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: 4/10/2026
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
| Crappie | Slow/Fair | Up to 15 inches | Fish have abandoned deep winter haunts and have begun to stage prior to spawning. They can be tougher to find this time of year, but vertically fishing jigs or minnows around flooded timber in deeper water directly adjacent to spawning areas can be productive. |
| Largemouth Bass | Fair/Good | Up to 5 lbs. | Casting soft plastics, swimbaits, and spinnerbaits around boulders and laydown timber associated with mainlake points and secondary points in coves. |
| Walleye | Fair | Up to 27 inches | Fish should be about finished spawning by now. Look for fish to begin their post-spawn bite where they can be caught drifting or vertically jigging jigs tipped with nightcrawlers or casting shad imitating swimbaits and crankbaits over mainlake points and other structure possessing a hard bottom type usually in about 10 to 15 feet of water. Cedar Bluff walleye harvest is regulated by a 21" minimum length limit and 5 fish/day creel limit, except that anglers have the option to harvest up to 2 walleye 15" but less than 18" as part of the five fish daily creel limit. |
| White Bass/Wipers | Fair | Whites up to 17 inches Wipers up to 10 lbs. | White bass should begin moving into the dam and adjacent shorelines to spawn soon where they can be caught casting bucktail and curlytail jigs. Wipers have been tough to come by lately. Might try drifting live sunfish over wind-swept mainlake points. |
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WATER TEMPERATURE-56 degrees F SURFACE ELEVATION- 2120.03 ft. above MSL-23.97 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 and 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: 4/6/2026
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crappie | Fair | 9-15 inches | No recent reports. A few 10" fish came through ice here and there. One angler reported multiple limits of 12-14" fish in early December targeting trees on river channels between the Bluffs and Granite Creek. Expect crappie to be headed towards spawning areas. Look for crappie to be found transitioning from deeper points, channels, drop-offs, or brushpiles to shallow and shoreline structure. Use minnows, jigs, spoons, or small crankbaits. |
| Trout | Good | 10-20 inches | The last stocking for the season occurred Feb. 13 in the Glen Elder Reservoir outlet on the north end of the dam. Hatchery trout can be caught with a variety of methods. Some anglers prefer traditional fly fishing or small spinners and jigs. Others try to mimic the pellet feed trout are raised on by using things like cheese bait or corn. For more information on the trout season, schedule, or the program in general: Trout Fishing Program / Special Fishing Programs for You / Fishing / KDWP - KDWP |
| Walleye | Fair | 11-25 inches | No angler reports. Walleye should be wrapping up the spawn. Some post-spawn fish may roam lake flats and river channels looking for baitfish, while others suspend over deep drops or points. Trolling river channels and roadbeds with crankbaits or nightcrawlers can be a good strategy to find Walleye. Walleye are often caught using nightcrawlers, jigging spoons, minnows, crankbaits, and spinners. *3 million fry were stocked in April 2025 and 3k fingerlings in Oct 2025. |
| Black Bass | Fair to Good | 12-20 inches | No angler reports. The Marina/Kanza cove and Osage cove held the best densities of black bass last spring. 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, jigging spoons, crankbaits, soft plastics, and crayfish imitations. With a 21-inch length limit, Smallmouth are almost all sublegal so please handle them with extreme care and release them immediately after catching them. *60,000 largemouth fingerlings stocked in June 2025 |
| Catfish | Good | 15-35 inches | No angler reports. I've seen local anglers catching a few Channel Catfish in smaller ponds in the area already. Channel Cats are opportunistic and can be caught in most areas of the lake. Targeting inflows after the rain can be very successful or a smelly bait next to a brush pile. Blues tend to orient on deeper structure. Try river channel bends, old road beds, drop-offs, and other submerged structure. Most dedicated Blue Catfish anglers are using cut bait or dead shad. Flatheads key in on hard structure. Rip-rap or brushpiles will hold fish, or they can be found hunting live fish on nearby flats at night. Remember, there is a NEW creel limit on Blue Catfish at Glen Elder. 10 fish per day, only 1 allowed over 30 in. |
| White Bass | Good to Excellent | 11-18 inches | No recent reports. Game Warden Keil reported wiper and white bass being caught through the ice west of the causeway. However, success was varied with some groups getting skunked and some catching over 40. Spawn should be happening right now with White Bass headed for upstream riffles. With little to no inflow target windblown points and shorelines for spawning Whites. 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 before water temps get too low. Use a variety of jigs, spinners, or minnows to catch fish all year. *350,000 Wiper fry were stocked in May 2025. |
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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: 56ºF Current Water Level: 4.2 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: 4/6/2026
KANOPOLIS RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 4/7/2026
| 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. Look for fish starting to stage prior to spawning. |
| Trout | The third and final trout stocking of the season for the seep stream occurred on 2-13-26. | ||
| Saugeye | Fair | 14 - 22" | Wind blown points and flats in the middle and lower ends of the reservoir are best. 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. Look for fish to begin spawning runs up the river, especially if we get an increase in river levels |
| Wiper | Fair | All sizes | Similar locations and baits as those used for white bass. We are seeing more Wipers in the reservoir with recent successful stockings. Know your identification as the creel limit is 2 per day. |
| 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: 4/8/2026
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crappie | Fair | 7 to 16 inches | I would recommend fishing around the public fishing dock, maintained fish attractors and up in Leota and Schoen's Coves using jigs and jigs tipped with minnows. |
| Saugeye/Walleye | Fair | 13 to 27 inches | I would recommend fishing 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 | I would recommend fishing around the east side of Leota Cove, Monkey Island and Concrete cove using jigs and swim baits. Trolling diving lures is also proving successful. |
| Catfish | Fair | 10 to 30 inches | Fish are being caught lake wide using shad, gizzards, shrimp, night crawlers or stink bait on the bottom. |
| Largemouth/Spotted Bass | Good | 10 to 20 inches | I would recommend fishing around the coves or along the Dam and Breakwater using crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and plastics. |
| General Comments | |||
| WATER TEMPERATURE- 54° SURFACE ELEVATION- 2290.92 ---- 13.38' feet below conservation pool Currently, the water level is 2.30' feet lower than it was one year ago, at this time. The fish cleaning station should be opening soon. A boat cleaning station (CD3) can be found next to the fish cleaning station and should also be opening soon. 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: 4/8/2026
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crappie | Fair | 7 to 17 inches | I would recommend fishing around Crappie point, the four maintained fish attractors and up both river channels using jigs and jigs tipped with minnows. Could also possibly catch some off the Dam and around the outlet. |
| Walleye | Fair | 10 to 29 inches | The spawn is winding down, and late spawners may be caught off the dam during twilight hours using casting crankbaits, jigs, or swimbaits. The fish that are done spawning are returning to the river channel and flats and can be caught using jigs, minnows, and nightcrawlers. |
| White Bass/ Wiper | Good | 10 to 28 inches | I would recommend fishing lake wide using casting jigs and roadrunners from the bank. Trolling diving lures along the dam, river channels, and breaks is also producing fish. |
| Catfish | Fair | 10 to 30 inches | Fish are being caught lake wide with shrimp, cut bait, stink bait, night crawlers or shad off the bottom. |
| Largemouth Bass | Fair | 12 to 22 inches | I would recommend fishing along the rocky shorelines, fish attractors, and outlet using plastics and crank baits. |
| General Comments | |||
| WATER TEMPERATURE- 54° SURFACE ELEVATION- 1712.25 ---- 17.00' below conservation pool Currently, the water level is 4.47' lower than it was one year ago, at this time. The entire reservoir has been opened back up to boats as of April 1st. The North lane of the South Shore ramp and the Bow Creek ramp are the only usable boat ramps at this time. The fish cleaning station should be opening soon. A boat cleaning station (CD3) can be found next to the fish cleaning station and is usable at this time. 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: 4/6/2026
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walleye | Fair | 16-25 inches | No angler reports. Walleye should be wrapping up with spawning. Look for post-spawn fish over deep structure, points, drop-offs, and river channels. Also look for fish roaming shallow flats holding baitfish. Fish can be found along the river channel between Cedar Point and Walleye Point in 20-25 feet of water. Try using jigging spoons, minnows, brightly colored lures, or nightcrawlers. Trolling nightcrawlers or crankbaits is a common tactic. *5,000 intermediates stocked in Nov 2025. |
| White Bass/Wipers | Good | 7-14 inches 15-25 inches | No angler reports. 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 fall sampling indicated better numbers. 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 2024 |
| Crappie | Good | 8-14 inches | No recent angler reports. Good numbers of big crappie were being caught this fall and winter. One angler caught a limit fishing drop offs between Walleye Point and the Marina. The crappie should be headed towards spawning areas. Look for transitions between deeper haunts like brush piles or river channels, and shallow structure they will use for the spawn. 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 | No recent angler reports. 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. When conditions are right Blue Catfish can be found in shallow vegetation chasing baitfish. Blues and flatheads tend to focus on hard structure like rocks, brush piles, and river channels. Catfish will congregate in deep holes during winter. Finding these will be key to success in cold water. There is a new Blue Catfish regulation of 10 fish per day with only 1 fish greater than 30 inches allowed. |
| 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: 2.7 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: 4/6/2026
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth Bass | Fair to Good | 12-18 inches | No angler reports. Bass should be feeding heavily before spawn. Look for shallow vegetation, rocks, or brush that will create hiding spots or ambush points. Fish can be caught around rocky jetties and brushpiles using wacky worms, Senkos, Ned Rigs, spinnerbaits, roadrunners, and crankbaits. |
| Bluegill/Sunfish | Good | 5 to 7 Inches | No angler reports. 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 | No angler reports. 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. Colder temps will cause catfish to congregate in deep holes. |
| Saugeye | Fair | 18-25 inches | No angler reports. 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. Sometimes Saugeye will be actively feeding up on the shorelines at night. |
| Crappie | Good | 8-15 inches | No angler reports. Anglers should target the brush piles and other submerged structure with minnows and jigs. 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: 4/8/2026
| 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. N/A Lake is currently dry. | |||
SHERIDAN STATE FISHING LAKE - Last Updated: 5/30/2025
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comments | |||
| Sheridan State Fishing Lake is currently drained for renovations with no fishing opportunities. The lake is still open for camping and other visitation. The nearby Antelope Lake is open for fishing. As part of lake renovations, 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. ATTENTION: As of 1-23-2025, the lake water level is extremely low with only inches of water left at the deepest. Given recent cold weather, remaining lake water and surrounding sediments have frozen. Given the close proximity between any existing ice and bottom sediments, melting and refreezing of ice can be rapid. Rapidly changing ice conditions over the top of extremely soft lake bottom sediments has resulted in a potentially dangerous scenario should one fall through weak ice. Any attempt to get out on existing ice or muddy bottom sediments is strongly discouraged. For more information contact Dave Spalsbury, District Fisheries Biologist at 785-726-3212. | |||
WEBSTER RESERVOIR - Last Updated: 4/8/2026
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, and Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crappie | Fair | 7 to 17 inches | I would recommend fishing around the north and south shore breakwaters, the outlet, and fish attractors using jigs and jigs with minnows. |
| Walleye | Fair | 14 to 28 inches | The spawn is winding down, and late spawners may be caught off the dam during twilight hours using casting crankbaits, jigs, or swimbaits. The fish that are done spawning are returning to the river channel and flats and can be caught using jigs, minnows, and nightcrawlers. |
| White Bass/Wiper | Good | 8 to 28 inches | Both species are being caught around the north and south shore fish attractors, breakwaters, and along the dam using jigs and jigs tipped with minnow. Trolling diving lures lake wide is also proving successful. |
| Catfish | Fair | 12 to 30 inches | Have been catching some fish lake wide using shad, shrimp, gizzards, night crawler's or stink baits on the bottom. |
| Largemouth Bass | Fair | 12 to 22 inches | I would recommend fishing around the maintained fish attractors, outlet and breakwaters using plastics and spinner baits. |
| General Comments | |||
| WATER TEMPERATURE- 54° SURFACE ELEVATION- 1866.11 ---- 26.34' below conservation pool The water level is 1.10' lower than it was one year ago at this time. Old Marina, Morel, Goose Flats and Lake view 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). Fish cleaning station should be opening soon. A boat cleaning station (CD3) has been added by the fish cleaning station and is usable at this time. 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: 4/7/2026
| Species | Rating | Size | Baits, Method, Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Striped Bass | Fair | 7-25 pounds | No Reports. Try trolling crankbaits, casting/jigging large bucktail jigs, or drifting live shad or sunfish along channel breaks. |
| Walleye | Fair | 18-27 inches | The walleye spawn is wrapping up, look for fish to move towards the flats to start feeding. Trolling or casting crankbaits and swimbaits over main lake points or the flats early morning or late evening are your best bets. |
| Blue/Channel Catfish | Good | 2-30+ 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. New Blue Catfish Regulation: Creel limit of 10 fish per day with only one fish over 30 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. Look for fish to make a run up the river if we get inflow. Currently the river is not connected to the reservoir due to low water. |
| 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 = 5.47 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!!!!!! | |||