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Some Lakes Suffer Winterkill

North Dakota Game and Fish Department fisheries biologists investigated winterkills at several lakes this spring, and some were considered significant enough to affect the quality of fishing. Biologists will continue to monitor suspect lakes and other fisheries throughout the spring.

A total fish kill means all fish died, a significant kill is when the game fish population is greatly reduced and a partial kill means dead fish were observed but catchable numbers of game fish are still present.

Some lakes that were sampled that showed partial winterkill include Pipestem and Jamestown reservoirs (Stutsman County), Green Lake (McIntosh County), Woodhouse Lake (Kidder County), Patterson Lake (Stark County), Crooked Lake and Scooby Lake (McLean County).

Minor winterkills were noted in some other lakes but weren’t significant enough to affect fishing. Information of all waters actively managed by Game and Fish is available by visiting the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. This page will be updated as other lakes are surveyed.

Confirmed lakes with total or significant winterkill are listed by county. For more information on individual lakes, or to report fish kills that may not be on the list, anglers can contact the local Game and Fish district office.

  • Burke – Powers Lake (significant), Short Creek Dam (significant)
  • Burleigh – Mitchell Lake (total)
  • Eddy – Battle Lake (significant)
  • Emmons – Baumgartner Lake (total), Jake’s Lake (total)
  • Foster – Juanita Lake (significant)
  • Griggs – Carlson-Tande Dam (significant)
  • Hettinger – Larson Lake (total), Mott Watershed Dam (total)
  • Kidder – Etta-Alkaline Complex (significant), Leno Lake (total), Rafferty Lake (total), Remmick Lake (significant)
  • Logan – Logan (Mueller) WMA (significant)
  • McInstosh – Lehr WMA (total)
  • McKenzie – Leland Dam (significant), Sather Dam (significant)
  • McLean – Coal Lake (total)
  • Morton – Crown Butte Dam (total)
  • Pierce – Buffalo Lake (significant)
  • Richland – Grass Lake (significant)
  • Rolette – School Section Lake (significant)
  • Sargent – Bergh Slough (significant), Fiala Lake (significant)
  • Stutsman – Gaier Lake (significant), Sunday Lake (significant)
  • Walsh – Matejcek Dam (significant)
  • Wells – Harvey Dam (significant)
  • Williams - Cottonwood Lake (significant), McGregor Dam (significant), Tioga Dam (significant)