Northeast Kansas’ Lake Shawnee may be small at 416-acres, but the little reservoir partly in the city limits of Topeka has some remarkable bass treasures, like a fish that was nearly a Kansas state record smallmouth bass!
“We were doing our annual spring fish survey May 9 on the lake with our electro-shocking boat,” Fisheries Supervisor Luke Kowalewski tells Wired2fish. “I was netting the electro-stunned fish that came up to the surface at the boat. We were in shallow water, maybe three feet deep, when a huge bass showed. It was the biggest smallmouth I’ve ever seen.”
Kowalewski netted the smallmouth, then measured its length at 22 inches and its weight at 6.5 pounds.
The bass may have been on a spawning bed when it was shocked and promptly released. But Kowalewski isn’t sure, as the lake is slightly stained so no bass beds were visible.
“Shawnee is a popular mixed-use recreation lake, full of boaters, jet skiers and fishermen,” said Kowalewski, the state’s Region 2 fisheries supervisor. “It has a healthy population of sportfish – largemouth and smallmouth bass, hybrid striped bass, bluegills, and crappies. We even stock it with rainbow trout in winter for a put-and-take local fishery.
“But a smallmouth bass weighing over 6 pounds is way off the norm. That fish was less than half a pound shy of the Kansas record smallmouth. All that bass had to do was eat a couple shad, shiners or bluegills and he would have weighed more than the state top smallmouth.”
The Kansas record smallmouth weighing 6.88 pounds and measuring 21.5 inches was caught 15 years ago from Milford Reservoir by Frank Evens Jr.
Kowalewski says Shawnee is a reservoir dropping to 52 feet deep, with grass and rocky shorelines. It has a couple good boat ramps, and some easy access shoreline fishing spots. Some local bass tournaments are held on the lake. But it’s not a destination spot for smallmouths, though it does have a decent number of bass – mostly largemouths. But there are plenty of 12 to 15 inch bronzebacks. Some 5- and 6-pound largemouths also are caught from Shawnee, says Kowalewski.
There has been some local “buzz” of interest among area bass anglers as word of the near-record smallmouth was learned. But Shawnee is mostly a recreational lake for Northeast Kansas residents.
“The lake is owned by the Shawnee county parks and recreation department, and we just manage its fish,” Kowalewski continues. “All anyone needs to fish the lake is a state license and some tackle to catch what one day may be a record smallmouth bass.”
