Fishing at Cottonwood Lake, LaMoure County, North Dakota

• Overview

  Within LaMoure County, North Dakota, you have Cottonwood Lake. Elevation runs to 1,421 feet. It runs to roughly 214 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Bank access stretches around 2.4 miles in total. You are 19 miles from Oakes. Fargo sits 88 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Cottonwood Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. LaMoure County records list black bullhead, bluegill and walleye among the fish reported. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Read Cottonwood Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 9°F to 70°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near mid April. Ice usually gives way near mid April, and forms again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Anyone fishing Cottonwood Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. Walleye come to jigs worked slow near bottom, and to trolled crankbaits along the drops at dusk. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Should this one be busy, Lake LaMoure is 6.7 miles off. The position on Cottonwood Lake is worth confirming on the day.