Council Grove Lake fishing: Bigmouth Buffalo, Flathead Catfish, Channel Catfish

Target species: Bigmouth Buffalo, Flathead Catfish, Channel Catfish, Golden Redhorse, Black Bullhead, Green Sunfish, Longear Sunfish

The reservoir

Council Grove Lake covers 2,965 acres in Kansas, across Morris County. It is a reservoir: 90.3% of it is 28 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 35 feet (10.7 m). Our records hold 11 species for this water.

Council Grove Lake, Morris County, Kansas.jpg
usacetulsa · Public domain

7 target fish, led by Bigmouth Buffalo

  • Bigmouth Buffalo — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Flathead Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Golden Redhorse — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Black Bullhead — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Green Sunfish — Feeding water: 65–80°F.
  • Longear Sunfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Also recorded here: Orangespotted Sunfish, Yellow Bullhead, Stonecat, Red Shiner.

Richey Cove at Council Grove Lake.jpg
John P Salvatore · CC BY-SA 4.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 35 ft (10.7 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.3% of the water is 28 feet or shallower. We hold 88 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 9% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 6.9% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 8.1% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 5% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 11.4% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 4.7% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 8.2% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 6.7% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 5.2% of the water
  • 24–26 ft: 5.5% of the water
  • 26–28 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 28–30 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 30–32 ft: 4.4% of the water
  • 32–34 ft: 0.3% of the water

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 80°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. These readings span 2017–2026.

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.