Neosho River Fishing Guides and Conditions, Kansas

About the Neosho River

The Neosho rises in the Flint Hills and runs southeast across the corner of Kansas through Council Grove, Emporia, Iola, Chanute and Parsons before crossing into Oklahoma and eventually reaching Grand Lake. Through the Kansas reaches it alternates between limestone riffles and long, deep, timbered bends, and the combination of hard rock ledges and heavy woody cover is what makes it such a productive catfish river.

Flathead catfish are the trophy fish and southeast Kansas is one of the better places in the country to hunt a very large one, whether on rod and reel from a jon boat or, in the reaches and seasons where it is permitted, by hand. Blue catfish are increasingly common in the lower river, channel catfish are abundant throughout, and the riffle water holds white bass in the spring runs. Crappie stack in the deeper bends and around laydowns, and largemouth and spotted bass use the slower pools and the mouths of the tributaries.

The Parsons gauge is the reference for the lower Kansas reach. This is a flashy prairie river: a good storm in the upper basin brings it up hard and dirty within a day, and that rise is exactly when the flathead bite turns on along the banks and at the mouths of the feeder creeks. As it falls and clears, fish pull back into the holes and the log jams, and the fishing gets more technical. Extended dry spells drop the river to a chain of pools connected by trickles.

Access is a mix of city parks, county bridges and state fishing areas, and much of the bank is private, so use the public points. Iola, Chanute, Erie and Parsons are the towns along the corridor.

Access

Parsons and Neosho County access points: lower river near the gauge.
Erie and Stark: county bridge and state fishing access on the middle river.
Chanute: Santa Fe Park and city river access.
Iola: Riverside Park and the Elm Creek confluence.
Humboldt: town access and a long timbered reach below.
Emporia and the Cottonwood confluence: upper river.
Council Grove: the headwaters and the reservoir tailwater.

Seasons

March and April: white bass run and rising, muddy water.
May and June: peak flathead season on the rises, warm nights and heavy cover.
July and August: low water concentrates fish in the deep bends; channel cats all day.
September and October: falling clear water, crappie in the timber and good bass fishing.