Manhattan KS area fishing

[KSbass]

I have routinely been checking the KC area thread to get a feel for water temps, activity, and methods to better help my outings out here beings we are in the same vicinity. I am primarily a bank guy who fishes small ponds I can find and Pottawatomie 1 and 2. Hoping there are others in the area like me to share info with in this thread. I will continue to update with what I am catching where and with what in hopes of keeping the thread alive. Hope to hear from some of you out there. 

[KSbass]

Nice afternoon out at Pot 2. Pulled in four and a dink in 2 hours working bottom with a Texas rig brush hog. Two on the north side and two on the south side. Weren't taking the moving baits today. Best was 3.1 pounds. Others were 2.2, 1.5, and 1.4

[Bluebasser86]

You ever catch any smallies out of Pott 2? Supposed to be some big ones in there, just not many. My dad caught a giant channel cat out of there a couple decades ago on an ultralight and 6lb test, it was 17 or 18 pounds and about as long as I was tall at the time. Fun little lake to fish. I miss fishing there and the river pond at Tuttle Creek. 

[KSbass]

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

You ever catch any smallies out of Pott 2? Supposed to be some big ones in there, just not many. My dad caught a giant channel cat out of there a couple decades ago on an ultralight and 6lb test, it was 17 or 18 pounds and about as long as I was tall at the time. Fun little lake to fish. I miss fishing there and the river pond at Tuttle Creek. 

Have caught one small mouth out there on the dam side. Was probably 1.5-2pounds. Not very big. Surprised me to be honest. I bet that catfish was a fight on that setup ha. Have only fished river pond a couple times and was skunked each time. That was back when I rarely fished however. I imagine I'll get out there sometime this summer with better luck. Ever fish the Pot lake out near Saint Mary's?  Been thinking about making the drive over there to check it out. 

[Bluebasser86]

I haven't fished Pott 1 but my cousin's farm is up that way and he fishes it often. It's much shallower and has tons of fish in it, just not many big ones. Better place to go if you just want to go catch some fish though. 

 

I don't know how many bass the river pond has, but it has a great population of saugeye. You can even readily catch them from the bank. 

[KSbass]

12 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I haven't fished Pott 1 but my cousin's farm is up that way and he fishes it often. It's much shallower and has tons of fish in it, just not many big ones. Better place to go if you just want to go catch some fish though. 

 

I don't know how many bass the river pond has, but it has a great population of saugeye. You can even readily catch them from the bank. 

I fish Pot 1 often. Has a lot of 1-2 pounders in it. Never caught a 3 out there. It's up north of westmorland. I was referring to pottawatomie cross creek lake which is further east and just north of Saint Mary's. From what I've read seams to be size wise between pot 1 and 2. 

[Bluebasser86]

16 minutes ago, KSbass said:

I fish Pot 1 often. Has a lot of 1-2 pounders in it. Never caught a 3 out there. It's up north of westmorland. I was referring to pottawatomie cross creek lake which is further east and just north of Saint Mary's. From what I've read seams to be size wise between pot 1 and 2. 

Haven't fished that one either, looks fishy though. Pretty close to Jeffrey Energy Center Lakes, fished those a lot growing up. The new lake has a ton of smallmouth, white bass, and wipers and pretty good walleye fishing. We always caught so many fish in the new lake we never fished the old lake much. 

[KSbass]

Another good couple hours at Pot 2 this morning. Got an ok one early on a spook. Nice getting my first top water bite of the year today. Couple 2-3 pounders in small coves off small main points hiding in the lay downs. Bites been good last couple times out there, surprisingly. 

[KSbass]

Still nobody out there in this neck of the woods I see. Hopefully someone comes around. Oh well. Hit a small pond before the sun came up and crushed five 1 - 2 pounders on a loon 110 plopper. Top water bite died off and decided to head over to Pott 1 before the weekenders flooded the spots. Landed one 2 pounder out there on a brush hog on the south side pocket near the road. Not a bad morning. Still hoping for a big girl here rather soon. Going to be trying some new spots in the area moving forward. Have fun on the water everyone. 

[KSbass]

Rolled out to a different farm pond this morning for sunrise. Top water bite was on! This is my first season using a whopper plopper and it's working great. The loon color seems to be working really well so far. Have a bone color one as well but not used yet. Also caught a few on zoom creature bait Texas rigged. Caught 13 dinks, a 1.7 pound, and a 4.2 pound. Still looking for that 5+ pounder PB. Happy fishing everyone. 

[KSbass]

So this past month has been much of the same. Hoping around to different farm ponds in the northern part of Pott county. Each time out produces good numbers. 10-15 fish but most on the small side. Usually land one 2-3 pounder each time out but haven't hooked into a big one since that last four pounder. My buddy did however land a 4.2 last weekend breaking his PB. Still have a few more ponds on the list to try out in search of that 5 pounder. Again if there are any Manhattan, KS anglers out there, feel free to chime in. Happy fishing all. 

[KSbass]

Still no Manhattan area anglers out there I see. August was a bit of a baby bass month for me. Could hardly catch anything over a pound and a half. September has done well with multiple 2-3 pounders and this 4.4 pounder. My biggest of the year. Primarily fishing the ponds in the area from the bank. One day a week for a few morning hours.  Pott 1 and 2 have been brutal as of late, at least for me. Going to continue the pond hoping, trying new waters, in hopes of a 5. 

[Bluebasser86]

Going to be a group of us on Milford next month for our end of the year fish off, really looking forward to it!

[KSbass]

Nice day yesterday. Tried getting some fishing in but all my regular spots were all frozen over. This leads me to believe most if not all waters will be frozen over until mid to late February. Unless we get a week or two of warm weather. @Bluebasser86 you mentioned above you fished Jeffries. I’ve never been out there, but imagine it isn’t frozen over beings an energy center. Or it maybe. I don’t know. Is that primarily a boating lake, or could I beat the bank?

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, KSbass said:

Nice day yesterday. Tried getting some fishing in but all my regular spots were all frozen over. This leads me to believe most if not all waters will be frozen over until mid to late February. Unless we get a week or two of warm weather. @Bluebasser86 you mentioned above you fished Jeffries. I’ve never been out there, but imagine it isn’t frozen over beings an energy center. Or it maybe. I don’t know. Is that primarily a boating lake, or could I beat the bank?

I've never bank fished it but I know guys do fish the dams with decent success. 

[KSbass]

Haven’t posted in a long while but had to share. Shattered my PB with this 6.5 monster yesterday evening. Hope everyone’s enjoying the fall bite!

[Luke Barnes]

Man this brings back memories!! I was stationed at Ft Riley for 5 years back in the 2000s. I fished Milford but mainly for catfish. I didnt know anything about fishing and my buddies all catfished so I was a tag along! I would love to go back to the area and bass fish. Tuttle and Milford I frequented but on my dirt bike, but they were nice lakes. 

[Bluebasser86]

On 10/19/2019 at 6:13 PM, KSbass said:

Haven’t posted in a long while but had to share. Shattered my PB with this 6.5 monster yesterday evening. Hope everyone’s enjoying the fall bite!

Nice! Time to change your PB ?

[Rick Duvendack]

Hello all,

Just relocated to Manhattan after 57 years in central Illinois. Have been fishing my entire life, for pretty much everything from Largemouth bass to Channel Cats. Not really into catch and release, as I much prefer a good fish fry. Just recently got into kayak fishing and am looking for productive, smaller bodies of water, where I can catch my limit and not have to paddle for miles. 

Any suggestions for a newbie to Manhattan?

[KSbass]

4 hours ago, Rick Duvendack said:

Hello all,

Just relocated to Manhattan after 57 years in central Illinois. Have been fishing my entire life, for pretty much everything from Largemouth bass to Channel Cats. Not really into catch and release, as I much prefer a good fish fry. Just recently got into kayak fishing and am looking for productive, smaller bodies of water, where I can catch my limit and not have to paddle for miles. 

Any suggestions for a newbie to Manhattan?

For smaller bodies, Closest is going to be Pottawatomie state lake 2. Can get a little crowded with how close and easy it is to get out there. I tend to do fairly well out there. Pottawatomie state lake 1 is just north of Westmoreland, about 25 miles north of manhattan. Smaller and less crowded generally and the fishing tends to be ok. Next up would be Pottawatomie Cross Creek Lake which is north of Saint Mary’s, about a 40 min drive. I haven’t fished it since there is so little bank access, but I hear if you have a boat or kayak the fishing is great. Welcome to town! Now that there’s some one else around in here, I’ll maybe get back to posting more often. Hope I could help. 

[Bluebasser86]

The river pond below Tuttle is a good kayak spot too. Lots of catfish there plus some white bass and saugeyes.

[Lacer]

Anyone had any luck at Pott 2? I’m getting pretty frustrated out there. Haven’t caught a thing this year

[KSbass]

13 hours ago, Lacer said:

Anyone had any luck at Pott 2? I’m getting pretty frustrated out there. Haven’t caught a thing this year

Haven’t fished out at P2 yet this year. Honestly for me, the bite doesn’t really start getting good until water temps are in the 60s. So likely late April, early May. I like the north side more so than the south. Brush hogs, jigs, chatter baits and top water are my favorites out there.  I did drive up to Pott Cross Creek last Monday, pulled in 11 little guys and a 4 pounder. 

 

[azjupo01]

Hey everyone! I'm new to the area and looking for help finding bass and crappie near Manhattan. I have a five year old boy so I'd also like to find somewhere I can get him on fish relatively easily so I can keep him interested in fishing. We've tried Tuttle River Pond where we struck out. We've caught a few dinks at Pott 2. 

 

Are there any rules or procedures for fishing some of the farm ponds? When I lived in NC you could pull up, drop a few bucks in the entry box, and then fish all day. Is it similar here?

 

Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

[Bluebasser86]

12 hours ago, azjupo01 said:

Hey everyone! I'm new to the area and looking for help finding bass and crappie near Manhattan. I have a five year old boy so I'd also like to find somewhere I can get him on fish relatively easily so I can keep him interested in fishing. We've tried Tuttle River Pond where we struck out. We've caught a few dinks at Pott 2. 

 

Are there any rules or procedures for fishing some of the farm ponds? When I lived in NC you could pull up, drop a few bucks in the entry box, and then fish all day. Is it similar here?

 

Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

Welcome!

 

Not a ton of bass in the River Pond but it does have a lot of crappie. Pott 2 gets a lot of pressure but it has a bunch of fish if you can figure them out.

 

We don't have anything like that for the farm ponds here. Make real sure you have permission to be on someone's property. There are some people who sign up their ponds/lakes/stream accesses for public access through the state. You can see the map of listed properties online or pick up a FISH atlas at Walmart and other stores for free.

https://ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Hunting-Fishing-Atlas/Fishing-Atlas

http://ksdot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=3e0ba6a852d2479aa6e384b4f87a0c2b