Fishing at Chain Lake, Towner County, North Dakota

• Overview

  Look for Chain Lake in Towner County, North Dakota. Height above sea level is 1,434 feet. You are 12 miles from Cando. Devils Lake is 18 miles away, with Fort Totten at 25 miles. Water in the same corner: Mikes Lake about 2.4 miles, Lake Alice (2.5 miles), Dry Lake about 5.7 miles, Lake Irvine (5.8 miles) and Stone Lake about 6.6 miles. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Chain Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Fish documented in Towner County include northern pike and fathead minnow. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Chain Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between 4°F in January and 68°F in July. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Winter locks it down, and late April brings it back. On average, late April opens the water and mid November closes it again. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. That shapes the year on Chain Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. If the gate is shut, Mikes Lake at 2.4 miles is the nearest alternative. The position on Chain Lake is worth confirming on the day.