[sensitivejonah]

So a move to Wichita is probably in my future. I am wondering what bodies of water are worth trying for catfish. I don't want to drive very far. I fish a lot and driving an hour every time I want to fish would make me sad (not that it would be so bad occasionally). I like to fish for channels and flatties. We don't have blues here, but I certainly have nothing against them.... Is the Arkansas River worth trying to figure out? I hear it gets quite low at times. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[vortex]

Your best bet is going to be El Dorado or Cheney. Both will run you 30-45 minutes to a ramp, maybe an hour tops. All depending on where you start, where you are going, and how fast.


The river? It’s more of a trickle. It’ll wet your line, maybe catch one now and then. It’s an option, just not a great one.

Weekends, you can go up to Milford. Nice, nice blue population growing up there as well. Probably 2-3 hours, again depending where you start, how fast, etc.


There are some other area ponds and smaller lakes for channels, blues/flatties are going to be harder to find without a bit of a drive. There’s some flats in the big/little arky, just not a lot. (This assumes no stocking/population projects in recent years.)

 

[Spot shooter]

It is the Midwest so you’ll have to drive further - I’m from upstate NY and it still bothers me...

For one thing - A bit of a run (almost 2 hours) but Milford lake KS has a good Blue cat population so you can go after some hogs... it’s a BIG lake so you’ll need a lake boat vs. a river boat ... you can use river boats on lakes of course but its the Midwest so expect winds during the afternoon.

 

[1Slowboat]

I live on the east side close to I-35. I can get to Eldorado lake in about 30 minutes so that’s my main lake and always boat fish for blues. With some effort you can do pretty good catching blues 5-20lb plus. A lot of good flatheads caught there too. They are getting bigger for me every year. For a change or easy shad catching there are some smaller county lakes about an hour away that hold some 20+lb channels. From what I hear about Cheney it Is a good blue cat lake also. If your bank fishing I also can’t help much. I’m terrible bank fisherman. For a quick fix there are many local urban lakes that are stocked.