Some Lakes Suffer Winterkill

North Dakota Game and Fish Department fisheries biologists investigated winterkills at 13 lakes this spring, and some were considered significant enough to affect the quality of fishing.

Popular fishing lakes that appear to have suffered a significant kill include Spring Lake (Bowman County), Davis Dam (Slope County), Round Lake (Kidder County), Wentz WPA (Logan County), School Section Lake (Rolette County), Cavanaugh Lake (Ramsey County), Matejcek Dam (Walsh County), Casselton Reservoir (Cass County) and Bisek Slough (Richland County).

Fisheries biologists sample suspected winterkill lakes to assess the severity of the die-off, and make plans to restock fish where needed. Some lakes that were sampled and still have good populations of fish include Coal Lake (McLean County) and Island Lake (Rolette County).

Minor winterkills in some other lakes were not significant enough to affect fishing.

Anglers can contact fisheries biologists at local Game and Fish Department district offices to get more information on lake status, or to report fish kills that may not be on the list.