Lake Greeson was formed by the damming of the Little Missouri River. The water levels do fluctuate quite a bit here depending on the time of year and how much water is being drawn. This lake has clear water and rocky bottoms. There isn’t a lot of shoreline cover here unless you are here during a period of heavy rain and flooding going on at the lake. Brush piles are the major form of cover as many anglers place them all over the lake to provide better crappie habitat. The crappie fishery is excellent here, but anglers also catch a lot of catfish plus largemouth bass, spotted bass, smallmouth bass, white bass, striped bass, channel catfish, flathead catfish, walleye and bluegill. Anglers also target rainbow trout in the Little Missouri River tailwaters just below the dam.
Bluegill
There are bluegill and other bream in Lake Greeson, but it is definitely known as a better crappie lake. Due to the lack of shoreline cover on this lake, it is more difficult for smaller bluegill to hide or escape from bass that are looking for a meal. Bluegill will often be found suspending in deeper water here, except for the spring, when they move into the shallows to spawn. Brush piles will also hold plenty of bluegill too, although, you will most likely find many brush piles with a lot more crappie on them.
Catfish
This lake is known for its good catfish fishery. There are very good numbers of channel catfish with some big fish too. Flathead catfish are also here, so you can definitely target big catfish if that’s what you want to do while visiting Lake Greeson. Jug fishing is also popular on the lake for catfish.
Crappie
Lake Greeson is known for its excellent crappie fishery. This lake has good numbers of them with plenty of big fish too. In the spring, you can find crappie along the shorelines as they move into the shallows to spawn. From summer through winter though, you are going to be fishing deeper water. Once they go deeper, you will have more success if you fish the brush piles throughout the lake in deeper water. Crappie will also suspend over deeper water as they follow schools of baitfish, but these roaming crappie are a lot harder to target than the ones that will be sitting around the brush piles.
Largemouth Bass
Lake Greeson provides a good largemouth bass fishery, however, for many anglers, fishing this lake is difficult since you won’t find much obvious shoreline cover. To have success here, you need to trust your electronics and search for brush piles near drop-offs. There are so many man-made attractors on the lake and largemouth bass will use these structures just like the crappie do. You won’t always find big numbers of bass in these structures, but if you can think of these brush piles as underwater docks, it will help you fish this lake easier. When you fish docks along the shoreline, bass anglers know that every dock isn’t equal and that you will usually have to cover a lot of docks to find 4 or 5 good ones that want to eat your baits. Think of the brush piles similarly and if you can target enough of them, you can usually have a good day on the water.
Anglers like to target bass on the tributaries of this lake with some good areas to fish in Rock Creek on the west side of the lake, Self Creek on the north and Bear Creek on the east.
Striped Bass
Lake Greeson provides good fishing for striped bass. These fish are often overlooked by many anglers since the crappie fishing is so good here. There are plenty of anglers that do target stripers here though and some very big fish are caught here every year.
Spotted Bass
Spotted bass are here in good numbers and many anglers do fish for them on Lake Greeson. Most anglers report better success in deeper water and with all the rocks in the lake, you can do very well by imitating a crayfish. Tubes and a variety of crayfish baits will take a lot of bass.
Trout
Rainbow trout are stocked during the cold water months in the Lake Greeson Tailwaters below the dam. The stocking programs helps to create an excellent trout fishery from November through April.
Walleye
Walleye are here in limited numbers, but for many anglers, they are much easier to target as they run up the Little Missouri River to spawn in the spring.
White Bass
White bass here run upstream into the Little Missouri River to spawn. During the run, anglers line both sides of the river for the 1/2 to 3/4 mile above the Highway 70 bridge. Some fish from boats as far upriver as they can go. Good action is also found in the long lake fingers reaching up into the many feeder creeks.
