Lake Sakakawea was formed in 1956 after the Garrison Dam flooded the areas along the Missouri River. The Garrison Dam was built and is managed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control, hydroelectric power, navigation and irrigation. The massive reservoir was named in honor of the Indian woman who served as a guide to the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
It has two major rivers feeding it, the Missouri River and Yellowstone River.
Lake Sakakawea is located in central North Dakota, 50 miles from Bismarck. It averages 2-3 miles wide and is 14 miles wide at its widest point, is 178 miles long and has 1320 miles of shoreline. It is the third largest man-made lake in the United States with nearly 307,000 acres of McLean County. It's maximum depth is 180 feet at the dam.
Today Lake Sakakawea is known as one of the top walleye fisheries in the world. It also has huge northern pike, catfish, and chinook salmon. The primary prey is a healthy and strong rainbow smelt population. Many sources mention that the northern face of the dam and underwater rocky points and islands support a tremenous smallmouth bass fishery and that white bass, yellow perch, crappie, sauger, rainbow and brown trout in certain parts of the lake. So the fishing is awesome and depending on where you fish, there are lots of different fish to go after. www.ndtourism.com has more information on this and more.