Big Stone Lake Fishing Report, (April 2025 Bass, Walleye, and Crappie)

The ice is off with fishing and water temps both heating up on Big Stone. This weeks Big Stone Lake Fishing report covers current lake conditions as well as tips for locating bass, walleye, and crappie.

Current Lake Conditions

With ice out this season occuring a few weeks ago already, things are progressing pretty fast on Big Stone. This weekend i was watching daytime water temps hovering around the 51-53 degree mark, and also caught a couple of spawned out walleyes. This puts things a little ahead of normal for this time of year for water temps. Lake level and water clarity are also a little abnormal for early spring on Big Stone. Due to the lack of snow and runoff this season, water levels are down about a foot from where they would normally be at this time. The lack of runoff has also allowed the lake to remain very clear this spring, with some areas approaching nearly 10' visibilty.

Big Stone Lake Bass, Walleye, and Crappie Fishing Report

This weekend was my first trip out on Big Stone this open water season. My goal was to cover a few different areas and depths, looking for some overall patterns. My arsenal of baits included a small swimbait for walleye and crappie, a small crankbait for bass and walleye, and a chatterbait for bass.

I ended up catching a variety of fish on all three baits, often times all in the same area. The pattern that stood out most to me was how shallow, warm, stained, water had congregated many of the species together. The areas that were productive in clear water, tended to be deeper and related to the main break in 6'-8'. There are still a good number of fish of all species relating to deep water near the main break. Warm weather patterns will have those fish moving shallower over the coming weeks.