New Here, Advice on Missouri

Allen

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Good guess, but I got it in a big pond that Game & Fish stocks in the Bismarck area. They stocked it this year again but added cutties and browns. They trade some of their extra fish with other states that don’t have as many as our species such as walleye. We get cutthroat & browns etc. They got big ones this year from different states (Wyoming I believe), they put 20 inch browns in one of the other ponds as well. I was very surprised. Game & Fish does a great job here, it’s neat that you can catch walleye, bass, crappie, trout pike all within an hour of Bismarck.
Ah yes, they do have a pretty interesting trout stocking program. There are places like the Turtle River at Turtle River State Park that they stock some really nice sized rainbows in late spring. Kind of an odd opportunity given where that is located, but yeah...lots of small ponds across the state also get trout as well.

Unless it's the OWLS pond at NDGF headquarters in Bismarck, don't be afraid to catch and keep trout like that one. I've heard NDGF fisheries personnel call them "put-and-takes" since they know the pond is going to warm to the point the trout are usually dead by the end of summer due to high water temps. McDowell Dam out east of Bismarck also has the put-and-take sized rainbows (mostly about 12-14 inches) during the spring and early summer, and there's a population of trout out in Fish Creek dam that seem to survive the summer as I know people catch them ice fishing. Not sure if they ever stock it with any other salmonids though. The McDowell trout are often biting on crankbaits over the deep water areas of the reservoir during early summer. And, of course, there are people that use fly equipment out there to chase bluegill and bass.

If you aren't already familiar with NDGF's website for finding stocking reports, net surveys, and directions to fishing lakes go here: https://gfappspublic.nd.gov/wheretofish/Search.aspx
 


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