Fishing Merlin Mader Reservoir Number 1 in Sioux County, Nebraska

• Overview

  Merlin Mader Reservoir Number 1 lies in Sioux County, Nebraska. Height above sea level is 3,671 feet. This is a pocket water of some 15 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. 35 miles away sits Hot Springs, the nearest town. For a city, Fort Collins is 178 miles off. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Merlin Mader Reservoir Number 1

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. Levels move with the draw rather than the rain on water like this. Species logged across Sioux County include yellow bullhead, fathead minnow and sand shiner. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Read this water before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 73°F, while January sits near 22°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly late March. Break-up sits around late March on average, with the water closing again about early December. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. At this water the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Public mapping marks it as seasonal water rather than permanent. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. The nearest alternative is Mader Reservoir Number 2, 0.7 miles out. Nothing here settles the position at this water for certain.