Northwest Region Fishing Reports
Fishing reports provide general angling information from KDWP staff. The department cannot update the reports on a regular, frequent basis. Many factors determine angling success, and fishing conditions and individual fishing success may vary from the report. Anglers are responsible for deciding what species to fish for, what methods to use, and where and when to fish. You can help fellow anglers by sharing successful fishing notes at https://www.facebook.com/KDWPFisheries.
CEDAR BLUFF RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 11/15/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
| Black Bass | Fair/Good | Up to 6 lbs. | Fish can be caught casting soft plastics, chatterbaits, ned rigs, and topwater plugs or poppers around shoreline structure, especially early and late. Casting shad imitating swimbaits over shallow structure such as rock piles and road beds can be good too. |
| Channel Catfish | Good | Up to 12 lbs. | Still fishing cut bait on rod and reel or on set lines on large shallow flats and points in 12 to 15 feet of water. |
| Crappie | Fair/Good | Up to 15 inches | Vertically fishing jigs, minnows, or cast net-caught shad over the fish attractors has been best. |
| Walleye | Fair/Good | Up to 28 inches | Vertically fishing slab spoons and trolling or casting crankbaits like flicker shads over main lake points and other structure. |
| White Bass/Wipers | Good | Whites up to 17 inches Wipers up to 13.5 lbs. | Locating schools of white bass and/or wipers with electronics and vertically fishing slab spoons has been increasingly productive. Cove 4 west point north of the Bluffs, North Shore Cabin main lake points, and the lower end of Page Creek Cove are all good areas to start looking for fish. Also, casting shallow-running or topwater shad imitations over windswept, shallow points and other shallow, hard bottomed structures in the morning or evening. |
| WATER TEMPERATURE-50 degrees F SURFACE ELEVATION- 2122.54 ft. above MSL-21.46 ft. below conservation pool ATTENTION: An established zebra mussel population has been documented at this water making Cedar Bluff an ANS designated water. With this designation, regulations are in effect primarily aimed at discouraging water containing microscopic zebra mussel larvae from leaving the property and establishing in new waters. Any time one leaves the reservoir it is best to clean mud, vegetation, or attached zebra mussel adults off of boats and other equipment, drain any thing on a boat or other equipment that holds water, and allow boats 01d other equipment to dry completely before using them at another body of water. It is now illegal to use wild-caught bait from Cedar Bluff at any other water. Live fish are not to be taken off the property. And all livewells and bilges must be drained prior to leaving the property. It is illegal to release fish into public water unless it was taken from that water. So please discard any leftover bait in a trash can. | |||
GLEN ELDER RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 11/12/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crappie | Fair to Good | 9-15 inches | Cooling temperatures should get fish feeding up for fall and winter. Focus on deeper structure. I would look for brushpiles more than 10 ft deep, or trolling river channels can work as well. If you're fishing from shore look for submerged vegetation or structure. Points and jetties can be transitional areas fish use as the season changes. Use minnows, jigs, spoons, or small crankbaits. |
| Trout | None | None | No trout will be stocked at the Glen Elder State Park Pond or the reservoir outlet for the 2024-2025 trout season. Kanopolis Seep Stream and Webster Stilling Basin will be stocked. |
| Walleye | Fair to Good | 11-25 inches | In fall Walleye should be feeding in preparation for winter. Transitional weather can make finding a feeding pattern difficult. Some fish may roam lake flats and river channels looking for baitfish, while others suspend in deeper, cooler water. Trolling river channels and road beds can be a good strategy to find Walleye. Walleye are often caught using nightcrawlers, jigging spoons, minnows, crankbaits, and spinners. *3.6 million fry were stocked in April. 200k fingerlings were stocked in June. |
| Black Bass | Good | 12-20 inches | Smallmouth tend to prefer harder, rockier bottoms, while Largemouth might be found on softer bottoms and weed beds. Don't overlook standing timber and brush piles. Look for areas that hold baitfish. Use a quarter ounce or an eighth ounce jig tipped with a minnow or baitfish imitation. You could also have success with hair jigs and jigging spoons. With a 21 inch length limit these Smallmouth are almost all sublegal so please handle them with extreme care and release them immediately after catching them. Smallmouth have been reported being caught on riprap shorelines and shallow vegetation in the state park. A good number of smallies were caught on the dam last week. |
| Catfish | Good | 15-35 inches | Channel Cats can be found almost anywhere in the lake. Targeting inflows can be successful after rains. Blue Cats tend to prefer deeper structure or windblown flats. Try river channel bends, old road beds, building foundations, humps and submerged bridges. The shore-based Blue Cat angler should look for an upwind shoreline where fish are looking to scavenge. Fall sampling indicated good numbers of blues and channel catfish in the reservoir now. Best baits to use include cut bait, stinkbait, shad sides, shrimp, and nightcrawlers. Most Flathead fisherman use live bait near hard structure like wood and riprap. The causeway and granite creek bridge will hold good numbers of Flatheads. Remember, there is a NEW creel limit on blue catfish at Glen Elder. 10 fish per day, only 1 allowed over 30 in. *28,000 surplus Channel Cat fingerlings were stocked in April. |
| White Bass | Good to Excellent | 11-18 inches | White Bass and Wipers can be found chasing shad near brushpiles, river channels, drop offs, and other structure. Higher numbers of big whites tend to be caught west of the causeway. Look for drop-offs and points for suspended fish. Downwind shorelines can produce good numbers of actively feeding fish. Use a variety of jigs, spinners, or minnows to catch fish all year. An angler reported catch a nice Striped Bass over the drain structure last week. |
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Anglers can now find GPS locations for each of the brush piles located in the reservoir. Simply click on this link Good Fishing Spots and select the individual brush pile. As we enhance these brush piles throughout the year, we'll make a note under each individual location. Current Water Temperature: 55ºF Current Water Level: 6.8 feet low Some boat ramps are unusable due to low water conditions. This currently includes Granite Creek, North Fork River, Carr Creek, and Walnut Creek. Boller Point ramp is very shallow but usable by shallow drafted vessels. Repairs to the face of the dam were completed in February 2023. Water levels should start to rise with rain. | |||
JEWELL STATE FISHING LAKE - Last Updated: 11/12/2024
KANOPOLIS RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 9/13/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel/Blue Catfish | Good | 16 - 21" | Fishing cut and prepared baits along the river channel from the south boat ramp all the way to buzzard bay. Try deeper catfish humps and structure near bluffs. Remember there is a 35" minimum length limit on Blue Catfish at Kanopolis Reservoir. |
| Crappie | Good | 10 to 14+ inches | Try the deeper structure, brush piles, or the river channel with 1/16 oz. jigs and live minnows. |
| Trout | Good | The first trout stocking for the season will occur around December 1st. | |
| Saugeye | Fair | 14 - 22" | Wind blown points and flats in the middle and lower ends of the reservoir are best. Also try shallow shoreline areas first thing in the morning. Shad imitating swimbaits and jigs tipped with minnows or worms can be productive baits. |
| White Bass | Good | All sizes - up to 17 inches | Casting swimbaits, bucktail jigs, and Kastmaster spoons along wind blown points and areas near the river channel. Using slab spoons or live minnows is also producing some fish right now along brush piles and in the river channel. Also look to target fish in the mornings/evenings feeding on shad at the surface. |
| Wiper | Fair | All sizes | Similar locations and baits as those used for white bass. Stocked 600,000 Wiper fry in May. |
| General Comment | |||
| Current lake elevation and water temperature is available on the location page linked to this fishing report. It is updated daily by the Corps of Engineers. | |||
KEITH SEBELIUS RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 11/19/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crappie | Fair | 7 to 16 inches | Crappies are being caught around the public fishing dock and maintained fish attractors using jigs and jigs tipped with minnows. Would also recommend fishing up in the coves. |
| Saugeye/Walleye | Fair | 13 to 27 inches | Fish are being caught around concrete cove up by the marsh dike and along the dam using jigs tipped with night crawlers and/or minnows and trolling diving lures. An 18" minimum length limit is in effect. |
| Wiper | Good | 10 to 28 inches | Would recommend fishing for them around the east side of Leota Cove, Monkey Island and Concrete cove using jigs and swim baits. |
| Catfish | Fair | 10 to 30 inches | Did hear of some catfish being caught up in the shallows using shad, gizzards, shrimp, or stink bait on the bottom. |
| Largemouth/Spotted Bass | Good | 10 to 20 inches | Would recommend fishing up in the coves or along the Dam and Breakwater using crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and plastics. |
| General Comments | |||
| WATER TEMPERATURE- 48° SURFACE ELEVATION- 2292.59 ---- 11.71 feet below conservation pool Currently, the water level is 1.79 feet higher than it was one year ago, at this time. Started releasing water for irrigation on 07-16-2024 and shut it off on 8-9-2024. Remember it is illegal to release any fish into public water unless it was taken from that water. Please discard leftover bait in a trash can. | |||
KIRWIN RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 11/19/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crappie | Fair | 7 to 17 inches | Crappie are being caught around Bluegill and Crappie points using jigs and jigs tipped with minnows. Could also possibly catch some off the Dam using jigs and minnows. |
| Walleye | Fair | 10 to 29 inches | Walleyes are being caught off the bottom using night crawlers and/or minnows. |
| White Bass/ Wiper | Good | 10 to 28 inches | Fish are being caught lake wide casting jigs and roadrunners from the bank. |
| Catfish | Fair | 10 to 30 inches | Fish are being caught up in the shallows of coves and up to the west end. Would recommend fishing the shallow area with shrimp, cut bait, stink bait or shad off the bottom. |
| Largemouth Bass | Fair | 12 to 22 inches | Fish are being caught in the coves and along the rocky shorelines using plastics and crank baits. |
| General Comments | |||
| WATER TEMPERATURE- 49° SURFACE ELEVATION- 1716.19 ---- 13.06' below conservation pool Currently, the water level is 3.67' lower than it was one year ago, at this time. Irrigation releases were shut off on 08-30-2024. Due to the low water levels (being below 1722 elevation) the main Reservoir has been closed to ALL BOATS from October 1 to April 1, 2025. The fish cleaning station has been closed for the winter. A boat cleaning facility (CD3) has been added by the fish cleaning station and is currently usable. If you have any questions regarding Kirwin Reservoir and the surrounding public lands, contact the USFWS at 785-543-6673. Remember it is illegal to release any fish into public water unless it was taken from that water. Please discard leftover bait in a trash can. | |||
LOVEWELL RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 11/12/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Fair | 16-25 inches | In winter, fish can be found in deep basins. Look for flats, river channels, and points holding baitfish. Focus on the deeper channels and structure. Nightfall can bring fish up to the shallows in search of food. Try using jigging spoons, minnows, brightly colored lures, or nightcrawlers. *KDWP stocked 3 million Walleye fry into Lovewell last April and 15,000 intermediates last fall. |
| White Bass/Wipers | Good | 7-14 inches 15-25 inches | White Bass and Wipers will suspend on river channels, drop-offs, and deep brushpiles. Downwind shorelines will attract actively feeding fish. White Bass populations have been low for a few years, but early evidence indicates strong numbers this year. Look for schools of baitfish and these predators are probably nearby. The outlet at dawn and dusk can be a hot spot for White Bass and Wiper. Using a variety of jigs, spinners, or minnows can catch fish most of the year. *300,000 wiper fry were stocked into Lovewell in May |
| Crappie | Fair to Good | 8-14 inches | Try fishing deep brush piles and other hard structure. Drop offs and river channels can produce fish. Look for places that hold baitfish and structure. The marina will usually hold crappie and Cedar Point is one of the most popular crappie fishing spots all year. |
| Catfish | Good | 16 to 38 inches | Fall sampling indicated good numbers of Channel Catfish, Blue Catfish, and Flathead Catfish. Best baits to use for Channel Catfish include stinkbait, shad sides, shrimp, and nightcrawlers. Blue Catfish usually go for cut bait and Flatheads tend to prefer live bait. Anglers often report good spring catches of Blue Catfish near Walleye Point, Cedar Point, and Pawnee Point. Blues and flatheads tend to focus on hard structure like rocks, brush piles, and river channels. Remember there is a 35 inch minimum length limit on blue catfish in Lovewell. All blue catfish less than 35 inches must be released immediately. |
| Comments | |||
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Anglers can now find GPS coordinates, descriptions, and histories of some of the major brush piles in Lovewell. Simply follow this link Good Fishing Spots and select the individual brush pile to find out more information. More Georgia Cubes were added in April 2020! Current water temperature: 56ºF Current water level:6.6 feet low Lovewell is not currently under a harmful algae watch. Please use the following link for the latest advisories from KDHE, Harmful Algal Blooms | KDHE, KS. Please discard of leftover bait in a trash can, even baitfish. Remember it is illegal to release any fish into public water unless it was taken from that water! | |||
OTTAWA STATE FISHING LAKE - Last Updated: 11/12/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth Bass | Fair to Good | 12-18 inches | Cooling temps will slow bass down and move them to deeper water. Fish can be caught around rocky jetties and brushpiles. Fish can be caught use wacky worms, Senkos, Ned Rigs, spinnerbaits, roadrunners, and crankbaits. Slow down your presentation and downsize for less aggressive fish. |
| Bluegill/Sunfish | Good | 5 to 7 Inches | Look for bluegill around the rocks on the piers, shoreline vegetation, and around any brush in the water. Worms and small jigs are a good bet. These guys can be caught throughout the year using a variety of techniques. Some anglers prefer to fly fish with small nymphs or dry flies fished on the surface. |
| Channel Catfish | Fair to Good | 12-25 inches | Fish can be caught just about anywhere on the lake. Anglers should try using shad sides, shad gizzards, shrimp, nightcrawlers, and chicken liver. Targeting inflow is a popular method as the catfish will congregate there to feed. The shallow upper end is a great area to find big catfish on warm days. |
| Saugeye | Fair | 18-25 inches | The best number of saugeye can be found on the upper end around the jetties and other rocky areas. Jig and crawler, large shiners, crankbaits, and swim baits are all good options to use for catching saugeye now. Anglers will also find some around the brush piles and off the ends of the jetties closest to the dam. |
| Crappie | Good | 8-15 inches | Anglers should target the brush piles and other submerged structure with minnows and jigs. Focus on deeper structure like brushpiles and rocks during summer. Anglers are encouraged to harvest high numbers of crappie to help maintain a desirable level. Our recent sample indicated there are very high numbers of crappie in the lake now and anglers could have great success throughout the year. |
| General Comments | |||
| Water Temperature--56ºF CAUTION: LONGER BOAT TRAILERS MAY FALL OFF EDGE OF BOAT RAMP WHEN WATER IS LOW | |||
ROOKS STATE FISHING LAKE - Last Updated: 11/19/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| CURRENT FISHING | |||
| Largemouth Bass | Poor | 6-21 inches | No Reports. |
| Bluegill | Poor | 3-9 inches | No Reports. |
| Catfish | Poor | 10-25 inches | No Reports. |
| Black Crappie | Poor | 5-12 inches | No Reports. |
| General Comments | |||
| Water Temp. 46 Degrees Lake is approx. eleven to twelve feet low. | |||
SHERIDAN STATE FISHING LAKE - Last Updated: 7/26/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comments | |||
| The lake is currently being dewatered to enable lake renovation. As part of lake renovation, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has issued Sheridan State Fishing Lake be opened to public fish salvage effective 11/6/2023. The order is posted on signs around the lake. It allows the public to collect fish by any legal methods as well as by hand, dip net, throw net, minnow trap or seine, snagging, gig, speargun, bow and arrow or crossbow with a barbed head and line attached from bow/crossbow to arrow per regulation 115-7-1. This fish salvage order also removes all daily creel limits and size limits per regulation 115-25-14. This public fish salvage will remain in effect until posted notice signage on site is removed. For more information contact Dave Spalsbury, District Fisheries Biologist at 785-726-3212. | |||
WEBSTER RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 11/19/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crappie | Fair | 7 to 17 inches | Would recommend fishing around the north and south shore breakwaters and fish attractors using jigs, slab spoons and jigs with minnows. |
| Walleye | Fair | 14 to 28 inches | Would recommend fishing for them just outside the maintained fish attractors using jigs and slab spoons. Trolling diving lures along the dam and river channel could also be productive. |
| White Bass/Wiper | Good | 8 to 28 inches | Both species are being caught around the north and south shore fish attractors and breakwaters using jigs and jigs tipped with minnow. Trolling diving lures lake wide could also be productive. |
| Catfish | Fair | 12 to 30 inches | Catfish are being caught around the broken up concrete ramp on the north side and Goose Flats using shad, shrimp, gizzards, or stink baits on the bottom. |
| Largemouth Bass | Fair | 12 to 22 inches | Fish are being caught around the maintained fish attractors and breakwaters using plastics and spinner baits. |
| General Comments | |||
| WATER TEMPERATURE- 48° SURFACE ELEVATION- 1867.09 ---- 25.36' below conservation pool The water level is 9.65' lower than it was one year ago at this time. Irrigation releases were shut off on 08-29-2024. Old Marina and Morel boat ramps are not usable; however, Rock Point (north ramp has been barricaded off, but the south ramp goes all the way to the bottom and is still usable), Goose Flats and Lakeview boat ramps are open at this time. Fish cleaning station has been closed for the winter. A boat cleaning station (CD3) has been added by the fish cleaning station and is usable at this time. The Stilling Basin will be stocked with trout this year for the Trout Season that Starts on December 1 and goes thru March 31, 2025. Remember it is illegal to release any fish into public water unless it was taken from that water. Please discard leftover bait in a trash can. | |||
WILSON RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 9/13/2024
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Striped Bass | Fair | 7-25 pounds | Larger fish are relating to deeper water near Lucas campground, mouth of Marshall Cove, Hell Creek and towards the dam. Try trolling crankbaits, casting/jigging large bucktail jigs, or drifting live shad or sunfish along channel breaks. 1.325 million Striped Bass fry were stocked in May. |
| Walleye | Good | 18-27 inches | Trolling or casting crankbaits and swimbaits over main lake points early morning or late evening are your best bets. Over 200,000 Walleye fingerlings were stocked in May and June. |
| Blue/Channel Catfish | Good | 2-20 pounds | Channel Catfish: Fish can be found from shallow to moderate depths. Try cut bait, dough bait, or punch bait thorough the reservoir. Blue Catfish: scattered throughout the reservoir, try fresh cutbait in 6-30 feet of water on river channel swings or flats near these swings. Release all Blue Catfish between 32 - 40 inches. Two can be kept outside this range but only one can be kept over 40 inches. |
| White Bass | Fair | 12-18 inches, up to 3 pounds | Casting shad imitating swimbaits and bucktail jigs over windblown points and using slab spoons along the river channel. |
| Black Bass | Good | 12-20 inches | Soft plastics, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits around structure. |
| White Perch | Poor | 4 to 12 inches | - IT IS ILLEGAL TO HAVE A WHITE PERCH ALIVE IN YOUR POSSESSION - IF YOU CATCH IT AND WANT TO KEEP IT - IT HAS TO BE DEAD IN A COOLER OR LIVEWELL. THEY ARE NO LONGER LEGAL AS LIVE BAIT FOR STRIPERS OR OTHER FISH!!!!! |
| General Comments | |||
| Lake Elevation = 3.95 feet below conservation pool. We have two Aquatic Invasive Species - white perch and zebra mussels and have joined Cheney and El Dorado as lakes with both species. The law now says that if anyone leaves the lake with water in your livewell or boat, you are subject to a ticket for transporting Zebra Mussels since they will spawn and the microscopic little mussels will probably be in every drop of water in the lake. Make sure you drain all water from the boat before you leave the boat ramp area!!! We have been taking veliger samples and the samples were high so be sure to drain and dry everything!!!!!! | |||