Indiana Lake Depths

Game fish · sunfish family

Largemouth bass

Micropterus nigricans (formerly Micropterus salmoides)

Native to IndianaRecorded in 108 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

108 of the 111 Indiana lakes on this site with fish records list largemouth bass, across 35 counties. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Wawasee, Kosciusko CountyLake Maxinkuckee, Marshall CountyJ C Murphey Lake, Newton CountyLake Manitou, Fulton CountyCrooked Lake, Steuben CountyCedar Lake, Lake CountyDewart Lake, Kosciusko CountyBig Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyKokomo Reservoir, Howard CountyOliver Lake, LaGrange CountyWorster Lake, St. Joseph CountyBig Barbee, Kosciusko CountyCedarville Reservoir, Allen CountyJames Lake, Kosciusko CountyKickapoo Lake, Sullivan CountyPike Lake, Kosciusko CountyBlue Lake, Whitley CountyWitmer Lake, LaGrange CountyBluegrass Lake, Warrick CountyStone Lake, LaPorte CountyDeam Lake, Clark CountyPretty Lake, LaGrange CountyHoffman Lake, Kosciusko CountyLoon Lake, Warrick CountyWestwood Run Lake, Henry CountyBeaver Dam Lake, Dubois CountyHuntingburg Lake, Dubois CountyLake Celina, Perry CountyBrush Creek Reservoir, Jennings CountyWall Lake, LaGrange CountyLittle Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyRound Lake, Whitley CountyBear Lake, Noble CountyIndian Lake, Perry CountyBixler Lake, Noble CountyCedar Lake, LaGrange CountyStarve Hallow Lake, Jackson CountyYellowwood Lake, Brown CountyGriffy Lake, Monroe CountyNyona Lake, Fulton CountyDiamond Lake, Noble CountyBarton Lake, Steuben CountyCass Lake, LaGrange CountyOlin Lake, LaGrange CountyFish Lake, LaGrange CountyHunter Lake, Elkhart CountyTroy-Cedar Lake, Whitley CountyPretty Lake, Marshall CountyMyers Lake, Marshall CountyWestler Lake, LaGrange CountyPrides Creek Lake, Pike CountyAppleman Lake, LaGrange CountyLawrence Lake, Marshall CountyRockville Lake, Parke CountyRiddles Lake, St. Joseph CountyLake Salinda, Washington CountySaugany Lake, LaPorte CountyLittle Long Lake, Noble CountyRoyer Lake, LaGrange CountyStory Lake, DeKalb CountyMessick Lake, LaGrange CountyLower Long Lake, Noble CountyScales Lake, Warrick CountyProvince Pond, Henry CountySand Lake, Noble CountyShakamak Lake, Sullivan CountyHackleburg Lake, LaGrange CountyLincoln Lake, Spencer CountyGreen Valley Lake, Vigo CountyWilliams Lake, Noble CountyLoomis Lake, Porter CountyBell Lake, Steuben CountyLukens Lake, Wabash CountyElk Creek Lake, Washington CountyFletcher Lake, Fulton CountyShock Lake, Kosciusko CountyEmma Lake, LaGrange CountySaddle Lake, Perry CountySpear Lake, Kosciusko CountyFerdinand State Forest Lake, Dubois CountyCypress Lake, Jackson CountyHog Lake, LaPorte CountyMollenkramer, Ripley CountyMcClish Lake, Steuben CountyRosser Park Pond, Lake CountySacarider Lake, Noble CountyPinhook Lake, St. Joseph CountyCedar Lake, DeKalb CountyEve Lake, LaGrange CountyRivir Lake, Noble CountyBuffalo Trace Lake, Harrison CountyBaugher Lake, Noble CountyGordy Lake, Noble CountyDixon Lake, Marshall CountySpurgeon Hollow Lake, Washington CountyW Keith Ruble Lake, Vigo CountyMartin Lake, LaGrange CountyRupel Lake, St. Joseph CountyPigeon Pit, Pike CountyChrisney Lake, Spencer CountySchlamm Lake, Clark CountyGambill Lake, Sullivan CountyWest Twin Pit, Pike CountyMartindale, Wayne CountyFunk Lake, Vigo CountyNarrow Lake, Sullivan CountyCrooked Creek Lake, Brown CountyCattail Pit, Pike County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 108lakes 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 7 to 3,508 acres (median 80) and from 6 to 90 ft deep (median 30 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
105 of 105 lakes surveyed this way
Typical rate
104 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 76 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. Scales Lake, Warrick 2014–2024 271
  3. Sacarider Lake, Noble 2017–2019 266
  4. Big Barbee, Kosciusko 2015 243
  5. Bear Lake, Noble 2011–2019 227
  6. Ferdinand State Forest Lake, Dubois 2021 212
  7. Elk Creek Lake, Washington 2019–2024 206
  8. Lincoln Lake, Spencer 2016–2024 206
  9. Prides Creek Lake, Pike 2013–2021 190
  10. Lukens Lake, Wabash 2016 188

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 108 lakes with largemouth bass

Show every lake, by county

Allen County 1

Cedarville Reservoir

Brown County 2

Crooked Creek Lake, Yellowwood Lake

Clark County 2

Deam Lake, Schlamm Lake

DeKalb County 2

Cedar Lake, Story Lake

Dubois County 3

Beaver Dam Lake, Ferdinand State Forest Lake, Huntingburg Lake

Elkhart County 1

Hunter Lake

Fulton County 3

Fletcher Lake, Lake Manitou, Nyona Lake

Harrison County 1

Buffalo Trace Lake

Henry County 2

Province Pond, Westwood Run Lake

Howard County 1

Kokomo Reservoir

Jackson County 2

Cypress Lake, Starve Hallow Lake

Jennings County 1

Brush Creek Reservoir

Kosciusko County 10

Big Barbee, Big Chapman Lake, Dewart Lake, Hoffman Lake, James Lake, Lake Wawasee, Little Chapman Lake, Pike Lake, Shock Lake, Spear Lake

LaGrange County 16

Appleman Lake, Cass Lake, Cedar Lake, Emma Lake, Eve Lake, Fish Lake, Hackleburg Lake, Martin Lake, Messick Lake, Olin Lake, Oliver Lake, Pretty Lake, Royer Lake, Wall Lake, Westler Lake, Witmer Lake

LaPorte County 3

Hog Lake, Saugany Lake, Stone Lake

Lake County 2

Cedar Lake, Rosser Park Pond

Marshall County 5

Dixon Lake, Lake Maxinkuckee, Lawrence Lake, Myers Lake, Pretty Lake

Monroe County 1

Griffy Lake

Newton County 1

J C Murphey Lake

Noble County 11

Baugher Lake, Bear Lake, Bixler Lake, Diamond Lake, Gordy Lake, Little Long Lake, Lower Long Lake, Rivir Lake, Sacarider Lake, Sand 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 1

Loomis Lake

Ripley County 1

Mollenkramer

Spencer County 2

Chrisney Lake, Lincoln Lake

St. Joseph County 4

Pinhook Lake, Riddles Lake, Rupel Lake, Worster Lake

Steuben County 4

Barton Lake, Bell Lake, Crooked Lake, McClish 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 3

Bluegrass Lake, Loon Lake, Scales Lake

Washington County 3

Elk Creek Lake, Lake Salinda, Spurgeon Hollow Lake

Wayne County 1

Martindale

Whitley County 3

Blue Lake, Round Lake, Troy-Cedar Lake

Sources

← All fish of Indiana