Indiana Lake Depths

Panfish · sunfish family

Warmouth

Lepomis gulosus · also called stumpknocker

Native to IndianaRecorded in 149 Indiana lakes
Illustration of a warmouth in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Typical adult
6–8 in, occasionally 11 in; usually under a pound
Spot it by
Red eyes and dark stripes running back from the eye
Spawns
May through July, in single nests, not colonies
Favors
Clear, shallow, weedy water; hides around stumps and brush
Indiana record
1 lb 6.4 oz — North Dugger Pit, Sullivan County, 2002

Where warmouth have been recorded

149 of the 186 Indiana lakes on this site with fish records list warmouth, across 34 counties. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Wawasee, Kosciusko CountyLake Maxinkuckee, Marshall CountyJ C Murphey Lake, Newton CountyTippecanoe Lake, Kosciusko CountyHamilton Lake, Steuben CountyLake Manitou, Fulton CountyCrooked Lake, Steuben CountyHardy Lake, Scott CountySylvan Lake, Noble CountyDewart Lake, Kosciusko CountyBig Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyLake of the Woods, Marshall CountyOliver Lake, LaGrange CountyWorster Lake, St. Joseph CountyKoontz Lake, Starke CountyLake Gage, Steuben CountyAdams Lake, LaGrange CountyJAMES LAKE, Kosciusko CountyKickapoo Lake, Sullivan CountyBlue Lake, Whitley CountyWitmer Lake, LaGrange CountyBig Lake, Noble CountyShipshewana Lake, LaGrange CountySilver Lake, Steuben CountyStone Lake, LaPorte CountyWabee Lake, Kosciusko CountyBischoff Reservoir, Ripley CountyDeam Lake, Clark CountyPretty Lake, LaGrange CountyIrish Lake, Kosciusko CountyHoffman Lake, Kosciusko 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 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 CountyDiamond Lake, Kosciusko CountyCree Lake, Noble CountyRiddles Lake, St. Joseph CountyEagle Lake, Noble CountyLake Salinda, Washington CountySaugany Lake, LaPorte CountyLittle Long Lake, Noble CountyStory Lake, DeKalb CountyBig Otter Lake, Steuben CountyHill Lake, Kosciusko CountyMessick Lake, LaGrange CountyLower Long Lake, Noble CountyScales Lake, Warrick CountyIndian Lake, DeKalb 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 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 CountyEve Lake, LaGrange CountyBrokesha Lake, LaGrange CountyRivir Lake, Noble 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 CountyRupel Lake, St. Joseph CountyOgle Lake, Brown CountyStone Arch Lake, Johnson CountyPigeon Pit, Pike CountyChrisney Lake, Spencer CountyPleasant Lake, Noble CountyLake Arrowhead, Steuben CountyWest Twin Pit, Pike CountyLindsey Lake, Noble CountyFunk Lake, Vigo CountyNarrow Lake, Sullivan CountyCrooked Creek Lake, Brown 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

  • 149lakes 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 80) and from 6 to 125 ft deep (median 34 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
129 of 170 lakes surveyed this way
Typical rate
1.2 per net lift where found
Highest
13.8 per net lift
Method
fish per net lift (gill and trap nets)

“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 126 lakes at a typical 8.0 per hour of electrofishing. A single survey is a snapshot of one season.

Highest survey rates on this site

  1. Pinhook Lake, St. Joseph 2022 13.8
  2. Wall Lake, LaGrange 2017 8.5
  3. Hamilton Lake, Steuben 2022 8.0
  4. Pretty Lake, Marshall 2017 8.0
  5. Starve Hallow Lake, Jackson 2021 6.8
  6. Eve Lake, LaGrange 2016 5.2
  7. Bischoff Reservoir, Ripley 2022 4.5
  8. Irish Lake, Kosciusko 2023 4.5
  9. Sechrist Lake, Kosciusko 2015 4.5
  10. Silver Lake, Steuben 2014 4.5

Fish per net lift (gill and trap nets), 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

A very large mouth for a sunfish, red eyes, and dark stripes running from the eye across the cheek to the ear flap. The ear flap is small with a red border, and the pectoral fins are short and rounded. It can change quickly from light to dark brown.

Don’t confuse it with

Rock bass — Six spines in the anal fin (warmouth have three), a dark teardrop under the eye, and a black margin to the fins.
Green sunfish — Also big-mouthed, but with blue lines on the cheek and a white-edged ear flap.

Up close

Illustration of a warmouth's head from the side, with a very large mouth, a red eye, dark stripes running back from the eye and a small dark ear flap edged in red.
Warmouth: a very large mouth, a red eye, dark stripes running back from the eye, and a small dark ear flap edged in red.
Illustration of a bluegill's head from the side, with a small mouth and a dark ear flap that is dark all the way to its edge.
Bluegill: a small mouth; the ear flap is dark right to its edge, with no colored rim.
Illustration of a pumpkinseed's head from the side, with wavy blue-green lines on the cheek and a bright red-orange spot on the tip of a short dark ear flap.
Pumpkinseed: a bright red-orange spot on the tip of a short dark ear flap; wavy blue-green lines on the cheek.
Illustration of a redear sunfish's head from the side, with a small mouth, a plain speckled cheek and a red crescent along the edge of the dark ear flap.
Redear sunfish: a red crescent along the edge of the dark ear flap; a small mouth; no wavy blue lines on the cheek.
Illustration of a green sunfish's head from the side, with a large mouth reaching below the middle of the eye, wavy blue-green cheek lines and a dark ear flap with a pale edge.
Green sunfish: a large mouth reaching below the middle of the eye; a dark ear flap with a pale edge; wavy blue-green cheek lines.
Illustration of a longear sunfish's head from the side, with a long dark ear flap bordered in white, wavy blue lines on the cheek and blue spots behind it.
Longear sunfish: a long dark ear flap with a white border; wavy blue lines on the cheek and blue spots behind it.

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

Warmouth are secretive fish of clear, shallow water with dense rooted plants — natural lakes, sluggish streams, oxbows and marshes — hiding among stumps, brush and weeds.

Unlike most sunfish they don't nest in colonies: each male fans out a nest beside a rock, stump or clump of plants and guards the eggs and young.

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 149 lakes with warmouth

Show every lake, by county

Allen County 1

Lake Everett

Bartholomew County 1

Grouse Ridge Lake

Brown County 3

Crooked Creek Lake, Ogle Lake, Yellowwood Lake

Clark County 1

Deam Lake

DeKalb County 2

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

Fulton County 4

Fletcher Lake, Lake Manitou, Nyona Lake, South Mud 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 19

Beaver Dam Lake, 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, Sechrist Lake, Sellers Lake, Shock Lake, Spear Lake, Tippecanoe Lake, Wabee Lake

LaGrange County 20

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

LaPorte County 4

Clear Lake, Hog Lake, Saugany Lake, Stone Lake

Lake County 1

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 24

Baugher Lake, Bear Lake, Big Lake, Bixler Lake, Crane Lake, Cree Lake, Diamond Lake, Eagle Lake, Engle Lake, Gordy Lake, Lindsey 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

Perry County 3

Indian Lake, Lake Celina, Saddle Lake

Pike County 4

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

Porter County 2

Flint Lake, Loomis 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 1

Koontz Lake

Steuben County 13

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

Sullivan County 3

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 1

Scales Lake

Washington County 3

Elk Creek Lake, Lake Salinda, Spurgeon Hollow Lake

Whitley County 4

Blue Lake, Little Cedar Lake, Old Lake, Round Lake

Sources

← All fish of Indiana