Pawnee Lake fishing: Flathead Catfish, Sauger

Target species: Flathead Catfish, Sauger
Boat: 2 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Boat Ramp #1, 2 lanes.

The lake

Pawnee Lake covers 625 acres in Nebraska, across Lancaster County. It is a lake: 91.6% of it is 18 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 21 feet (6.4 m). Our records hold 6 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 21 ft (6.4 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 91.6% of the water is 18 feet or shallower. We hold 25 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 12.7% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 10.1% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 9.6% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 10% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 12.2% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 9.9% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 7.1% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 8.9% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 11.1% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 6.5% of the water
  • 20–21 ft: 2% of the water

2 target fish, led by Flathead Catfish

  • Flathead Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Sauger — Feeding water: 45–65°F.

Also recorded here: Bighead Carp, Common Carp, Grass Carp, Brook Silverside.

Water and conditions

Water clarity runs 0.8–2 feet on our readings, averaging 1.4 feet, from 30 readings. Our water temperature readings average 74°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.4. These readings span 2017–2020. The latest reading is from 2020, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2022
USDA Farm Service Agency, NAIP 2022 aerial imagery (USGS The National Map) · Public domain

2 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps.

  • Boat Ramp #1 — 2 lanes, lit for night fishing, restrooms. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
  • Boat Ramp #2 — 1 lane, lit for night fishing, restrooms. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 2 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Only 2 public ramps are on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Nebraska Game and Parks — Nebraska Game and Parks: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • 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.