Shawnee State Fishing Lake Fishing Report -
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Largemouth Bass | Good | 1/2 to 6 pounds | The lake has been maintaining a very good population of largemouth bass for the last ten years. The 2023 spring electrofishing sample shows the population is doing well. However, the current size structure is smaller than average. Historically, the lake has been one of the best places around to catch largemouth over 15 inches and this should continue to be true for the foreseeable future. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crappie | Fair to Good | 1/2 to 1 pound | The crappie fishery is doing well. The October 2023 fish sampling showed the number of crappie is down but the size is up with 88% over 10 inches. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Channel Catfish | Good | 1/2 - 4 pounds | The lake is in the Urban Stocking Program and is regularly stocked with 12 to 18 inch channel catfish which leads to good catch rates of fish in that size range. The first stocking of 2024 went in on March 14th when 700 pounds of channel catfish were released into the lake. The recently stocked fish usually like all the traditional catfish baits but dough baits or worms tends to do the best. Channel catfish daily limit is 5. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Comments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Located north of Silver Lake, Shawnee State Fishing Lake is the site of good catch and release largemouth bass fishing. The lake is also noted for channel catfish harvest since the lake receives frequent stockings of harvestable sized catfish from March through September. The Jeffrey Energy Center Lakes and Perry Reservoir both have zebra mussels and with Shawnee State Lake being close it is at high risk. Please, always clean your boat when moving to different water bodies.
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