Matts Lake in Rolette County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Matts Lake in Rolette County, North Dakota. The ground around here is pine and birch. It covers about 17 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Our Rolette County list holds plenty of bigger water. Boissevain lies 11 miles from the water. Further out sit Deloraine (11 miles) and Bottineau (23 miles). It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Matts Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Rolette County list bluegill, northern pike, white bass, yellow perch and johnny darter. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. At Matts Lake light and wind decide more than tackle does.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 2°F to 65°F. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough late April. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about mid November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Plan any trip to Matts Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. Records show it does not hold water year-round. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. If the gate is shut, Gordon Lake at 4.7 miles is the nearest alternative. Treat access at Matts Lake as something to verify.