Tuttle Creek Lake Fishing Guides and Conditions, Kansas

About the Tuttle Creek Lake

Tuttle Creek sits on the Big Blue River just above Manhattan, and it is the most obviously working flood-control reservoir in this part of Kansas. Its level swings a great deal, the water is usually turbid, and the fishery reflects both: this is catfish and open-water country rather than a clear-water bass lake.

Catfish are the mainstay. Blue catfish reach serious size here, flatheads hold in the timber and the deeper holes, and channel catfish are abundant enough that a slow day is unusual. The turbid, fertile water suits them, and the lake supports a real trophy catfish following.

White bass run up the Big Blue in spring in large numbers, and that run is one of the best-known fishing events in northeast Kansas. Wipers provide the summer open-water fishing, crappie hold on brush and riprap, and walleye are present and stocked.

The lake is at its most difficult after heavy rain upstream, when the Corps is passing high water and the reservoir turns the colour of the plains it drains. It is at its best in a stable stretch of weather, when the water clears enough for sight-dependent species to feed.

The river ponds and the tailwater below the dam are a genuine part of the fishery here rather than an afterthought. They fish well for catfish and white bass, they are reachable from the bank, and they stay fishable when the main lake is blown out or muddy.

The gauge below reports pool elevation and stored volume, and on Tuttle Creek those numbers move more than on almost any lake in this directory. A reading well above normal means the Corps is storing floodwater and the fishing will be scattered and dirty; a low steady pool concentrates fish and makes the lake far more readable.

Access

Tuttle Creek State Park: ramps, camping and river pond access.
Randolph and Fancy Creek: Corps ramps on the upper lake.
Stockdale and Carnahan: additional public launches.
Dam and outlet area near Manhattan: bank fishing and the tailwater.
Big Blue River above the lake: the spring white bass run.
Extensive Corps shoreline gives good bank and walk-in access.
Note: level and clarity swing hard after rain. Check before making the drive.

Seasons

Winter: deep catfish and quiet water, with ice in the coves in a hard winter.
Spring: the white bass run up the Big Blue, and catfish moving shallow.
Summer: trophy blue catfish, wipers on open water, and warm turbid conditions.
Fall: cooling water and the most consistent catfishing of the year.