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CLINTON RESERVOIR   (7,000 Acres)

Updated 11/17/2017

Lake Map    

Lake Elevation at Normal Pool: 875.5  

Inflow: 120 cfs Outflow: 21 cfs

Level: 2.00 feet high Temp:

 Report by: Richard Sanders   Fisheries Biologist  Kansas Dept. of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism

Zebra Mussels are present at Clinton Reservoir 

Be sure to CLEAN, DRAIN and DRY all equipment that comes in contact with the water to keep from spreading them to another lake. 

Crappie  Slow-Fair  0.25-1.5 lb  Using jigs within one foot of bottom, over water about 15-20 feet deep.  Most hits coming when jig is first lowered down.  Quite a few 8-9.5 inch fish, keepers hard to come by but some very nice ones up to 14 inches. 

Wiper  Slow  3-5 lbs  Using jigs.  Action was good earlier this week (i.e.Dec. 14), but has slowed since. 

Trout  Fair-Good  0.5-1 lbs  Lake Henry was stocked again Dec. 15.  Anglers have been catching fish using power bait, worms, jigs, spoons, spinners and flies. 

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HILLSDALE RESERVOIR   (4,580 Acres)

Updated 11/17/2017

Lake Map

Lake Elevation at Normal Pool: 917.0

Inflow: 750 cfs Outflow: 500 cfs

Level: 1.00 feet high Temp:

Report by: Hillsdale Lake Guide Service

Walleye  Slow  Up to 8 lbs.  Walleye should be entering a winter pattern, focus on deeper structure and main creek channels.   

Crappie  Good  Most fish are 9 to 11 inches and few up to 13 inches  Crappie should be congregating near deeper structure and winter habitats.  Jigs or minnows fished in 15-25 ft. of water near structure should produce some fish.     

White Bass  Fair  Up to 2 lbs.  White bass can be taken on a wide range of shad imitation lures. Follow the shad schools and look for shad busting on the surface of the water. White bass are biting in the Little Bull Arm and near Hillsdale Point.       

Largemouth Bass  Slow  Up to 4 lbs.  Largemouth bass should be holding tight to trees and brush in the cooler water. Plastic baits and jigs appear to be the baits of choice.     

Channel Catfish  Slow   Up to 10 lbs.  Channel cat can be taken on a variety of baits using the traditional prepared or live baits. Channel catfish are being taken lake wide at this time.      

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MILFORD RESERVOIR  (16,200 Acres)

Updated 11/17/2017

Lake Map

Lake Elevation at Normal Pool: 1144.4

Inflow: 1500 cfs Outflow: 2000 cfs

Level:4.00 feet high Temperature:

Catfish  Fair  up to 50lbs  blue cats on cut bait 35ft deep along channel ledges, channel cats fair on cut bait near flats with steep dropoffs 

Crappie  Fair/Good  up to 2 lbs  tube jigs and minnows suspended 10-15ft deep near brush, points and ledges with gravel, brush or rock 

Walleye  Fair     near deeper edges of flats and points on jigs and spoons 

White Bass/Wipers  Fair     along points and channel ledges on jigs and spoons 

Smallmouth Bass  Good  up to 4lbs  jigs 10ft deep near rock/gravel points 

Largemouth Bass  Fair  up to 5lbs  jigs near points with brush/rock/ledges 

Outlet  Good     catfish on cut bait and white bass/wipers on jigs when releasing water 

CAUTION: DO NOT TRANSFER LIVE BAIT FROM ONE BODY OF WATER TO ANOTHER!!! ALONG WITH ZEBRA MUSSEL INFESTATION, ASIAN CARP ARE IN DRAINAGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE KANSAS RIVER AND CAN EASILY BE MISTAKEN FOR SHAD!!! 

WARNING! ZEBRA MUSSELS NOW IN RESERVOIR AND OUTLET!

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PERRY RESERVOIR  (11,630 Acres)

Updated 11/17/2017

Lake Map

Lake Elevation at Normal Pool: 891.5 

Inflow: 2500 cfs Outflow: 25 cfs

Level: 6.00 feet high Temperature:

Zebra Mussels  Super Infectious!  up to 3/4"  Since the infestation was discovered in Oct. of 2007 these mussels have spread throughout the lake. It's up to all of us to make sure these are not spread to other area lakes, Clean-Drain-Dry everything that is taken out of Perry. Mussels will be start spawning as the water temperature gets to around 54 degrees, I've collected 6 samples and just shipped the last one, numbers have stayed pretty low this year. If you haven't heard Clinton has them now!!!!    

Channel Catfish  Slow  up to 13.4 lbs  In October we sampled 115 channel catfish in gill nets: 7 were less than 11", 24 were between 11-16", 76 were between 16-24", 7 were between 24-28"and 1 was between 28-36" with the largest channel catfish being 31.0" and weighing 13.4 lbs. Shad sides work great this time of year even through the ice, shallow.   

Sauger  Slow  up to 2.6 lbs.  In October we sampled 48 sauger in gill nets: 1 was between 7-11", 9 were between 11-14", 27 were between 14-17" and 11 were between 17-20" with the largest sauger being 19.9" and weighing 2.6 lbs. Jigs and twisters off of the breaks.   

Largemouth Bass  Slow  up to 6.2 lbs.  In May we sampled 61 largemouth bass by electrofishing: 9 were less than 8", 8 were between 8-12", 15 were between 12-15", 25 were between 15-20" and 4 were between 20-25" with the largest largemouth being 20.7" and weighing 6.2 lbs. Big plastics worked around the structure.   

White Bass  Slow  up to 2.1 lbs.  In October we sampled 135 white bass in gill nets: 16 were less than 6", 47 were between 6-9", 33 were between 9-12", 36 were between 12-15" and 3 were between 15-18" with the largest white bass being 15.8" and weighing 2.1 lbs. Twister or roadrunners will still produce a few fish. 

White Crappie  Slow  up to 0.9 lbs.  In October we sampled 1,311 white crappie in traps: 134 were less than 5", 697 were between 5-8", 396 were between 8-10", 81 were between 10-12" and 3 were between 12-15" with the largest crappie being 12.4" and weighing 0.9 lbs. Fish on brush 12-16" or at the Marinas.   

Blue Catfish  Slow  up to 2 lbs.  We sampled a couple blue catfish in gill nets the largest being 15.6" and weighing 1.5 lbs. We will continue to see these fish mature, hopefully into a population like Milford has.   

The Topeka Boat Show is February 7-9th.  Richard Sanders will be talking about Clinton and Melvern on Friday February 7th at 5 pm.  I'll be speaking about Perry and other waters in my District at 11 am on Saturday February 8th.  The Mobile Aquarium will not be there, stuck in the snow! 

Looks like it is time to get the ice fishing gear out: remember to fish with a buddy, drill some test holes and dress in layers!

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TUTTLE CREEK RESERVOIR    (12,500 Acers)

Updated 11/17/2017

Lake Map

Lake Elevation at Normal Pool: 1075.0

Inflow: 2000 cfs Outflow: 2000 cfs

Level: 15.00 feet  high Temperature :

Catfish  Good  1 to 9 pounds  Sample numbers of channel catfish are looking good with nice numbers of fish over 24". Blue catfish are starting to get established in the Reservoir and hopefully there will be a good population in a few years.  

Crappie  Good  1/2 to 1.5 pounds  Largest crappie sample in 25 years. Tuttle has good numbers of crappie over 11 inches and a bunch of young fish that are growing well.  

White Bass  Good  1/2 to 4 pounds  White bass number have improved a lot over the last few years. There are pretty good numbers of 12" to 15" fish and there are some real trophys over 4 pounds in the reservoir.  

Largemouth Bass  Fair  1 to 5 pounds  Coves in southern third of the Reservoir have some locally good largemouth bass populations. The McIntyre Cove area tends to produce the best fishing.  

Saugeye  Good  Up to 6 pounds  Good sample numbers of saugeye over the 15" length limit.

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DOUGLAS (SFL)  (180 Acres)

Updated 11/17/2017

Temperature: Clarity: 30 inches Lake level: at full pool

Lake Map

Report by Sports Cache Bait & Tackle  

No Report

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GEARY (SFL)   (97 Acres)

Updated 11/17/2017

Lake Map

Temperature:

Crappie  Fair  up to 2 lbs  jigs and minnows near rock and creek channels suspended 10-15ft deep. 

Catfish  Fair  up to 3 lbs  Cut bait along ledges lakewide 

Saugeye  Fair  up to 5 lbs  jig and worms and crankbaits along dam and rock points 

Black bass  Fair  up to 4lbs  jigs near rock/brush/points along the shoreline 

Bluegill  Fair  size varies  tube jigs and worms near cover 5-10ft deep 

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MIAMI (SFL)  (101 Acres)

Updated 11/17/2017

Temperature:

Lake Map

Largemouth Bass  Slow  0.5-4 lbs  Plastic finesse baits along vegetation edges are producing the best right now.  

Bluegill  Fair  Up to 0.33 lbs  Jigs or worms fished near shoreline structure. 

Channel Cat  Slow  1-10 lbs  Channel cats can be taken now on a variety of live or prepared baits.  

Crappie  Good  Up to 16 inches  Crappie being taken on jigs near culvert and rock jetties. Also near structure and vegetation edges on upper end.  

White Bass  Fair  14-17 inches  A good population of White Bass exists in this lake and is not often targeted. White Bass can be taken on shad imitation lures and white marabou jigs.    

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MIDDLE CREEK (SFL)   (281 Acres)

Updated 11/17/2017

Lake Map

Temperature: Level:

Channel Catfish  No Report

 Crappie  No Report

 Saugeye  No Report

 Largemouth Bass  No Report

 Wiper/White Bass  No Report

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POTTAWATOMIE #1    (24 Acres)

  Updated 11/17/2017

Water Temp: 

Bluegill  Fair  Up to 8 inches  The lake has a fair bluegill population this year. The North West bank tends to be the best spot.

 Channel Catfish  Slow  3/4 to 5 pounds  The lake has a low level catfish population.

 Crappie  Fair  1/2 to 1 pound  The lake has fair numbers of 8-10" crappie.

 Largemouth Bass  Good  1/2 to 5 pounds  The lake has excellent numbers of bass with most of the fish 12 to 15 inches.

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POTTAWATOMIE #2   (75 Acres)

 Updated 11/17/2017

Water Temp: 

Black Bass Fair  1/2 to 4 pounds  The lake has good numbers of both largemouth and smallmouth. The East bank was the best area in the most recent sample.  

Channel Catfish  Good!  3/4 to 3 pounds  The lake is in the Urban Stocking Program and is frequently stocked with 12 to 18 inch fish. This allows for good harvest rates of eater size channel catfish. 445 catfish were stocked on May 23 and these fish were bigger than normal. So far 2,250 channel catfish have been stocked this year. A video about the Urban Stocking Program can be found at http://youtu.be/5l4QiSfsQbQ

 Crappie  Fair  1/4 to 1 pound  Along the rock piers and off of the docks with jigs or minnows. Most of the crappie are 8 to 10 inches, but sampled a 2 lb one this spring!

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