Lake levels, fishing report

Compiled by Steve Sorensen

Most urban lakes are stocked regularly throughout the season with catchable-sized channel catfish. The following waters are scheduled to be stocked the first half of the month: in Wichita Blackbird, Chisholm North, Dillon’s Pond, Harrison Lake, KDOT East, KDOT West and Sunflower; in Sedgwick Co. Park, Vic’s Lake, Horseshoe Moss, Tom Scott and Kid’s Pond; in Andover Central Lake; in Benton Poling Lake; in Clearwater Chisholm Ridge Lake; in Colwich City Lake; in Derby High Lake, Rainbow Valley and Stone Creek Park; in Kechi City Lake; in Mulvane Sports Complex; in Newton Sand Creek; in Park City Chisholm Pointe; and in Valley Center McLaughlin Park. More information and exact locations are available from the Cheney Wildlife Area office, 620-459-6922.

Cheney: Catfish good on live or fresh shad around structure for blues and using prepared baits on channel borders for channels. White bass good using slab spoons and jigs over humps 10 feet deep. Wipers good trolling large crankbaits. White perch good over the same humps as white bass. Walleye good off breaks 12-15 feet deep using large crankbaits.

Council Grove: Crappie fair near brush and rock banks 15 feet deep on jigs and minnows. Catfish good near windy flats and creeks using cut bait, stinkbaits and worms. Saugeye fair using jigs, worms and crankbaits near deep rocky points. White bass/wiper good near rocky banks on jigs and crankbaits or along channel ledges on live bait.

El Dorado: Wiper good trolling or casting crankbaits along rocky windblown shorelines, shallow flats and points. White bass fair along windy shorelines and points on crankbaits, rat-l-traps and jig and plastic. Crappie fair to good in brush 8-12 feet deep or channel ledges 7-14 feet deep near timber using jigs or jig-n-minnow. Walleye fair to good using jig-n-crawler, spinner rigs, crankbaits or soft plastics on the flats 3-15 feet deep.

Marion: Crappie fair using a jig or minnow over brushpiles and ledges. Catfish good on the flats or points drifting nightcrawlers or using stinkbaits in chummed areas. White bass good with crankbaits, lipless crankbaits or jig-n-plastics on shallow flats. Wiper good using crankbaits, lipless crankbaits and spinner rigs tipped with worms along rocky wind blown points. Walleye fair on flats, humps and points using jig-n-crawler and trolling crankbaits.

Fall River: White bass good trolling jig-n-spinner or shad imitation crankbaits over mud flats. Crappie good around rocky shorelines, windy shorelines and brushpiles in Rock Ridge Cove and Engineer Bay using minnows or jigs. Catfish good using worms, stinkbaits or shad sides on windy side of lake and rocky shorelines.

Glen Elder: Catfish good using stinkbaits and shad gizzards along the river breaks while chumming or drifting shrimp, shad sides and shad gizzards on the flats. Black bass fair to good using topwater lures and soft plastics in mornings and evenings; nice smallies are found along the bluffs White bass/wipers good casting topwater lures and rattletraps along the dam, along the Cawker and Granite Creek causeways and the south bluffs. Walleye slow. Crappie slow.

Kanopolis: White bass fair on points, the dam and in the river channel on jigs. Wipers good off points and flats near the river channel using live minnows or trolling soft baits. Catfish good using cutbaits in water 8-20 feet deep toward the evening. Crappie fair using jigs or jig-n-minnows in 6-16 feet of water near rock and brush or near brushpiles off Loder Point or near the tower. Walleye/saugeye fair in shallow water near the dam or off points using jig-n-crawler at night.

Milford: Smallmouth bass good near deep rocky banks/points using plastics and crankbaits; some topwater action under low light conditions. Largemouth bass fair near rock and brush 5-10 feet deep using jigs, spinnerbaits and swimbaits; some topwater action under low light conditions. Catfish good on fresh cut bait and worms near wind blown shorelines and channel ledges. Crappie fair near points and ledges with rock or brush suspended 15-20 feet deep using jigs or minnows. White bass/wipers good using jigs and crankbaits along rocky points and ledges; some topwater action on lower end. Outlet good when releasing water: using jigs for wipers and walleye; using worms/cut bait for catfish.

Toronto: Catfish good along windy side of the lake and mud flats using worms, stinkbaits or shad sides. White bass good over mud flats trolling jigs with spinner or shad imitation crankbaits. Crappie good on jigs or minnows around rocky shorelines, windy shorelines and brushpiles in Mann’s Cove, Toronto Point Cove, Woodson Cove and the north side of Duck Island.

Wilson: Stripers fair to good using live bait, spinners or shad-imitation jerkbaits on the west end, Hell Creek and near the dam in 20-30 feet of water. White bass fair in Hell Creek, the dam and the river in 30 feet of water trolling shad-imitation baits. Catfish fair using cutbait, liver, dough baits or worms near the river channel and off points in less than 8 feet in the evenings. Walleye fair to good using crankbaits, colored jigs-n-crawlers, curly-tailed grubs or shad swim baits on rocky bottoms toward the middle to upper end in 12-30 feet of water.

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Lake levels, fishing report."