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Verdigris River Fishing Report

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

A southeast Kansas river: the Verdigris runs catfish, white bass and crappie past Independence and Coffeyville.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
77 / 77 F
Wind
S 12 mph

Sources: 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Verdigris River sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 12 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 77. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:59 AM-11:59 AM and 10:27 PM-12:27 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 77 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 largemouth bass 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.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp77 F
High / Low77 / 49 F
WindS 12-16 mph
Pressure1018.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:34
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 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 Verdigris River this week

The best day on Verdigris River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:59 AM-11:59 AM and 10:27 PM-12:27 AM
Minor period
4:21 AM-5:21 AM
Sun
07:38 to 18:34
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 12 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

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. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

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. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the Verdigris River 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
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 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 Verdigris River 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. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 79 F, wind to 5 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 74 F, wind to 8 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 72 F, wind to 11 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. Catfish, white bass and crappie limits per current Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks regulations.

Access

Public bridge crossings, Independence and Coffeyville city parks, and wildlife areas along the corridor.

About this water

A prairie river through southeast Kansas past Independence and Coffeyville, Montgomery County.

Fishing Verdigris River: the full guide

A river across southeast Kansas

The Verdigris River rises in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas and flows south past Independence and Coffeyville into Oklahoma, draining a broad agricultural basin through Montgomery County. It is a turbid prairie river holding channel, blue and flathead catfish, white bass, crappie, largemouth and freshwater drum, with reservoirs on its tributaries feeding the system.

Catfish first

Catfish are the river’s strength: channel cats are everywhere and flatheads grow large in the deeper holes and around log jams, taken on cut and live bait fished on the bottom, best at night and around current breaks. Low-water summer conditions concentrate fish in the remaining holes, which makes them findable if you walk.

White bass and crappie

White bass move up the river in spring in genuine numbers, taken on jigs and small spoons at the riffles and current seams below the dams and bridges: the most exciting fishing of the year here. Crappie hold wood and any structure through the cooler months, and largemouth work the slack water and oxbows.

Montgomery County logistics

Access is via public bridge crossings, city parks in Independence and Coffeyville, and state wildlife areas along the corridor, with Elk City Lake and Big Hill Lake nearby as reservoir alternatives. The river responds sharply to rain and can rise and muddy for days: check flows before making the drive.

Common questions

What is the main fishery?

Catfish: channels throughout and flatheads in the deeper holes and log jams, best on cut and live bait at night.

When do white bass run?

Spring, at the riffles and current seams: the most exciting fishing of the year on this river.

What if the river is muddy?

It rises and colors for days after rain. Elk City Lake and Big Hill Lake nearby are the usual fallbacks.

Is fishing good at Verdigris River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Neosho River21 miOologah Lake45 miGrand Lake o the Cherokees61 miSkiatook Lake64 miLake Hudson69 miKaw Lake77 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 37.2000, -95.6000 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.