Deer Creek Lake fishing: Muskellunge, Largemouth Bass, Sauger

Target species: Muskellunge, Largemouth Bass, Sauger, Channel Catfish
Boat: 3 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Deer Creek State Park - East Ramp (Harding Cabin).

The reservoir

Deer Creek Lake covers 1,298 acres in Ohio, across 2 counties: Pickaway and Fayette. It is a reservoir: 93.8% of it is 26 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 39.3 feet (12 m); at the dam, USGS RESSED gives 75 feet (22.9 m) at full pool. Our records hold 4 species for this water.

Depth: down to 39.3 ft at the deepest measured point

Deepest measured point: 39.3 ft (12 m). USGS RESSED gives 75 ft (22.9 m) at the dam at full pool: a measured figure, not a survey map. 93.8% of the water is 26 feet or shallower. We hold 57 depth contours for this water, drawn from 24,363 soundings.

  • 0–2 ft: 2.8% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 4.2% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 7.1% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 7.7% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 8.8% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 10.4% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 11.7% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 8.3% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 7.7% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 8.4% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 6.9% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 4% of the water
  • 24–26 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 26–28 ft: 4.7% of the water
  • 28–30 ft: 1.6% of the water

4 target fish, led by Muskellunge

  • Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Sauger — Feeding water: 45–65°F.
  • Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.

Stocking: 13,342,371 fish, 1993–2022

Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife records list 13,342,371 fish released into this water from 1993 to 2022. The latest stocking on record is from 2022, more than three years ago.

  • Largemouth Bass: 25,789 in 1977
  • Channel Catfish: 25,700 in 1977–1980
  • Muskellunge: 400 in 1980

2 more species on the stocking list.

Aerial imagery: USDA NAIP 2023
USDA Farm Service Agency, NAIP 2023 aerial imagery (USGS The National Map) · Public domain

3 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 3 boat ramps.

  • Deer Creek State Park - East Ramp (Harding Cabin) — Mt. Sterling, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. Twp Hwy 198 off of Deer Creek Road, Mt. Sterling 43143- · phone (740) 869-3124 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov
  • Deer Creek State Park - Marina — Mt. Sterling, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. St. Rt#207, W. of Waterloo, sign after town, Mt. Sterling 43143- · phone (740) 869-3124 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov
  • Deer Creek State Park - West Ramp — Mt. Sterling, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. St. Rt.#207, approx. 1 mile west of Waterloo, Mt. Sterling 43143- · phone (740) 869-3124 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 3 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Only 3 public ramps are on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Ohio DNR — Ohio DNR: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • USACE CWMS — USACE CWMS elevation-area curves: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
  • USGS RESSED — USGS RESSED reservoir sedimentation database: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.