Centralia City Lake Fishing Report - Updated: 8/29/24

Species Rating Size Baits, Method, Location
Channel Catfish Good  Up to 20 pounds The lake has maintained a great channel cat fishery for over ten years.  The 2023 fall sample recorded that the number of channel catfish continue to remain at a high level with fairly good numbers of fish over 20 inches. However, growth of channel catfish has slowed down due to the high numbers of smaller fish so I encourage you to harvest fish less than 24 inches. The creel limit at the lake is 10 channel catfish per day and there is no length based restrictions. Good luck.
White Bass Good 1/2 to 1 lb. The most recent fish sampling shows that the white bass population is doing well with the most fish over 12 inches ever recorded at the lake. The size structure is good with a bunch of fish from 11 to 12 inches long and 7% of the ones sampled were over 15 inches. The is no daily creel limit and some harvest would be good for the overall fishery.
Wiper Slow Up to 26" A low population of wipers are maintained with stockings of small fish to help manage the white bass and gizzard shad populations. Recent stockings have not had good survival and wiper numbers have since fallen (which explains the high numbers of white bass right now).  Wiper creel limit is 2 per day.  
Crappie Fair  1/2 to 1 pound "Crappie aren't what they used to be" is what I frequently here from anglers about this lake. Such statements are supported by the fish sampling data collected over the last few years as crappie numbers are not at the highs seen from 2013 to 2020 when crappie fishing was hot. Part of this regression is due to competition with much higher numbers of white bass (please feel free to harvest some of them) and partly due to a shift in the population from white crappie to the slower growing black crappie - in the 2023 sample 12% of black crappie were over 8 inches compared to 77% of the white crappie. I assume this will settle back in the next couple of years but either way I would still call this a good crappie lake. No recent reports.
Saugeye Fair 2 to 8 lbs. Saugeye are doing well. The fall 2023 fish sampling effort produced the most saugeye in 6 years. Of those fish collected, 20% were over the 18 inch minimum length limit, which is the lowest percentage recorded in 15 years. However, 49% of the fish were 15 to 18 inches long so there are a bunch of upcomers in the system. 
Largemouth Bass Slow  1/2 to 5 pounds The lake has low numbers of largemouth bass. The 2024 spring sample recorded that 64% of the bass were over 15". Best places are the rock piers, standing timber and around the West boat ramp. Bass are covered by an 18 inch minimum length limit.
General Comments
Centralia Lake is a 400 acre lake that is noted for good channel cat, saugeye and crappie fishing. The lake facilities include multiple ramps, picnic tables, plenty of camping pads and many sites with electricity. Centralia is enrolled in the CFAP program, which means a City permit is not required for fishing visits. Perry Reservoir has zebra mussels and with Centralia Lake being close it is at high risk. Please, always clean your boat when moving to different water bodies.