Centralia City Lake Fishing Report - Updated: 11/17/25

Species Rating Size Baits, Method, Location
Channel Catfish Good  Up to 20 pounds The lake has maintained a great channel cat fishery for over ten years. The 2025 fall sample recorded that numbers of channel catfish continue to remain high. Growth rates for catfish have been rather slow due to high numbers of smaller fish but this showed improvement in the last sample with 16% of the catfish were over 24 inches. The creel limit at the lake is 10 channel catfish per day with no length based restrictions and harvest of small catfish would be good for the whole population. Good luck.
White Bass Fair 1/2 to 1 lb. The most recent sampling shows that the white bass population has fallen to rather low numbers. The is no daily creel limit and no length restrictions. 
Wiper Poor Up to 26" A limited population of wipers are maintained with stockings of small fish to help manage the white bass and gizzard shad populations. Recent stockings have not had good survival and wiper numbers have fallen to very low numbers. Wiper creel limit is 2 per day.  
Crappie Fair to Good 1/2 to 1 pound Crappie numbers have been below normal the last few years but rebounded in the 2025 fall fish sampling to an eight year high. The current population is dominated by 8" - 10" fish but crappie grow very fast at this lake and fishing should be good in 2026. No recent reports from anglers.
Saugeye Fair/Good 2 to 8 lbs. Saugeye do very well at this lake but overall numbers of saugeye are below average. The fall 2025 sampling showed that 43% of the saugeye were over the 18 inch minimum length limit. Saugeye fishing was great in 2025 and should be decent in 2026.
Largemouth Bass Slow  1/2 to 5 pounds Bass are few and far between here but they tend to be big. Best places are the rock piers, standing timber, and around the West boat ramp. Bass are covered by an 18 inch minimum length limit.
General Comments
Centralia Lake is a 400 acre lake that is noted for good channel cat, saugeye and crappie fishing. The lake facilities include multiple ramps, picnic tables, plenty of camping pads and many sites with electricity. Centralia is enrolled in the CFAP program, which means a City permit is not required for fishing visits. Perry Reservoir has zebra mussels and with Centralia Lake being close it is at high risk. Please, always clean your boat when moving to different water bodies.