Lovewell Reservoir Fishing Information

Counties:

Jewell

GPS:

N39 53 25.20 W98 1 41.48

Surface Acres:

2,986 acres

Maximum Depth:

35 feet

Normal Lake Level:

1582.6 feet

View Live Lake Information

Lovewell Reservoir Fishing Report - Updated: 01/26/2026

Species	Rating	Size	Baits, Method, Location
Walleye	Fair	16-25 inches	No angler reports. Walleye should be starting winter patterns 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. One angler caught a limit fishing drop offs between Walleye Point and the Marina. The crappie should be headed to winter patterns. Look for deeper haunts like brush piles and river channels. 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
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: 32ºF Current water level: 3.2 feet low Ice Report: Please be cautious if going out on the ice. Don't go alone and wear a life jacket. One angler reported 3" of ice. 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!

Creel Length/Limits

Fishing Population	Creel Limit	Min Length Limit
Walleye	5***	18 inches
White Bass
Wiper	2
Crappie	20	10 inches
Largemouth Bass	5*	15 inches
Channel Catfish	10
Blue Catfish	5	35 inches
Flathead Catfish	5
Bluegill

* Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted Bass in Combination
** Striped Bass or Wiper in Combination
*** Walleye, Sauger or Saugeye in Combination

Fishing Forecast Information

View Fishing Forecast definitions

+Flathead Catfish Forecast

NAME	Density	Preferred	Lunker	Big fish	Bio rating
	(>20")	(>28")	(>34")	(lbs.)	BR
KIRWIN	39.73	19.71	12.95	48.41	G
SEBELIUS	34.44	27.66	22.47	65.42	G
LOVEWELL	23.90	15.64	8.70	56.83	G
GLEN ELDER	23.56	10.10	5.07	65.29	G
HILLSDALE	21.54	15.38	5.38	51.76	F
WEBSTER	21.34	11.27	4.98	37.67	F
WILSON	15.79	9.19	2.64	46.26	G
KANOPOLIS	11.02	5.63	0.62	30.29	G
CHENEY	8.70	6.52	3.17	66.74	F
TORONTO	5.40	1.79	0.45	41.59	G
FALL RIVER	3.32	1.56	0.78	32.62	G
CLINTON	0.26	0.16	0.16	66.08	F

+Channel Catfish Forecast

CHANNEL CATFISH	(>16")	(>24")	(>28")	(lbs.)	Fishing Rating
RESERVOIR
BIG HILL	8.60	0.83	0.17	9.56	G
HILLSDALE	6.50	0.62	0.07	11.01	E
LOVEWELL	5.18	0.70	0.07	10.72	G
MARION	4.00	0.15	0.03	18.72	G
KANOPOLIS	3.50	0.30	0.02	9.93	G
WILSON	3.38	0.37	0.00	8.87	G
CHENEY	2.76	0.43	0.08	12.42	G
FALL RIVER	2.33	1.77	0.73	12.19	G
PERRY	2.24	0.44	0.05	10.13	G
LACYGNE	2.22	0.05	0.00	6.12	G
TORONTO	1.92	1.14	0.17	9.89	G
COUNCIL GROVE	1.78	0.13	0.04	9.41	F
MELVERN	1.74	0.09	0.02	6.74	G
CLINTON	1.72	0.19	0.00	6.97	G
POMONA	1.67	0.03	0.00	7.53	G
CEDAR BLUFF	1.51	0.40	0.08	15.88	G
GLEN ELDER	1.45	0.42	0.12	16.33	G
KIRWIN	1.33	0.19	0.00	8.78	G
WEBSTER	1.22	0.22	0.00	7.45	G
JOHN REDMOND	1.15	0.39	0.08	12.29	G
ELK CITY	0.80	0.00	0.00	3.92	G
TUTTLE CREEK	0.62	0.15	0.05	13.80	G
EL DORADO	0.55	0.00	0.00	4.22	F
MILFORD	0.50	0.05	0.00	5.96	F
SEBELIUS	0.47	0.30	0.20	19.36	G
WOLF CREEK	0.44	0.00	0.00	3.50	G

+Black Crappie Forecast

BLACK CRAPPIE	(>8")	(>10")	(>12")	(lbs.)	Fishing Rating
RESERVOIR
CEDAR BLUFF	9.88	4.67	0.27	1.27	G
SEBELIUS	5.10	3.03	0.83	1.28	F
KIRWIN	2.77	2.67	1.40	1.94	F
MARION	2.39	1.00	0.11	1.09	P
KANOPOLIS	2.00	1.64	0.39	1.24	G
WEBSTER	1.53	0.97	0.00	0.89	P
LOVEWELL	1.13	0.69	0.13	2.31	F
MILFORD	0.94	0.23	0.06	2.07	F
HILLSDALE	0.91	0.05	0.00	0.49	F
BIG HILL	0.63	0.13	0.00	0.53	F
GLEN ELDER	0.44	0.24	0.04	1.02	P
CLINTON	0.42	0.21	0.03	0.93	P
POMONA	0.29	0.12	0.05	1.44	F
TUTTLE CREEK	0.23	0.07	0.02	1.09	P
LACYGNE	0.21	0.12	0.00	0.93	P
TORONTO	0.21	0.04	0.02	1.26	P
PERRY	0.20	0.09	0.02	1.60	P
WILSON	0.18	0.16	0.04	1.22	F
WOLF CREEK	0.07	0.00	0.00	0.28	P
MELVERN	0.04	0.02	0.00	0.63	P
EL DORADO	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.31	P
FALL RIVER	0.02	0.02	0.00	0.54	P
COUNCIL GROVE	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.07	P

+Bluegill Forecast

BLUEGILL	(>6")	(>8")	(>10")	(lbs.)	Fishing Rating
RESERVOIR
SEBELIUS	11.60	5.17	0.00	0.64	G
HILLSDALE	4.98	0.02	0.00	0.35	G
CEDAR BLUFF	4.90	0.15	0.00	0.48	P
BIG HILL	4.20	0.10	0.00	0.36	F
LACYGNE	3.63	0.00	0.00	0.29	P
KANOPOLIS	2.69	0.03	0.00	0.39	G
MILFORD	2.56	0.35	0.00	0.52	F
WEBSTER	2.47	0.56	0.00	0.60	P
LOVEWELL	2.38	0.05	0.00	0.43	P
MARION	1.94	0.00	0.00	0.39	F
CLINTON	1.84	0.11	0.00	0.52	F
PERRY	0.73	0.00	0.00	0.29	F
WILSON	0.67	0.00	0.00	0.26	G
TUTTLE CREEK	0.64	0.00	0.00	0.25	P
MELVERN	0.46	0.00	0.00	0.29	P
FALL RIVER	0.44	0.00	0.00	0.22	P
POMONA	0.32	0.00	0.00	0.22	P
GLEN ELDER	0.22	0.10	0.00	0.56	P
WOLF CREEK	0.20	0.00	0.00	0.17	P
TORONTO	0.19	0.02	0.00	0.17	F
COUNCIL GROVE	0.14	0.00	0.00	0.30	P
KIRWIN	0.10	0.04	0.00	0.45	P
ELK CITY	0.05	0.00	0.00	0.22	P

+Walleye Forecast

WALLEYE	(>15")	(>20")	(>25")	(lbs.)	Fishing Rating
RESERVOIR
MARION	4.24	3.32	0.68	6.01	F
KIRWIN	2.75	1.31	0.19	6.44	G
CEDAR BLUFF	2.62	1.20	0.34	6.68	G
CHENEY	2.14	1.78	1.16	7.59	F
EL DORADO	1.84	1.47	0.61	7.08	G
WEBSTER	1.72	1.00	0.38	6.22	F
MILFORD	1.62	1.08	0.42	6.35	F
WILSON	1.56	1.36	0.60	6.41	G
HILLSDALE	1.12	0.90	0.43	7.06	G
WOLF CREEK	0.91	0.70	0.24	6.56	F
GLEN ELDER	0.81	0.53	0.07	6.03	F
POMONA	0.75	0.42	0.11	4.16	G
LOVEWELL	0.38	0.27	0.14	7.37	F
BIG HILL	0.33	0.20	0.03	4.85	P
CLINTON	0.20	0.13	0.07	8.37	P
MELVERN	0.18	0.05	0.00	3.15	P
KANOPOLIS	0.05	0.05	0.02	5.83	P

+White Bass Forecast

WHITE BASS	(>9")	(>12")	(>15")	(lbs.)	Fishing Rating
RESERVOIR
GLEN ELDER	19.97	18.29	3.26	3.07	G
CEDAR BLUFF	19.86	18.20	6.75	2.16	E
MARION	12.32	5.97	0.18	1.85	G
POMONA	8.89	6.75	1.03	2.20	G
WEBSTER	8.31	6.81	0.06	1.99	G
BIG HILL	7.07	5.57	0.20	2.07	G
CLINTON	6.44	4.61	0.96	2.42	G
KANOPOLIS	5.63	4.73	0.37	2.08	G
WOLF CREEK	5.56	2.48	0.19	2.07	G
MILFORD	4.58	3.90	0.58	2.13	F
KIRWIN	4.28	3.61	0.39	1.95	G
PERRY	3.85	2.32	0.03	2.20	G
TORONTO	3.58	1.86	0.50	2.51	G
EL DORADO	3.13	2.63	0.58	2.76	F
MELVERN	3.04	2.60	0.58	2.38	G
COUNCIL GROVE	2.84	1.20	0.13	2.19	F
LACYGNE	2.70	0.11	0.08	1.95	G
WILSON	2.41	2.26	1.43	2.82	G
HILLSDALE	2.40	1.50	0.12	1.67	F
FALL RIVER	2.30	1.50	0.60	2.61	G
ELK CITY	1.83	1.27	0.27	2.80	F
JOHN REDMOND	1.77	1.18	0.53	3.61	G
LOVEWELL	1.68	1.29	0.25	2.32	F
TUTTLE CREEK	0.33	0.16	0.02	1.96	F
CHENEY	0.22	0.22	0.16	3.93	P

+Crappie Combined Forecast

Waterbody	Density	Preferred	Lunker	Big fish	Size	Bio rating
Toronto Reservoir	23.25	6.71	2.71	1.84	Reservoir	Excellent
Hillsdale Reservoir	22.36	8.07	1.14	1.59	Reservoir	Excellent
Melvern Reservoir	18.98	10.59	1.33	1.41	Reservoir	Good
Perry Reservoir	16.68	6.61	0.52	1.60	Reservoir	Good
Big Hill Reservoir	13.23	5.93	0.90	1.26	Reservoir	Good
Elk City Reservoir	12.41	7.05	2.51	1.76	Reservoir	Good
LaCygne Reservoir	11.47	5.14	0.37	1.31	Reservoir	Good
Marion Reservoir	11.11	3.89	0.22	1.09	Reservoir	Good
Fall River Reservoir	10.75	3.77	1.31	2.50	Reservoir	Good
Cedar Bluff Reservoir	10.50	4.94	0.52	1.90	Reservoir	Good
Pomona Reservoir	10.49	5.05	0.83	1.88	Reservoir	Good
John Redmond Reservoir	9.53	9.00	1.67	1.71	Reservoir	Good
Council Grove Reservoir	9.50	1.36	0.33	1.83	Reservoir	Good
Tuttle Creek Reservoir	8.27	5.61	0.84	1.54	Reservoir	Good
Clinton Reservoir	8.03	4.11	0.37	1.37	Reservoir	Good
Sebelius Reservoir	7.37	4.27	1.00	1.28	Reservoir	Fair
Kanopolis Reservoir	5.75	2.53	0.44	1.24	Reservoir	Good
El Dorado Reservoir	5.11	2.89	0.54	1.70	Reservoir	Good
Lovewell Reservoir	4.36	2.51	0.38	2.31	Reservoir	Good
Kirwin Reservoir	3.96	3.50	1.96	1.94	Reservoir	Fair
Webster Reservoir	3.92	1.75	0.06	1.06	Reservoir	Fair
Milford Reservoir	3.71	2.08	0.58	2.07	Reservoir	Fair
Glen Elder Reservoir	1.25	0.76	0.13	1.41	Reservoir	Fair
Wolf Creek Reservoir	1.07	0.33	0.00	0.59	Reservoir	Fair
Wilson Reservoir	0.98	0.33	0.16	1.30	Reservoir	Fair

+Sunfish Combined Forecast

Waterbody	Density	Preferred	Lunker	3 yr avg	Size	Rating
Sebelius Reservoir	44.40	9.50	0.00	1.21	Reservoir	G
Cedar Bluff Reservoir	15.33	0.22	0.00	0.44	Reservoir	F
Hillsdale Reservoir	6.09	0.07	0.00	0.46	Reservoir	F
LaCygne Reservoir	4.50	0.02	0.02	0.31	Reservoir	F
Kanopolis Reservoir	3.81	0.03	0.00	0.39	Reservoir	G
Wilson Reservoir	3.53	0.00	0.00	0.33	Reservoir	G
Webster Reservoir	2.94	0.50	0.00	0.50	Reservoir	F
Big Hill Reservoir	2.63	0.17	0.00	0.62	Reservoir	G
Lovewell Reservoir	2.56	0.05	0.00	0.43	Reservoir	P
Marion Reservoir	2.00	0.00	0.00	0.39	Reservoir	F
Milford Reservoir	1.44	0.35	0.00	0.52	Reservoir	P
Clinton Reservoir	1.20	0.07	0.00	0.52	Reservoir	F
Kirwin Reservoir	0.83	0.06	0.00	0.59	Reservoir	F
Perry Reservoir	0.60	0.00	0.00	0.32	Reservoir	P
Melvern Reservoir	0.52	0.05	0.02	0.37	Reservoir	P
El Dorado Reservoir	0.36	0.00	0.00	0.23	Reservoir	F
Tuttle Creek Reservoir	0.32	0.00	0.00	0.25	Reservoir	P
Glen Elder Reservoir	0.30	0.10	0.00	0.70	Reservoir	P
Wolf Creek Reservoir	0.30	0.00	0.00	0.18	Reservoir	P
Fall River Reservoir	0.29	0.00	0.00	0.26	Reservoir	F
Pomona Reservoir	0.23	0.02	0.02	0.43	Reservoir	P
Council Grove Reservoir	0.14	0.00	0.00	0.21	Reservoir	P
Toronto Reservoir	0.13	0.00	0.00	0.23	Reservoir	P
Elk City Reservoir	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.13	Reservoir	P

+Percids Combined Forecast

Waterbody	Density	Preferred	Lunker	Big fish	Size	Bio rating
Sebelius Reservoir	6.87	3.83	0.87	6.41	Reservoir	Fair
Marion Reservoir	4.24	3.32	0.68	6.01	Reservoir	Fair
Kirwin Reservoir	2.75	1.31	0.19	6.44	Reservoir	Good
Pomona Reservoir	2.69	1.14	0.22	5.18	Reservoir	Good
Cedar Bluff Reservoir	2.62	1.20	0.34	6.68	Reservoir	Good
Council Grove Reservoir	2.58	1.82	0.73	6.82	Reservoir	Good
Cheney Reservoir	2.32	1.78	1.16	7.59	Reservoir	Fair
Perry Reservoir	2.17	0.61	0.00	3.27	Reservoir	Excellent
Melvern Reservoir	2.16	0.21	0.00	3.15	Reservoir	Good
El Dorado Reservoir	1.84	1.47	0.61	7.08	Reservoir	Good
Webster Reservoir	1.75	1.03	0.41	6.22	Reservoir	Fair
Milford Reservoir	1.62	1.08	0.42	6.35	Reservoir	Fair
Wilson Reservoir	1.56	1.36	0.60	6.41	Reservoir	Good
Clinton Reservoir	1.44	0.28	0.07	8.37	Reservoir	Good
Kanopolis Reservoir	1.15	0.73	0.38	6.78	Reservoir	Good
Hillsdale Reservoir	1.12	0.90	0.43	7.06	Reservoir	Good
Wolf Creek Reservoir	0.91	0.70	0.24	6.56	Reservoir	Fair
Glen Elder Reservoir	0.81	0.53	0.07	6.03	Reservoir	Fair
Tuttle Creek Reservoir	0.71	0.38	0.04	4.81	Reservoir	Good
Lovewell Reservoir	0.38	0.27	0.14	7.37	Reservoir	Fair
Big Hill Reservoir	0.33	0.20	0.03	4.85	Reservoir	Poor
Elk City Reservoir	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.11	Reservoir	Poor

+Temperate Basses Combined Forecast

Waterbody	Density	Preferred	Lunker	Big fish	Size	Bio rating
Cedar Bluff Reservoir	21.60	4.06	2.22	14.57	Reservoir	Good
Glen Elder Reservoir	19.25	2.49	0.78	8.60	Reservoir	Good
Marion Reservoir	15.59	5.26	1.35	6.33	Reservoir	Excellent
Kirwin Reservoir	10.11	6.25	0.75	7.63	Reservoir	Good
Webster Reservoir	9.78	2.53	0.72	10.77	Reservoir	Fair
Pomona Reservoir	9.22	2.81	0.97	5.12	Reservoir	Good
Milford Reservoir	7.65	2.22	0.78	8.02	Reservoir	Good
Sebelius Reservoir	7.17	6.40	3.87	8.75	Reservoir	Good
Clinton Reservoir	7.13	2.04	0.19	5.98	Reservoir	Excellent
Big Hill Reservoir	5.40	0.03	0.00	2.07	Reservoir	Good
Kanopolis Reservoir	5.25	0.47	0.17	7.28	Reservoir	Good
El Dorado Reservoir	4.71	1.24	0.39	7.36	Reservoir	Fair
Lovewell Reservoir	3.70	1.64	0.88	8.57	Reservoir	Fair
Wilson Reservoir	2.67	1.28	0.38	12.26	Reservoir	Good
Melvern Reservoir	2.44	0.12	0.00	2.38	Reservoir	Good
Perry Reservoir	2.29	0.02	0.00	2.20	Reservoir	Good
Wolf Creek Reservoir	2.09	0.13	0.02	4.25	Reservoir	Good
Toronto Reservoir	1.78	0.08	0.00	2.51	Reservoir	Good
Cheney Reservoir	1.54	1.35	0.24	10.30	Reservoir	Poor
Fall River Reservoir	1.43	0.37	0.00	2.61	Reservoir	Good
John Redmond Reservoir	1.35	0.39	0.00	3.61	Reservoir	Good
LaCygne Reservoir	1.35	1.05	0.00	4.38	Reservoir	Fair
Hillsdale Reservoir	1.31	0.07	0.02	1.67	Reservoir	Fair
Elk City Reservoir	1.23	0.17	0.00	2.80	Reservoir	Fair
Council Grove Reservoir	1.13	0.04	0.00	2.19	Reservoir	Fair
Tuttle Creek Reservoir	0.15	0.00	0.00	1.96	Reservoir	Fair

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Lovewell Reservoir Fishing Information