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Home › Waters › Kansas › Horsethief Reservoir
Reservoir · Hodgeman County, a small state-managed reservoir in the sandstone canyon country north of Jetmore in western Kansas · Kansas

Horsethief Reservoir Fishing Guides

A small western Kansas reservoir in canyon country north of Jetmore, managed for fishing and unusually clear for the region.

Boats moored along a wooded lakeshore under blue sky
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Horsethief Reservoir

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About the Horsethief Reservoir

Horsethief Reservoir sits in the broken sandstone canyon country of Hodgeman County, north of Jetmore, and is a genuine rarity in western Kansas: a reservoir built primarily for recreation rather than flood control or irrigation. It covers a little under two hundred acres, which makes it small, but the setting is unusual for the region, with rock outcrops and steep-sided draws instead of the flat plains that surround most water in this part of the state.

Because it is managed for fishing, the fish community is actively stocked and maintained rather than left to whatever the river brought in. Largemouth are the primary species, with crappie, bluegill and redear supporting them, and channel catfish present in good numbers. Wipers and saugeye are stocked as predators and give the reservoir a species mix that a natural water this size in western Kansas would never have. Regulations here are more specific than the statewide defaults, with length limits used to manage the bass and wiper populations, and they are worth reading before fishing rather than after.

The gauge reports water level and temperature-related readings, and level is the number that matters most. This is a small reservoir in a semi-arid part of the country, and a run of dry years pulls it down noticeably. The water is typically clearer than most western Kansas impoundments, partly because of the rock rather than loess catchment, which means fish can be spooky in bright conditions and lighter presentations earn their keep. The facility includes camping, a swimming beach and cabins, so it functions as a small recreation area as well as a fishery, and summer weekends bring other users onto the water. Early mornings on a weekday are a different and considerably better experience.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

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We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

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5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Pool right now

2,419.85ft NAVD88
  • 24 hours-0.02 ft → steady
  • Storage5,285 acre-ft
  • For the dateAbout normal for the date

Reading taken 2h ago at USGS 07140885, HORSETHIEF RE NR JETMORE, KS. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Horsethief Reservoir.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Horsethief Reservoir ft (NAVD88)

Now: 2,419.85 ft pool elevation, read 4:30 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 07140885, HORSETHIEF RE NR JETMORE, KS).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Jetmore - the nearest town south of the reservoir, with fuel, groceries and basic supplies.
Horsethief Reservoir recreation area - the managed facility itself, with ramps, camping, cabins and shoreline access.
Pawnee River - the drainage the reservoir sits within, offering rough creek fishing nearby.
Hanston - a small community to the east, the closest settlement on the highway.
Dodge City - the nearest larger town southwest, with full services, lodging and tackle.
Cedar Bluff Reservoir - a larger state reservoir to the north for a bigger-water alternative.
Larned - a town to the northeast with services and access to the Arkansas River valley.

Seasons

Spring: the best fishing of the year, with bass and crappie shallow and wipers chasing bait in the open water.
Summer: clear water and heat push fish deep, making early morning and evening the productive windows.
Fall: cooling water brings bass back to the rocks and the wiper and saugeye fishing peaks.
Winter: quiet, with catfish and crappie still catchable in settled weather and limited ice in colder years.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Horsethief Reservoir?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Redear Sunfish, Saugeye, Walleye, White Crappie, Wiper on the Horsethief Reservoir in Kansas.

Where can you access the Horsethief Reservoir?

Jetmore - the nearest town south of the reservoir, with fuel, groceries and basic supplies. Horsethief Reservoir recreation area - the managed facility itself, with ramps, camping, cabins and shoreline access. Pawnee River - the drainage the reservoir sits within, offering rough creek fishing nearby. Hanston - a small community to the east, the closest settlement on the highway. Dodge City - the nearest larger town southwest, with full services, lodging and tackle. Cedar Bluff Reservoir - a larger state reservoir to the north for a bigger-water alternative. Larned - a town to the northeast wit...

When is the best time to fish the Horsethief Reservoir?

Spring: the best fishing of the year, with bass and crappie shallow and wipers chasing bait in the open water. Summer: clear water and heat push fish deep, making early morning and evening the productive windows. Fall: cooling water brings bass back to the rocks and the wiper and saugeye fishing peaks. Winter: quiet, with catfish and crappie still catchable in settled weather and limited ice in colder years.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Horsethief Reservoir?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Kansas agency site: https://www.ksoutdoors.gov/outdoor-activities/fishing-in-kansas