Big Hill Lake fishing: Largemouth Bass, Channel Catfish, Black Bullhead

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Channel Catfish, Black Bullhead, White Crappie, Bluegill, Redear, Warmouth

The reservoir

Big Hill Lake covers 1,143 acres in Kansas, across Labette County. It is a reservoir: 91.5% of it is 42 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 55 feet (16.8 m). Our records hold 13 species for this water.

Big Hill Lake, Labette County, Kansas.jpg
usacetulsa · CC BY 2.0

7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • White Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Redear — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Warmouth — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Also recorded here: Flathead Catfish, Green Sunfish, Longear Sunfish, Yellow Bullhead, Gizzard Shad, Brook Silverside.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 55 ft (16.8 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 91.5% of the water is 42 feet or shallower. We hold 120 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–3 ft: 7.7% of the water
  • 3–6 ft: 8.9% of the water
  • 6–9 ft: 8.7% of the water
  • 9–12 ft: 7.5% of the water
  • 12–15 ft: 7.5% of the water
  • 15–18 ft: 6.3% of the water
  • 18–21 ft: 6% of the water
  • 21–24 ft: 6.7% of the water
  • 24–27 ft: 6.9% of the water
  • 27–30 ft: 7.7% of the water
  • 30–33 ft: 6% of the water
  • 33–36 ft: 5% of the water
  • 36–39 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 39–42 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 42–45 ft: 2.5% of the water
  • 45–48 ft: 5.6% of the water
  • 48–51 ft: 0.5% of the water
  • 51–54 ft: 0.1% of the water

Stocking: 5,558,914 fish, 2019–2025

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks records list 5,558,914 fish released into this water from 2019 to 2025.

  • Channel Catfish: 5,036 in 2023

One more species on the stocking list.

Where this data comes from

  • Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS), University of Kansas — Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS), University of Kansas: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • USACE CWMS — USACE CWMS elevation-area curves: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.