Coffey County Lake Fishing Information
Burlington, KS
No fees required. No reservations required
Must always wear a life jacket.
No trotlines or setlines will be allowed.
Open 30 minutes after sunup to 30 minutes before sundown
Closed during winter under certain weather conditions. Call the gatehouse at 620-364-2475
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Methods, Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| largemouth bass | Fair | 8 in to 21 inches | Topwater baits around shallow woody cover or vegetation. Use jerkbaits, swimbaits, crankbaits, or rattletraps. Fishing deep points or ledges with shaky heads, jigging spoons, or hair jigs might also work. Recent sampling showed some nice sized fish, just not a high density of them. |
| walleye | Fair | 14-25 inches | Trolling crankbaits or spinner rigs with live nightcrawlers or minnows over points and humps. Vertical jigging live bait on ledges may also be productive. |
| channel catfish/blue catfish | Good | 1/2-5 lbs, Blues up to 50lbs. | Various prepared baits, liver, and worms usually good for channel catfish lakewide. Using fresh cut bait such as shad or carp usually is best for blue catfish. Fishing wind blown banks should be productive or try creek channel swings and humps. Don't be afraid to fish shallow water for both species. We have tagged some blue catfish in the lake, if you catch one please take note of the tag number and report it to the gatehouse. |
| smallmouth bass | Fair | 10-20 inches | It's topwater season so get out the walking baits and poppers, but Don't be afraid to go offshore and fish deeper around humps and dropoffs, using drop shot or Ned rigs. Recent sampling continues to show lower density than previous years; however, we also sampled some size classes that haven't been seen before. A 5 lb+ fish and a 4 lb.+ fish was sampled along with several in the 3 lb. range. |
| white bass/Wipers | Good | up to 5lbs. | Use shad imitation lures like small spinners, crankbaits or bucktail jigs. and look for schools of shad or focus on wind blown flats or rocky points. Vertical jigging slab spoons is also a good technique. |
| crappie | Fair | 11-15 inches | Look for crappie around deep standing timber and brush piles or near the channel breaks. Using various colored jigs or minnows should produce some fish. |
| General Comments | |||
| Entrance gate phone number is 620-364-2475 call for lake conditions. COFFEY COUNTY LAKE IS OPEN: Restricted lake hours are from 07:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., all boats are to be off the water by 4:00 p.m., all people and boats are to be off of lake property by 5:00 p.m. Fisherman will not get out of their vehicles at the gate house they are to stay in their vehicle and a lake attendant will come to your vehicle to get their registration information. Registration for Coffey County Lake is now available online at https://www.coffeycountyks.org/home/showdocument?id=3502. A large brush pile was created north of the boat ramp in the old creek channel and is marked with a fish attractor buoy. There were also several trees sunk at the end of the hot water dike and should be easily marked on your locator. These spots should be really good in the fall and winter months. ZEBRA MUSSELS have been confirmed in Coffey County Lake! Please help stop the spread. Clean, Drain, and Dry your boat and livewell after leaving this lake. It is illegal to transport live fish, bait, and water from this lake. For more information on waters in Anderson, Allen, Coffey, and Woodson counties click the following link to sign up for the New Strawn District Fisheries Newsletter. http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/News/Newsletter-Request-Forms/Request-a-Newsletter-for-the-New-Strawn-Fishing-District | |||
| Fishing Population | Creel Limit | Min Length Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Catfish | 5 | |
| Channel Catfish | 10 | |
| Flathead Catfish | 5 | |
| Largemouth Bass | 2 | 18 |
| Smallmouth Bass | 2 | 18 |
| Walleye | 2 | 21 |
| Crappie | 5 | 12 |
| White Bass | No creel limit | |
| Wiper | 1 | 21 |
* Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted Bass in Combination
** Striped Bass or Wiper in Combination
*** Walleye, Sauger or Saugeye in Combination