Lovewell Reservoir fishing: Bigmouth Buffalo, Freshwater Drum

Target species: Bigmouth Buffalo, Freshwater Drum

The reservoir

Lovewell Reservoir covers 2,761 acres in Kansas, across Jewell County. It is a reservoir: 92.2% of it is 22 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 30 feet (9.1 m). Our records hold 5 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 30 ft (9.1 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 92.2% of the water is 22 feet or shallower. We hold 44 depth contours for this water, drawn from 111,500 soundings.

Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2023
USDA Farm Service Agency, NAIP 2023 aerial imagery (USGS The National Map) · Public domain
  • 0–2 ft: 1.4% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 9.9% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 10.8% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 10.4% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 10.1% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 6.9% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 9% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 8.5% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 9.3% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 8.3% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 5.1% of the water
  • 24–26 ft: 2.4% of the water
  • 26–28 ft: 0.3% of the water

2 target fish, led by Bigmouth Buffalo

  • Bigmouth Buffalo — Feeding water: 70–80°F.
  • Freshwater Drum — Feeding water: 60–75°F.

Also recorded here: Blue Catfish, White Bass, Black Crappie.

Where this data comes from

  • US Bureau of Reclamation, Technical Service Center — USBR reservoir bottom surfaces (GIS): class A, a survey of the bottom, 2020.
  • 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.
  • EPA NLA — EPA National Lakes Assessment: 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.