North Dakota · Paddlefish (snagging only)
Paddlefish (snagging only) size limit in North Dakota
Closed to harvest today
Yellowstone River and the Missouri River west of the US Highway 85 bridge to the Montana border
Closed today| Size limit | No size limit stated | total length |
|---|---|---|
| Daily bag | 1 | per angler per season, snagging only — a paddlefish tag is required in addition to a fishing license |
| Possession | 1 | total you may hold |
Snagging season runs May 1–21 only, 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Central Time each day Reopens after April 30. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Not a water this site tracks, but the only place in North Dakota paddlefish snagging is legal — included for completeness of the statewide table. Casting, hooking or reeling in a fish for someone else is illegal, as is snagging from a boat.
What we left out on purpose
- Zander are folded into the walleye/sauger/saugeye combination specifically at Spiritwood and Alkali lakes (Stutsman County) — neither is a water this site covers, so that exception isn't modelled.
- The Red River and Bois de Sioux River carry their own, lower walleye/pike/catfish numbers (3/3 and 5 with a 1-fish-over-24-inch catfish cap regardless of licenses held) — not modelled since this site doesn't cover either river.
- Three tiny posted waters (OWLS Pond, State Fair Pond, McDowell Dam) run full or seasonal catch-and-release rules — not modelled, none is a water this site covers.
- Legal live baitfish (150/150 combined) and leeches (300/300) are bait-possession limits, not sport-catch limits, and are not modelled here — consistent with excluding baitfish species elsewhere in this silo.
- Snapping turtles, frogs, salamanders and crayfish carry their own limits in the same statewide table but are not finfish and are out of this silo's scope.
Other species limits in North Dakota
Where to try today
- Devils Lake 6/10 · Biting