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Home › Waters › Kansas › Verdigris River
River · Southeast Kansas, from the Flint Hills near Virgil south through Neodesha and Independence toward the Oklahoma line · Kansas

Verdigris River Fishing Guides

A southeast Kansas catfish river running out of the Flint Hills toward Oklahoma, with good flathead water throughout.

A wide sand and gravel bar on a slow river below a timbered bank
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Verdigris River

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About the Verdigris River

The Verdigris starts in the southern Flint Hills, runs south past Neodesha and Independence, and crosses into Oklahoma on its way to the Arkansas. In Kansas it is a modest, timbered, slow river for most of its length, and it fishes like the other southeastern Kansas streams – catfish first, everything else second. What sets it apart is how much water it has in the lower reaches and how consistently it produces good flatheads.

The upper river near Virgil is small enough to wade in summer and is mostly channel cat and sunfish water. Below Fall River and Elk River come in, the Verdigris gains size and the flathead fishing gets serious, with log jams and deep outside bends holding the better fish. Blue cats become a factor toward the Oklahoma line. White bass move up in spring, largemouth hold in the slack water and oxbows, and drum are common on the gravel throughout.

Access is typical for the region – bridge crossings, county roads, town access at Neodesha and Independence, and the public ground associated with the nearby reservoirs. Toronto and Fall River lakes sit in the same drainage and their tailwaters are worth a look on the same trip. Much of the river bank is private, and asking is the normal courtesy.

Floating is possible in the middle and lower river in spring and early summer, though log jams are a genuine hazard and portages should be expected. This is not a guided fishery in any organised sense, but it is a rewarding one for anglers willing to scout their own water. As with all these prairie rivers, watch the gauge – the Verdigris rises hard after storms and the falling limb is the productive time.

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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.

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Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

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

Posting to Verdigris River.

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.

Access

Virgil - the upper gauge crossing and the top of the fishable river.
Toronto tailwater - the reach below Toronto Lake feeding the upper river.
Benedict - county bridge access on the middle river.
Neodesha - town access where the Fall River comes in.
Independence - city river access on the lower Kansas reach.
Elk River confluence - a productive junction for catfish and white bass.
Oklahoma state line - the bottom of the Kansas water and best blue cat area.

Seasons

Spring: high water, white bass moving upstream and excellent catfish activity.
Summer: low clear flows, night flathead fishing and wadeable upper reaches.
Fall: steady flows and concentrated catfish in the deeper bends.
Winter: little activity beyond channel cats during warm spells.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Verdigris River?

As of Sep 17, 5:00 am, the USGS gauge VERDIGRIS R NR VIRGIL, KS reads 164 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Verdigris River?

Anglers target Blue Catfish, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Largemouth Bass, White Bass on the Verdigris River in Kansas.

Where can you access the Verdigris River?

Virgil - the upper gauge crossing and the top of the fishable river. Toronto tailwater - the reach below Toronto Lake feeding the upper river. Benedict - county bridge access on the middle river. Neodesha - town access where the Fall River comes in. Independence - city river access on the lower Kansas reach. Elk River confluence - a productive junction for catfish and white bass. Oklahoma state line - the bottom of the Kansas water and best blue cat area.

When is the best time to fish the Verdigris River?

Spring: high water, white bass moving upstream and excellent catfish activity. Summer: low clear flows, night flathead fishing and wadeable upper reaches. Fall: steady flows and concentrated catfish in the deeper bends. Winter: little activity beyond channel cats during warm spells.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Verdigris River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Kansas agency site: https://ksoutdoors.com/Fishing/Fishing-Regulations