Upper Harker Lake in Kidder County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Kidder County, Upper Harker Lake is a North Dakota water. The surface lies 1,722 feet up. It measures about 85 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. About 1.5 miles of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. On size it sits at the modest end of our Kidder County list. Head to Linton, 46 miles away, for anything you forgot. For a city, Fargo is 138 miles off. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Upper Harker Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Reported across Kidder County: bluegill and northern pike. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. On Upper Harker Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 70°F and January reads 6°F. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough mid April. Expect the water usable from around mid April until roughly late November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. That is the shape of the year on Upper Harker Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Local rules can differ across the county line, so check where you stand. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. The nearest alternative is Harker Lake, 0.7 miles out. Where Upper Harker Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.