mary Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Across Rolette County, recorded fish include bluegill, northern pike, white bass, yellow perch and johnny darter. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Mary Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 1°F to 65°F. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about mid November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. The season on Mary Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Should this one be busy, Bower Lake is 1.1 miles off. Rules at Mary Lake are worth checking on the day.