Share your catch

Kaw Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Oklahoma's Arkansas River workhorse: blue cats by the hundredweight, sandies under every gull, and wind-schooled walleye on the flats.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
97 / 99 F
Wind
SSE 13 mph

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

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 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.

1/5Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Kaw Lake locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. Today brings a mixed sky, wind SSE around 13 mph, rising pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 99. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Hybrid striped bassFair

Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel)Fair

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassSlow

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 100 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

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.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp97 F
High / Low99 / 73 F
WindSSE 13-15 mph
Pressure1009.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain26% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:01 / 19:51
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Partly cloudy, 99/73 F, wind 14 mph, rain 0%

Fair or better. A 14 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: Jun-Sep

Stocked white bass x striper cross. Open-water shad chasers; birds and busting bait give them away. Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Kaw 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
Largemouth bass
Hybrid striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 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 Kaw Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 17 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

1/5 Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk. Hybrid striped bass led the card at fair. High of 100 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 100 F, wind to 13 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

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

Regulations

Oklahoma license. Blue cat: 15/day with 1-over-30-inch protection typical: confirm current ODWC.

Access

Kaw City ramps, Sandy Park, Coon Creek, Washunga Bay: Corps access around the lake.

About this water

17,000 acres on the Arkansas River, Kay/Osage counties, OK. The blue-cat river lake of the northern prairie.

Fishing Kaw Lake: the full guide

The river lake

Kaw impounds the Arkansas River where the prairie starts rolling: stained, fertile, wind-swept water that fishes like a working river lake: current when gates run, mud lines after rain, and fish that follow flow first. The blue cat program headlines (Oklahoma-record class), with white bass, walleye and crappie running the supporting calendar.

Blue cat credentials

Kaw grows blues past 60 lb on its shad-and-drum economy: anchored cut bait in the river channel's bends, drifted flats in summer, and the winter deep-hole stack below Kaw City that fills tournament boxes. The upper river's shallow flats concentrate giant fish in high-flow springs: current is the dinner bell.

Sandies and the bird game

White bass (sandies) run the Arkansas each spring in Oklahoma's classic river migration: the riffle mouths above the lake churn with fish and jig-slingers. Summer moves the schools to the main lake under working gulls: slabs and inline spinners on the wind-blown flats: the everyman fishery that never takes a week off.

Walleye on the wind

Kaw's walleye program rides the mud lines: windward flats and points at 8-15 ft, bottom bouncers and crankbaits in the stained warmth. May-June and October produce the legitimate stringers: the fish run shallower here than the clear-water books say: trust the chop, not the depth finder.

Common questions

How big do Kaw Lake blue cats get?

Sixty-plus-pound fish are documented and 30s come weekly: the river channel's bends hold the giants. Fresh cut shad on the current seams: simple, patient, heavy.

When do the sandies run at Kaw?

April into May up the Arkansas and its feeders: riffle mouths load at dawn. Summer flips to gull-marked lake schools: the bird game runs into fall.

Is fishing good at Kaw Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Nearby waters

Sooner Lake18 miKeystone Lake48 miSkiatook Lake50 miOologah Lake75 miEl Dorado Lake79 miVerdigris River81 mi
Share your catch