Southwest Region Fishing Reports
Fishing reports provide general angling information from KDWPT 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 http://www.facebook.com/kdwpt.
BARBER STATE FISHING LAKE - LOWER - Last Updated: 11/27/2018
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, & Location |
| Crappie | No report | Up to 12 inches | Fish around any deeper brush or vegetation you can find especially in the creek channels or around a drop-offs. Use minnows, small slab spoons, or jigs. |
| Channel catfish | No report | Up to 5 lbs | Try fishing on the sunny, wind blown side of the lake. Try prepared stinkbait, cut bait or liver under a bobber or on the bottom. Also try drifting nightcrawlers. |
| Largemouth bass | No report | Up to 4 lbs | Try jigs and finesse plastics around sunny banks later in the day daily warm-up. |
| Bluegill | No report | Up to 8 inches | Try small jigs, crickets or worms under a bobber around brush and rock piles. |
| Walleye | No report | Up to 4 lbs | Try jigs tipped with worms, minnows or leaches or small minnow type crank baits as the bottom presentation. You can also try slab spoons. |
This is a generic winter fishing report and will be updated only if a hot report is reported to theDodge Cityoffice at 620-227-8609. A trout permit is required to fish for and possess trout during the trout season. Local fishing reports depend on information from local anglers themselves. Regular weekly fishing reports will resume in April 2017.
If you would like to post a fishing report go to http://ksfishing.blogspot.com/ and post a report for Region 3 and the lake you have been fishing. You may also call the Dodge City Regional office as 620-227-8609 to make a report.
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!
A Dodge City District newsletter is available. Information about fishing and fisheries management throughout southwest Kansas will be updated at least twice each year. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter you can go to the following link to get on the mailing list. http://kdwp.state.ks.us/news/KDWP-Info/News/Newsletter-Request-Forms/Request-a-Newsletter-for-the-Dodge-City-Fishing-District
CLARK STATE FISHING LAKE - Last Updated: 11/27/2018
Work to repair the Clark County State Fishing Lake spillway will begin in December and will entail drawing the reservoir down 20 feet. To learn more, CLICK HERE.
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, & Location |
| Crappie | No report | Up to 15 inches | Fish around any deeper brush or vegetation you can find especially in the creek channels or around a drop-offs. Use minnows, small slab spoons, or jigs |
| Channel catfish | No report | Up to 5 lbs | Try fishing on the sunny, wind blown side of the lake. Try prepared stinkbait, cut bait or liver under a bobber or on the bottom. Also try drifting nightcrawlers |
| Largemouth bass | No report | Up to 6 lbs | Try jigs and finesse plastics around sunny banks later in the day daily warm-up. |
| Bluegill | No report | Up to 8 inches | Try small jigs, or crickets & worms under a bobber around brush and rock piles. |
| Walleye | No report | Up to 25 inches | Try jigs tipped with worms, minnows or leaches or small minnow type crank baits as the bottom presentation. You can also try slab spoons. |
| White bass | Fair | Up to 1.5 lbs | Try small white jigs off windblown points as well as crank baits,small jigs and spinners in areas the wind is blowing into the shore. |
As of 11.19.18, Clark was about 8 feet below spillway level and dropping about 2.25 inches per day. This is a generic winter fishing report and will be updated only if a hot report is reported to theDodge Cityoffice at 620-227-8609. A trout permit is required to fish for and possess trout during the trout season. Local fishing reports depend on information from local anglers themselves. Regular weekly fishing reports will resume in April 2017.
If you would like to post a fishing report go to http://ksfishing.blogspot.com/ and post a report for Region 3 and the lake you have been fishing. You may also call the Dodge City Regional office as 620-227-8609 to make a report.
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!
A Dodge City District newsletter is available. Information about fishing and fisheries management throughout southwest Kansas will be updated at least twice each year. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter you can go to the following link to get on the mailing list. http://kdwp.state.ks.us/news/KDWP-Info/News/Newsletter-Request-Forms/Request-a-Newsletter-for-the-Dodge-City-Fishing-District
DODGE CITY LAKE CHARLES - Last Updated: 3/16/2017
HORSETHIEF RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 11/27/2018
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, & Location |
| Crappie | No report | Up to 10 inches | Fish around any deeper brush or vegetation you can find especially in the creek channels or around a drop-offs. Use minnows, small slab spoons, or jigs |
| Channel catfish | No report | Up to 11 lbs | Try fishing on the sunny, wind blown side of the lake. Try prepared stinkbait, cut bait or liver under a bobber or on the bottom. Also try drifting nightcrawlers. |
| Largemouth bass | No report | Up to 4 lbs | Try jigs and finesse plastics around sunny banks later in the day daily warm-up. |
| Bluegill | No report | Up to 8 inches | Try small jigs & worms under a bobber around riprap. |
| Walleye | No report | Up to 4 lbs | Try jigs tipped with worms, minnows or leaches or small minnow type crank baits as the bottom presentation. You can also try slab spoons. |
This is a generic winter fishing report and will be updated only if a hot report is reported to theDodge Cityoffice at 620-227-8609. A trout permit is required to fish for and possess trout during the trout season. Local fishing reports depend on information from local anglers themselves. Regular weekly fishing reports will resume in April 2017.
If you would like to post a fishing report go to http://ksfishing.blogspot.com/ and post a report for Region 3 and the lake you have been fishing. You may also call the Dodge City Regional office as 620-227-8609 to make a report.
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!
A Dodge City District newsletter is available. Information about fishing and fisheries management throughout southwest Kansas will be updated at least twice each year. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter you can go to the following link to get on the mailing list. http://kdwp.state.ks.us/news/KDWP-Info/News/Newsletter-Request-Forms/Request-a-Newsletter-for-the-Dodge-City-Fishing-District
MEADE STATE LAKE - Last Updated: 11/27/2018
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, & Location |
| Crappie | No report | Up to 12 inches | Fish around any deeper brush or vegetation you can find especially in the creek channels or around a drop-offs. Use minnows, small slab spoons, or jigs. |
| Channel catfish | No report | Up to 5 lbs | Try fishing on the sunny, wind blown side of the lake. Try prepared stinkbait, cut bait or liver under a bobber or on the bottom. Also try drifting nightcrawlers. |
| Largemouth bass | No report | Up to 5 lbs | Try jigs and finesse plastics around sunny banks later in the day daily warm-up. |
| Flathead catfish | No Report | Up to 50 lbs | Live bait fished around cover. |
This is a generic winter fishing report and will be updated only if a hot report is reported to theDodge Cityoffice at 620-227-8609. A trout permit is required to fish for and possess trout during the trout season. Local fishing reports depend on information from local anglers themselves. Regular weekly fishing reports will resume in April 2017.
If you would like to post a fishing report go to http://ksfishing.blogspot.com/ and post a report for Region 3 and the lake you have been fishing. You may also call the Dodge City Regional office as 620-227-8609 to make a report.
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!
A Dodge City District newsletter is available. Information about fishing and fisheries management throughout southwest Kansas will be updated at least twice each year. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter you can go to the following link to get on the mailing list. http://kdwp.state.ks.us/news/KDWP-Info/News/Newsletter-Request-Forms/Request-a-Newsletter-for-the-Dodge-City-Fishing-District
PRATT COUNTY LAKE - Last Updated: 11/27/2018
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, & Location |
| Crappie | No report | ||
| Channel catfish | No report | ||
| Largemouth bass | No report | ||
| Bluegill | No report | ||
| Wiper | No report | ||
| Walleye | No report |
Pratt County Lake will be drained in the spring of 2019 to make repairs to the road and both inflow and outflow structures that were compromised by the flood in 2018. Length and Creel limits will be removed by posted order sometime in early December 2018.
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!
A Dodge City District newsletter is available. Information about fishing and fisheries management throughout southwest Kansas will be updated at least twice each year. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter you can go to the following link to get on the mailing list. http://kdwp.state.ks.us/news/KDWP-Info/News/Newsletter-Request-Forms/Request-a-Newsletter-for-the-Dodge-City-Fishing-District
SCOTT STATE LAKE - Last Updated: 11/30/2018
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method & Location |
| Channel Catfish | Fair | Most in the 13 to 18 inch range | Fishing prepared bait or live sunfish lake-wide has been productive. |
| Crappie | Fair | Up to 13 inches | Fishing jigs around the fish attractors or drifting jigs in open water of the main lake is usually productive. |
| Largemouth Bass | Fair/Good | Up to 5.5 lbs. | Soft plastics and swimbaits fished around brushpiles, laydown trees, and along rocky shorelines especially on the warmer days. |
| Rainbow Trout | Good | 0.5 lb. average | The second stocking of the 2018/2019 trout season was conducted November 27, 2018 with the release of approximately 600 trout that averaged a little better than 0.5 lbs. each. There were a fair number of fish in the stocking that ranged from 1.5 to 3.0 lbs. each. Anglers 16 years old and older are required to possess a valid trout permit in addition to their fishing license to fish the pond during the trout season. A 5 fish/day/person creel limit applies to above mentioned anglers. Anglers less than 16 years old possessing a valid trout permit may harvest up to 5 trout/day/person. Anglers less than 16 years old may fish for, and harvest trout without a trout permit, but a 2 fish creel limit applies. In any case, possession limit is three times the daily limit. Still fishing worms, power bait, salmon eggs, marshmallows, and corn alone or in various combination off the bottom is a popular approach using traditional casting equipment. Fly rod anglers can also be effective casting nymphs, small streamers, wooly buggers, or salmon egg imitations. |
| Sunfish | Fair/Good | Up to 8 inches | Worms under a bobber around brush, laydown trees, vegetation, and rock in deeper water. |
| Saugeye/Walleye | Fair/Good | Up to 7 lbs. | Casting crank baits or swim baits along rip-rapped shorelines or over points and drop-offs. |
| General Comments | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release all walleye/saugeye less than 18 inches and largemouth bass less than 15 inches. 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! Cedar Bluff District Newsletter: A biannual newsletter detailing fishing related projects and activities in the Cedar Bluff District, which includes such waters as Cedar Bluff Reservoir, Sheridan and Scott State Fishing Lakes, Antelope Lake, and other public fishing waters in northwest Kansas are available. If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter you can go to the following link to get on the mailing list. The link is: http://kdwp.state.ks.us/news/KDWP-Info/News/Newsletter-Request-Forms/Request-a-Newsletter-for-the-Cedar-Bluff-Fishing-District | |||