All waters · Kansas · Wilson Lake

Wilson Lake, KS

Reservoir in Russell County, Kansas. A 9,000-acre USACE reservoir on the Saline River in the Smoky Hills of central Kansas, famous for some of the clearest water in the state and a renowned striped bass and smallmouth bass fishery. The deep, rocky, wind-swept lake also holds walleye, white bass, channel and blue catfish, and largemouth bass.

53

Overall bite score

Scored 25 min ago · recomputed every 30 minutes

Water tempModeled59
Pressure trendNOAAfalling60
SolunarComputedmoon 60% lit47
Recent stockingState data50
Time of dayComputed100
WindNOAA10
Cloud coverNOAA35
PrecipitationNOAA50

Each instrument reads 0 to 100. The score is their weighted blend, tuned for lakes and reservoirs. No black box: every reading names its source.

What swims here

8 tracked species in Wilson Lake, with the months each fishes best.

Channel Catfishabundant
Smallmouth Bassabundant
Striped Bassabundant
Blue Catfishcommon
Bluegillcommon
Largemouth Basscommon
Walleyecommon
White Basscommon

Water facts

TypeReservoir
CountyRussell
StateKansas
WaterFreshwater
USGS gauge06868200

Live USGS gauge 06868200 (Saline R at Wilson Dam) provides discharge; water temp falls back to the seasonal baseline. Ramps at Sylvan, Lucas and Minooka Parks (USACE) plus Wilson State Park. Striped bass carry a special creel/length rule at Wilson, verify on the KDWP regulations page.

See the full forecast for Wilson Lake in the app: best windows, 7-day outlook, what to bring, and offline regulations. The score and essentials are free.

Get PescaBite free

Not legal advice. Always verify with official state regulations.

More Kansas water

All Kansas waters →