Frying Pan Lake in Richland County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Frying Pan Lake in Richland County, North Dakota. It lies 1,119 feet above sea level. It covers about 3 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. On size it sits at the modest end of our Richland County list. 24 miles away sits Wahpeton, the nearest town. It is 59 miles to Fargo, the nearest city. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Frying Pan Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Records held for Richland County cover bluegill, white sucker and common carp. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Frying Pan Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 71°F and January near 9°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. After mid April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about mid April until roughly late November. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to Frying Pan Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Moran Lake, 2.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Frying Pan Lake in what we hold.