Cherry Lake in McLean County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Cherry Lake sits within McLean County in North Dakota. The bank is 1,814 feet above sea level. At about 69 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The full circuit measures close to 1.4 miles on foot. It is a small entry by McLean County standards. Washburn lies 17 miles from the water. Fargo sits 200 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Cherry Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Across McLean County, recorded fish include bluegill, rainbow smelt and smallmouth bass. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. On Cherry Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 69°F in July and bottom out at 9°F in January. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough mid April. The season between ice runs from about mid April to late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That shapes the year on Cherry Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. For a change of water, Hanson Slough is 0.6 miles distant. Treat Cherry Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.