Horsehead Lake in Kidder County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Horsehead Lake falls in Kidder County, part of North Dakota. The surface lies 1,713 feet up. At 11.6 sq miles you are fishing a fraction of it whatever you do. You have roughly 22 miles of edge to choose from, which rewards a scouting trip. Nothing else we list in Kidder County covers more water. Some 42 miles away sits Carrington, the nearest settlement. Lincoln lies 47 miles off, Bismarck another 50 miles. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Horsehead Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Survey and observation records for Kidder County include bluegill and northern pike. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Horsehead Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 70°F, the coldest about 6°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Winter locks it down, and mid April brings it back. Averages suggest open water from about mid April through to roughly late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. It sets the rhythm of the year at Horsehead Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. State or provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Cherry Lake at 4.1 miles is the sensible second choice. None of that is settled for Horsehead Lake in what we hold.