I know what you’re thinking: why would I vacation in Minot, ND? The small town in the middle of the vast Midwest prairies isn’t at the top of the list of great fishing destinations. Maybe it should be. After scrolling through my friend James Francis’ social media posts of giant largemouth, smallmouth, pike and walleye, I was anxious to explore the fishing and the little town.
In 2021, I traveled through Wyoming to hit some of the Equality State’s hidden fishing gems. Local angler James Francis showed me the ropes on Hawk Springs and Grayrocks Reservoir.
After the Wyoming trip, James and I kept in touch. When he moved to North Dakota, James took to the local lakes and rivers like a fish to water. A few days before I arrived, he posted a photo of a 22-inch largemouth. If trophy catches aren’t enough, the number of fish caused adrenaline to rush through my body. So I set a pin on the map in the little town in the middle of nowhere for my next off-grid fishing adventure.
Why Not Minot: North Dakota’s Best-Kept Fishing Secrets Revealed
A Minute on Minot
Minot is known as the Magic City. When the Great Northern Railway was completed in 1886, the town’s population exploded to 5,000 people in five months. The boomtown experienced the classic Western movie plot with rapid growth and relative lawlessness spurning another nickname: the crime capital of the Midwest. Until state attorney general William Langer cleaned up the town in 1920. Unfortunately, prohibition brought crime back to Minot as a crossroads for Al Capone’s bootlegging network with underground tunnels, opium dens and brothels earning the town another alias: Little Chicago.
Today, Minot is a quiet town of 48,000 people. The Minot Airforce Base is the biggest employer and the town hosts a symphony orchestra, opera company, dance and theater groups, and a local arts council. Forty percent of the population claims Scandinavian ancestry and the town hosts the annual Norsk Høstfest festival and the North Dakota State Fair.
Get Fishy
Minot is also a great hub for amazing fishing. At first, the flat plains stretching in every direction don’t look fishy, but closer examination reveals hundreds of small ponds, a major river running through town, and the state’s largest lake a couple hours’ drive away. James guided the trip, taking me to Hiddenwood Lake, Nelson Lake, Chain of Lakes, and both sides of the dam at Lake Darling. In three days on the water we caught over 200 fish including 20-inch largemouth, 20-inch smallmouth and a few pike over 30 inches. All within an hour and a half of James’ house.
First Impressions
I found a direct flight from Denver to Minot International Airport. When I stepped off the small plane, I felt the pace change from the hustle at the city into a calm state of exploration mode.
I caught a Lyft from the airport to the U-Haul store. A U-Haul van is cheap and efficient with plenty of space for kayaks, gear and camping. For a few bucks per day, I can live the van life anywhere in America.
After picking up the van, I hit Scheels sporting goods mega store to procure a selection of lures and rigs James recommended. Then I headed to the Francis residence to meet the family and head out for the evening bite at Hiddenwood Lake.
The region surrounding Minot is known as the Northern Mixed Prairie or Drift Prairie. Leaving town, we entered rolling golden hills. When the light is right, the hills light up with a golden glow of mesmerizing, majestic and homely warmth. Every mile brought acres of freshly bailed hay dotted with windmills slowly turning in the breeze.
Hiddenwood Lake
Hiddenwood National Wildlife Refuge is located less than an hour’s drive southwest of Minot. When we pulled into the boat ramp parking lot, the temperature was cool, there was no wind and the sun was shining. It was the perfect start to my North Dakota trip.
James’ friend Brody Kindsvogel was already on the water and paddled our way to tell us the bite was tough. We were targeting smallmouth and pike with Whopper Ploppers. My first casts didn’t get any interest, but as the sun set, James and Brody hooked into several smallmouth up to three pounds.
We were a little disappointed in the numbers, so we fished until dark and headed home to get ready for an early morning start the next day.
Nelson Lake
I was excited when James told me the eight-pound, eight-ounce state record largemouth came out of Nelson Lake. “It’s possibly the best largemouth fishery in the state,” he said. The lake features a two-stack power plant, which contributes to the big fish reputation.
We launched at sunrise and paddled up Square Butte Creek, a long, winding channel with walls of cattails. Along the way, we pulled a few bass out of the cattails with a jig or Whopper Plopper. James even caught fish on his $150 Johnny Rat lure.
When we reached open water, James led us to a rock pile in the center of the lake. The wind picked up, making it difficult to hold position. I cast to the rock pile, hooked a fish and drifted away. Then, after I landed the fish, I paddled back to the rock pile to make another cast.
I was bumping a 3/4 ounce jig with a Rage Craw trailer along the bottom and catching a bass on every third or fourth cast for almost two hours. We ended up catching 40 largemouth with four fish over 20 inches. I landed the big fish of the day with a 20.5-inch largemouth.
James had a family event in the evening, so we headed back to Minot early. While James was busy, I explored Minot in search of a fine dining experience.
Chain of Lakes
Chain of Lakes is part of the McClusky Canal created by the Bureau of Land Reclamation to provide irrigation and flood control. The series of lakes connected by canals runs 76 miles from Lake Audubon to Lonetree Wildlife Management Area. Our target for the day was smallmouth and pike.
We started the morning at Heckers Lake where we had to portage our kayaks down the side of the embankment to launch where the canal opens up into the lake. We fished the mouth of the canal and then worked halfway down the bank without any luck. With the wind howling, we headed back to the canal for protection.
We paddled down the canal to the next opening only catching a few dinks. In hopes of improving our luck, we portaged down a steep, rocky embankment to a section of the canal not open to motorboats.
When we drifted past two concrete drainage valves set up across from each other on the canal. Brody hit the first one with a jig and pulled out a 19.25-inch smallmouth. He then paddled across to the second valve and caught another 19-inch bass.
We ended up fishing four miles downriver before turning around and working the same stretch back. After I got tired casting and catching fish, I trolled my Whopper Plopper along the bank and ended up catching eight fish on the way back to the launch.
We caught 130 fish including pike and a baby walleye. James caught the biggest smallmouth at 20.25 inches.
Lake Darling / Beaver Lodge Canoe Trail
Back at it again the next morning, James and I hit the early bite at Lake Darling Dam less than 30 minutes from Minot. We fished the whole length of the dam and only caught a one-inch crawfish on a four-inch jerkbait.
We packed up and headed to the other side of the dam to the Beaver Lodge Canoe Trail. River fishing is my favorite and this spot didn’t disappoint. Our goal was to catch largemouth, smallmouth and pike.
James had never been to this spot, but his instincts were spot on. As soon as we paddled into the main river channel, we started catching one pike after another. Fishing downstream about a mile we found a bend in the river stacked with smallmouth. We caught five smallies and headed back upstream for more pike.
I was throwing a chartreuse spinnerbait and James had a crankbait. We fished until 2:30 p.m. catching close to 20 pike and five smallmouth. The smallies weren’t anything to brag about, but the pike were up to 34 inches long.
After three days of fishing, I thanked James for his hospitality and headed to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in search of the once-endangered American bison.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
With two more days in North Dakota I needed something fun to do. I asked James and Brody for the prettiest part of the state and the funkiest town. They pointed me to Medora and Roosevelt National Park.
I was excited to visit the park because Theodore Roosevelt is my favorite president. He created the national parks and his dedication to public land and conservation, along with his passion for fishing and hunting, created the community that allows me to travel the country taking fishing and hunting photos.
The park is located in the Little Missouri River valley on the western side of North Dakota. While it is considered part of the Badlands, it is mostly a prairie filled with flat grasslands, a few trees and some amazing geological features.
Driving through the park, I found wild horses and bison. The ever-rolling grass hills and wide-open sky were a perfect backdrop for soaking up the Midwest vibe and recovering from three days of epic fishing.
Dustin Doskocil is one of the first pro photographers to focus his camera on kayak fishing. Each summer, Kayak Angler editors send Dustin on a wild adventure to an unusual destination.
Reason number 1: Big bass. | Feature photo: Dustin Doskocil
