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Milford Lake Fishing Report

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

Kansas' biggest lake: 16,000 acres of Republican River water famous for wipers, walleye and springtime white bass.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
80 / 80 F
Wind
S 19 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 391259097001800, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Tap a marker for today's tip
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.

Milford Lake feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. Today brings cloud cover, wind S around 19 mph, falling pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 80. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 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 55Β°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: Similar at 78 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

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 β†’

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 MILFORD LAKE NEAR WAKEFIELD, KS.

No recent gauge reading

USGS 391259097001800 has not returned a reading for this chart; it comes back when the gauge reports again. Until then conditions are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp80 F
High / Low80 / 59 F
WindS 19-25 mph
Pressure1014.7 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain79% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset07:46 / 18:37
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)64 F USGS
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 Milford Lake this week

Today is the pick of the week on Milford Lake, at 4 out of 5.

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

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

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

Solunar majors
10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 AM
Minor period
4:27 AM-5:27 AM
Sun
07:46 to 18:37
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 Milford Lake: 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 55Β°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 Milford Lake 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 Milford Lake 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 82 F, wind to 12 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 78 F, wind to 10 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 75 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. Wiper: 2 per day over 21 inches (review current). Walleye: 5 per day, 15-inch minimum. Blue catfish: 5 per day with trophy slot rules. Confirm with KDWP.

Access

State park ramps (Milford SP), School Creek, Curtis Creek, Rolling Hills and the outlet area below the dam for bank anglers.

About this water

15,700 acres on the Republican River, Geary/Dickinson/Clay counties, KS. Corps of Engineers, impounded 1967. Largest lake in Kansas.

Fishing Milford Lake: the full guide

The Fishing Capital of Kansas

Milford backs up the Republican River across 16,000 acres near Junction City: the largest lake in Kansas and its self-proclaimed fishing capital. The claim holds up: a benchmark wiper (hybrid striper) fishery, reliable walleye, spring white bass runs up the river, heavyweight blue catfish, and enough crappie cover to keep the panfish crowd busy year-round.

Chasing the wipers

Milford's wipers school hard: spring pushes them up the Republican with the whites; summer means dawn blow-ups on main-lake points and flats (slabs, topwater when they show) and downlines over the river channel when the sun climbs; fall follows the shad into the big coves. Walleye work the time-honored Kansas program: jig-and-crawler on the rocky face of the dam and wind-blown flats in spring, deeper structure and trolled cranks by summer.

The rest of the lineup

Blue catfish have boomed here: drifting cut shad over the flats produces fish to 60-plus pounds. Crappie stack on brush and the timbered upper end; the Corps and KDWP sink habitat constantly. Watch for blue-green algae advisories in late summer: they close swim beaches but rarely stop the fishing.

Common questions

What exactly is a wiper?

A hatchery cross of white bass and striped bass: the aggression of one, the size of the other. Milford's program produces 8-12 lb fish that fight like nothing else in Kansas.

When is the white bass run?

April into May, up the Republican River above the lake with the first stable warm spells: small jigs and spinners in the current seams, fast limits when you time it.

Does the algae shut down fishing?

Late-summer blue-green blooms trigger advisories: avoid water contact and don't let dogs swim, but fishing (and eating properly cleaned fillets) generally remains permitted. Check KDWP advisories in July-September.

Is fishing good at Milford Lake 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

Marion Reservoir57 miCottonwood River61 miKanopolis Lake67 miGlen Elder Reservoir74 miWilson Lake83 miMelvern Lake84 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 391259097001800 β€” MILFORD LAKE NEAR WAKEFIELD, KS
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.2009, -96.9882 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.