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North Dakota · Channel catfish

Can you keep a channel catfish in North Dakota?

Yes, with limits

west of ND Highway 1 (includes Devils Lake)

Open year-round
Size
No size limit stated
total length
Daily bag
20
per person per day
Possession
40
total you may hold

No minimum size, twenty a day — a deliberately liberal limit the department set for the western two-thirds of the state to build catfish into a bigger gamefish, a real contrast to the tight 5-fish rule east of Highway 1.

ND G&F source page

east of ND Highway 1

Open year-round
Size
No size limit stated
total length
Daily bag
5
per person per day, only 1 over 24 inches
Possession
5
total you may hold

No minimum size, but daily and possession limits are the same number (5) rather than doubling, and only one fish over 24 inches. Not the rule that applies at Devils Lake, which sits west of the Highway 1 line — shown here for contrast.

ND G&F source page

What we left out on purpose

Other species in North Dakota

Where to try today