Indiana Lake Depths

Game fish · sunfish family

Largemouth bass

Micropterus nigricans (formerly Micropterus salmoides)

Native to IndianaRecorded in 180 Indiana lakes
Illustration of a largemouth bass in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Grows
3–4 in a year for its first three years in Indiana
Spawns
Spring, once water reaches about 65°F; nests usually under 5 ft deep
Eats
Young: crustaceans and insects. Adults: fish, crayfish, large insects
Favors
Warm, fairly clear, still water with plants and fallen wood
Indiana record
14 lb 12 oz — Lake, Harrison County, 1991

Where largemouth bass have been recorded

180 of the 186 Indiana lakes on this site with fish records list largemouth bass, across 44 counties. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Wawasee, Kosciusko CountyLake Maxinkuckee, Marshall CountyLake Freeman, Carroll CountyBass Lake, Starke CountyJ C Murphey Lake, Newton CountyTippecanoe Lake, Kosciusko CountyHamilton Lake, Steuben CountyLake Manitou, Fulton CountyCrooked Lake, Steuben CountyCedar Lake, Lake CountyHardy Lake, Scott CountySylvan Lake, Noble CountyWebster Lake, Kosciusko CountyPine Lake, LaPorte CountyWinona Lake, Kosciusko CountyDewart Lake, Kosciusko CountyBig Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyKokomo Reservoir, Howard CountyLake of the Woods, Marshall CountyBig Long Lake, LaGrange CountyOliver Lake, LaGrange CountyGlenn Flint Lake, Putnam CountyWorster Lake, St. Joseph CountyKoontz Lake, Starke CountyLake Gage, Steuben CountyBig Barbee, Kosciusko CountyCedarville Reservoir, Allen CountyAdams Lake, LaGrange CountyJAMES LAKE, Kosciusko CountyKickapoo Lake, Sullivan CountyPike Lake, Kosciusko CountyBlue Lake, Whitley CountyWitmer Lake, LaGrange CountyBig Lake, Noble CountyShipshewana Lake, LaGrange CountySilver Lake, Steuben CountyBluegrass Lake, Warrick CountyStone Lake, LaPorte CountyWabee Lake, Kosciusko CountyBischoff Reservoir, Ripley CountyDeam Lake, Clark CountyPretty Lake, LaGrange CountyIrish Lake, Kosciusko CountyHoffman Lake, Kosciusko CountyLoon Lake, Warrick CountyWestwood Run Lake, Henry CountyAtwood Lake, LaGrange CountyBeaver Dam Lake, Dubois CountyHuntingburg Lake, Dubois CountyLake Celina, Perry CountyBeaver Dam Lake, Kosciusko CountyBrush Creek Reservoir, Jennings CountyFox Lake, Steuben CountyWall Lake, LaGrange CountyLittle Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyKuhn Lake, Kosciusko CountyRound Lake, Whitley CountyLittle Turkey Lake, LaGrange CountyBear Lake, Noble CountyIndian Lake, Perry CountySkinner Lake, Noble CountyBixler Lake, Noble CountyCedar Lake, LaGrange CountyStarve Hallow Lake, Jackson CountyYellowwood Lake, Brown CountyIndiana Lake, Elkhart CountyCenter Lake, Kosciusko CountyGriffy Lake, Monroe CountyStone Lake, LaGrange CountyNyona Lake, Fulton CountyDiamond Lake, Noble CountyBarton Lake, Steuben CountyCass Lake, LaGrange CountyFlint Lake, Porter CountySechrist Lake, Kosciusko CountyOlin Lake, LaGrange CountySouth Mud Lake, Fulton CountyClear Lake, LaPorte CountyFish Lake, LaGrange CountyRound Lake, Noble CountyHunter Lake, Elkhart CountyTROY-CEDAR LAKE, Whitley CountyPretty Lake, Marshall CountyMyers Lake, Marshall CountyWestler Lake, LaGrange CountyPrides Creek Lake, Pike CountyBall Lake, Steuben CountyUpper Long Lake, Noble CountyAppleman Lake, LaGrange CountyLawrence Lake, Marshall CountyRockville Lake, Parke CountyDiamond Lake, Kosciusko CountyCree Lake, Noble CountyRiddles Lake, St. Joseph CountyEagle Lake, Noble CountyLake Salinda, Washington CountySaugany Lake, LaPorte CountyOtter Pit, Warrick CountyLittle Long Lake, Noble CountyRoyer Lake, LaGrange CountyStory Lake, DeKalb CountyBig Otter Lake, Steuben CountyHill Lake, Kosciusko CountyMessick Lake, LaGrange CountyLower Long Lake, Noble CountyScales Lake, Warrick CountyIndian Lake, DeKalb CountyProvince Pond, Henry CountySand Lake, Noble CountyShakamak Lake, Sullivan CountyHackleburg Lake, LaGrange CountyLincoln Lake, Spencer CountyPisgah Lake, Johnson CountyGreen Valley Lake, Vigo CountyWilliams Lake, Noble CountyLoomis Lake, Porter CountyBell Lake, Steuben CountyLittle Cedar Lake, Whitley CountyLukens Lake, Wabash CountyElk Creek Lake, Washington CountyLake Everett, Allen CountyFletcher Lake, Fulton CountyShock Lake, Kosciusko CountyEmma Lake, LaGrange CountyEngle Lake, Noble CountySaddle Lake, Perry CountySpear Lake, Kosciusko CountyFerdinand State Forest Lake, Dubois CountyCypress Lake, Jackson CountyHog Lake, LaPorte CountyFish Lake, Elkhart CountyMollenkramer, Ripley CountyGilbert Lake, Marshall CountyMcClish Lake, Steuben CountyRosser Park Pond, Lake CountyRound Lake, Steuben CountyOld Lake, Whitley CountySacarider Lake, Noble CountyMcClures Lake, Kosciusko CountyPinhook Lake, St. Joseph CountyCedar Lake, DeKalb CountyEve Lake, LaGrange CountyBrokesha Lake, LaGrange CountyRivir Lake, Noble CountyBuffalo Trace Lake, Harrison CountyBaugher Lake, Noble CountyGordy Lake, Noble CountyDixon Lake, Marshall CountySellers Lake, Kosciusko CountyCrane Lake, Noble CountySpurgeon Hollow Lake, Washington CountyW Keith Ruble Lake, Vigo CountyGrouse Ridge Lake, Bartholomew CountyMartin Lake, LaGrange CountyGreen Lake, Steuben CountyClear Lake, Porter CountyRupel Lake, St. Joseph CountyHenry Lake, Steuben CountyOgle Lake, Brown CountyWahkShinGah Lake, Huntington CountyStone Arch Lake, Johnson CountyPigeon Pit, Pike CountyChrisney Lake, Spencer CountySchlamm Lake, Clark CountyPleasant Lake, Noble CountyGambill Lake, Sullivan CountyLake Arrowhead, Steuben CountyWest Twin Pit, Pike CountyMartindale, Wayne CountyFunk Lake, Vigo CountyNarrow Lake, Sullivan CountyCrooked Creek Lake, Brown CountyBoone's Pond, Boone CountySmalley's Pond, Fayette CountyFancher Lake, Lake CountyMoss Lake, Noble CountyThomas Lake, Marshall CountyBryant Creek Lake, Monroe CountyCattail Pit, Pike CountySummit Lake, Noble County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 180lakes where a DNR fisheries survey caught them

A lake can appear in more than one line. A lake that isn’t listed may still have them: records exist only where someone caught, netted or stocked them.

Inland lakes on this list run from 6 to 3,508 acres (median 81) and from 6 to 125 ft deep (median 33 ft).

How many turn up in DNR surveys

Indiana DNR crews survey lakes the same way everywhere: timed night electrofishing along the shore, plus gill and trap nets set overnight. The standard method makes lakes comparable. These are the DNR’s own sampling rates from its community surveys, 2008–2025 — a measure of how many fish a lake holds, not how many an angler will catch.

Found in
173 of 175 lakes surveyed this way
Typical rate
95 per hour where found
Highest
341 per hour
Method
fish per hour of night electrofishing

“Typical” is the median across the lakes where the survey caught at least one. Nets and electrofishing catch different fish: by the other method it turned up in 136 lakes at a typical 0.50 per net lift. A single survey is a snapshot of one season.

Highest survey rates on this site

  1. Buffalo Trace Lake, Harrison 2013–2018 341
  2. Big Lake, Noble 2010–2016 308
  3. Old Lake, Whitley 2015 278
  4. Scales Lake, Warrick 2014–2024 271
  5. Sacarider Lake, Noble 2017–2019 266
  6. Big Barbee, Kosciusko 2015 243
  7. Stone Lake, LaGrange 2018–2024 231
  8. Bear Lake, Noble 2011–2019 227
  9. Ball Lake, Steuben 2013 220
  10. Ferdinand State Forest Lake, Dubois 2021 212

Fish per hour of night electrofishing, with survey years. Survey effort and season differ between lakes.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

How to recognize it

Olive green with a cream belly and a line of black blotches along the side. The upper jaw reaches past the rear of the eye, and the spiny and soft parts of the dorsal fin are nearly separate.

Don’t confuse it with

Smallmouth bass — The jaw reaches the eye but not past its rear edge, and the sides carry dark vertical bars on a bronze-brown background.

Up close

Illustration of a largemouth bass's head and front half from the side, mouth closed, with the upper jaw reaching past the back of the eye, a deep notch between the two parts of the dorsal fin, and a dark band along the side.
Largemouth bass: the upper jaw reaches past the back of the eye; the dorsal fin is almost split in two; a dark band runs along the side.
Illustration of a smallmouth bass's head and front half from the side, mouth closed, with the upper jaw ending below the eye, a shallow notch joining the two parts of the dorsal fin, and dark vertical bars on bronze-brown sides.
Smallmouth bass: the upper jaw ends below the eye, not past it; the dorsal fin is joined by a shallow notch; dark vertical bars on bronze-brown sides.

AI-generated close-ups, not photographs, drawn from the cited descriptions. They show what to look for; they are not a substitute for an expert identification (provenance).

Life in an Indiana lake

Largemouth live in nearly every kind of Indiana water, from ponds to large rivers. Plants and woody debris are what make good largemouth habitat; about half the shallow zone of a typical Indiana glacial lake holds submerged plants.

Males build nests anywhere from 1 to 15 ft deep, usually under 5 ft, preferring gravel. The eggs hatch in 3–4 days, and the fry school tightly near the nest under the male's guard for about a month, until they are an inch long. The DNR stocks very few largemouth because lakes sustain their own populations.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Check the rules before you keep fish. Each lake page shows the regulations that apply there, and the Indiana Fishing Guide is the official source. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check the Indiana Fish Consumption Advisory.

All 180 lakes with largemouth bass

Show every lake, by county

Allen County 2

Cedarville Reservoir, Lake Everett

Bartholomew County 1

Grouse Ridge Lake

Boone County 1

Boone's Pond

Brown County 3

Crooked Creek Lake, Ogle Lake, Yellowwood Lake

Carroll County 1

Lake Freeman

Clark County 2

Deam Lake, Schlamm Lake

DeKalb County 3

Cedar Lake, Indian Lake, Story Lake

Dubois County 3

Beaver Dam Lake, Ferdinand State Forest Lake, Huntingburg Lake

Elkhart County 3

Fish Lake, Hunter Lake, Indiana Lake

Fayette County 1

Smalley's Pond

Fulton County 4

Fletcher Lake, Lake Manitou, Nyona Lake, South Mud Lake

Harrison County 1

Buffalo Trace Lake

Henry County 2

Province Pond, Westwood Run Lake

Howard County 1

Kokomo Reservoir

Huntington County 1

WahkShinGah Lake

Jackson County 2

Cypress Lake, Starve Hallow Lake

Jennings County 1

Brush Creek Reservoir

Johnson County 2

Pisgah Lake, Stone Arch Lake

Kosciusko County 23

Beaver Dam Lake, Big Barbee, Big Chapman Lake, Center Lake, Dewart Lake, Diamond Lake, Hill Lake, Hoffman Lake, Irish Lake, JAMES LAKE, Kuhn Lake, Lake Wawasee, Little Chapman Lake, McClures Lake, Pike Lake, Sechrist Lake, Sellers Lake, Shock Lake, Spear Lake, Tippecanoe Lake, Wabee Lake, Webster Lake, Winona Lake

LaGrange County 23

Adams Lake, Appleman Lake, Atwood Lake, Big Long Lake, Brokesha Lake, Cass Lake, Cedar Lake, Emma Lake, Eve Lake, Fish Lake, Hackleburg Lake, Little Turkey Lake, Martin Lake, Messick Lake, Olin Lake, Oliver Lake, Pretty Lake, Royer Lake, Shipshewana Lake, Stone Lake, Wall Lake, Westler Lake, Witmer Lake

LaPorte County 5

Clear Lake, Hog Lake, Pine Lake, Saugany Lake, Stone Lake

Lake County 3

Cedar Lake, Fancher Lake, Rosser Park Pond

Marshall County 8

Dixon Lake, Gilbert Lake, Lake Maxinkuckee, Lake of the Woods, Lawrence Lake, Myers Lake, Pretty Lake, Thomas Lake

Monroe County 2

Bryant Creek Lake, Griffy Lake

Newton County 1

J C Murphey Lake

Noble County 23

Baugher Lake, Bear Lake, Big Lake, Bixler Lake, Crane Lake, Cree Lake, Diamond Lake, Eagle Lake, Engle Lake, Gordy Lake, Little Long Lake, Lower Long Lake, Moss Lake, Pleasant Lake, Rivir Lake, Round Lake, Sacarider Lake, Sand Lake, Skinner Lake, Summit Lake, Sylvan Lake, Upper Long Lake, Williams Lake

Parke County 1

Rockville Lake

Perry County 3

Indian Lake, Lake Celina, Saddle Lake

Pike County 4

Cattail Pit, Pigeon Pit, Prides Creek Lake, West Twin Pit

Porter County 3

Clear Lake, Flint Lake, Loomis Lake

Putnam County 1

Glenn Flint Lake

Ripley County 2

Bischoff Reservoir, Mollenkramer

Scott County 1

Hardy Lake

Spencer County 2

Chrisney Lake, Lincoln Lake

St. Joseph County 4

Pinhook Lake, Riddles Lake, Rupel Lake, Worster Lake

Starke County 2

Bass Lake, Koontz Lake

Steuben County 14

Ball Lake, Barton Lake, Bell Lake, Big Otter Lake, Crooked Lake, Fox Lake, Green Lake, Hamilton Lake, Henry Lake, Lake Arrowhead, Lake Gage, McClish Lake, Round Lake, Silver Lake

Sullivan County 4

Gambill Lake, Kickapoo Lake, Narrow Lake, Shakamak Lake

Vigo County 3

Funk Lake, Green Valley Lake, W Keith Ruble Lake

Wabash County 1

Lukens Lake

Warrick County 4

Bluegrass Lake, Loon Lake, Otter Pit, Scales Lake

Washington County 3

Elk Creek Lake, Lake Salinda, Spurgeon Hollow Lake

Wayne County 1

Martindale

Whitley County 5

Blue Lake, Little Cedar Lake, Old Lake, Round Lake, TROY-CEDAR LAKE

Sources

← All fish of Indiana