Fishing Report For Clinton Lake, KS

By Rick Seaman

May 25, 2025

Popular Fish Species Reports
Clinton Lake Fishing Video
Available Fish Species
Today's Weather & Forecast
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Fishing License
Map
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Fishing Report Clinton Lake, KS

Fishing Reports

Popular Fish Species Clinton Lake, KS

White Crappie

Uncle Buck's Panfish Creatures Curly Tail Minnow Rigged

Current Report: Good To Very Good
Outlook: Good To Very Good

Crappie fishing reports continue to be quite good, upholding the reputation as one of the top crappie lakes in the state. Spring is the premiere time to be on the water as crappie move into shallow coves to spawn. Expect to find crappie in 4 to 10 feet of water. Brush piles, rocks, wood and vegetation are good locations to cast small crappie jigs or live minnows. As the spawn is ending, and the hot Summer sun begins to warm the shallows, crappie retreat to depths of 15 to 25 feet, or deeper. Light tackle with 4 lb to 8 lb line is ideal. Anglers are reporting good success using fish finders and forward facing sonar to locate schools of crappie, which tend to stack vertically around cover.

Walleye

Current Report: Poor To Fair To Good To Very Good To Excellent
Outlook: Poor To Fair To Good To Very Good To Excellent

Spring and Fall are the best season for catching walleye, sauger and saugeye. Through the cold winter, anglers were finding them in the shallows, especially around rocky areas. The spawn is over and they are moving onto flats, shoals and ledges off shore, along the edges of the river and creek channels. They are currently being caught 10 to 15 feet deep. Throughout Summer, early in the morning and from dusk to long after dark are good times to catch walleye, as they move shallow to feed. They primarily feed on shad and other small fish, close to the bottom. Jigs tipped with worms or minnows are popular lure choices. Local anglers report catching walleye trolling worm harness spinners, spoons and deep-diving crankbaits.

White Bass

Current Report: Fair To Good
Outlook: Good

Now that the white bass have finished their spawn run, they are back in the main lake. They are following schools of shad and feeding along channel edges, and drop-offs into deeper water. Reports from prior years indicate swimbaits, curly-tail jigs, underspins, small crankbaits, and most any lure that looks like baitfish are good lure choices

Fishing Video

Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for smallmouth bass, channel catfish, blue catfish, white crappie, walleye, white bass and hybrid striped bass at Clinton Lake in Kansas.

Clinton Lake is a 7,000-acre lake with 85 miles of shoreline. This is home to healthy populations of bass, crappie, hybrid stripers, white bass and catfish. There are public areas around to lake provide access for fishing from the bank.

Primary fish species to catch

Click images for fishing tips and details about each species.

Today's Weather & Forecast

Fishing Boat Rentals

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Public Boat Launch Ramps & Landings

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Marinas

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Fishing License

Click here for a Kansas Fishing License.

Map - Fishing & Access

Rick Seaman is a fishing enthusiast with over five decades of fishing experience, a retired tournament fisherman, author of numerous published articles on fishing, and co-author of the book "Bass Fishing - It's not WHAT you throw, It's WHERE you throw it".