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Glen Elder Reservoir Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Waconda Lake: Kansas’s big walleye water, where 12,000 acres of prairie reservoir grow fish and wind in equal measure.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Flow
9 cfs
Air / High
79 / 79 F
Wind
S 19 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 06875900, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Glen Elder Reservoir is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The nearest gauge is running 9 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 19 mph, falling pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 79. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:10 AM-12:10 PM and 10:39 PM-12:39 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeExcellent

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Northern pikeExcellent

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

White bassGood

The spring run happens in this band: tributaries, shoals and the upper ends of reservoirs as the water reaches about 55°F.

CrappieGood

Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 74 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Kansas requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $27.50 for residents. What a Kansas licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing walleye here? Check the size and bag limits with KDWP before you keep anything. The season dates for Kansas, read off the agency, are on the Kansas seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Solomon River near Glen Elder.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 06875900.

6031,7132,8229 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 62 years of October 23

At 9 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 06875900 (Solomon River near Glen Elder) is at the 6th percentile for the date: much below normal. In half of the 62 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 23 cfs; the highest was 3,020 cfs and the lowest 1 cfs.

p10 11median 23p90 599

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 06875900; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp79 F
High / Low79 / 57 F
WindS 19-27 mph
Pressure1012.3 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain11% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset07:51 / 18:42
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Glen Elder Reservoir this week

Today is the pick of the week on Glen Elder Reservoir, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
10:10 AM-12:10 PM and 10:39 PM-12:39 AM
Minor period
4:33 AM-5:33 AM
Sun
07:51 to 18:42
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 19 mph
Rain chance
1%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Glen Elder Reservoir: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. The spring run happens in this band: tributaries, shoals and the upper ends of reservoirs as the water reaches about 55°F.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

When to come: the Glen Elder Reservoir calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Walleye
White bass
Northern pike
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Glen Elder Reservoir today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 78 F, wind to 15 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 76 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 72 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Kansas requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Kansas license. Walleye, wiper and crappie limits per current KDWP regulations.

Access

Glen Elder State Park ramps and campgrounds; additional public access around the shoreline.

About this water

A 12,500-acre Bureau of Reclamation reservoir on the Solomon River, Mitchell County, Kansas, also known as Waconda Lake.

Fishing Glen Elder Reservoir: the full guide

Waconda

Glen Elder Reservoir, known locally as Waconda Lake, covers 12,500 acres on the Solomon River in north-central Kansas, one of the state’s largest and most productive fisheries. It sits over the site of a historic mineral spring flooded by the dam. Walleye are the headline, with white bass, wipers, crappie, channel catfish and flatheads filling a card that supports year-round fishing.

Walleye water

The lake produces walleye consistently: spring finds them on the rocky shorelines and near the river inflow, jig-and-minnow water at dusk. Summer moves fish to the main-lake flats, points and humps at 15-25 feet, where trolling crawler harnesses and crankbaits produces steadily. Wind is the ally: chop over the flats concentrates fish and turns the bite on.

White bass, wipers and cats

White bass run the Solomon River in spring and school through the summer, joined by wipers that push shad to the surface. Both are best located by watching for birds and surface activity. Crappie hold the brush and rock, and catfish are abundant: channels on cut bait and flatheads on live bait in the deeper structure and timber near the inflow.

State park logistics

Glen Elder State Park provides ramps, campgrounds and shoreline access around the lake. This is open prairie country: wind builds waves fast and there is little natural shelter, so small boats should plan around mornings. Beloit and Cawker City are the nearby towns, the latter home to the world’s largest ball of twine, which is either a detour or a destination.

Common questions

Is it good for walleye?

One of the best in Kansas: consistent numbers on the flats and points, with wind-driven bites the most productive.

When do white bass run?

Spring, up the Solomon River arm, with fast fishing on jigs and small spinners as the water warms.

How windy is it?

Persistently: it is open prairie. Use the chop to your advantage but respect it in small boats.

Is fishing good at Glen Elder Reservoir right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Wilson Lake41 miKanopolis Lake62 miHarlan County Lake67 miMilford Lake74 miCedar Bluff Reservoir91 miMarion Reservoir102 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 06875900 — Solomon River near Glen Elder
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.5000, -98.3200 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.