Dillon Lake fishing: Muskellunge, Largemouth Bass, Walleye

Target species: Muskellunge, Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Blue Catfish, Sunshine Bass
Boat: 4 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Dillon State Park - Big Run Boat Ramp.

The reservoir

Dillon Lake covers 1,277 acres in Ohio, across Muskingum County. It is a reservoir: 95.7% of it is 18 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 31.8 feet (9.7 m); at the dam, USGS RESSED gives 90 feet (27.4 m) at full pool. Our records hold 8 species for this water.

5 target fish, led by Muskellunge

  • Muskellunge — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Blue Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Sunshine Bass — Feeding water: 70–80°F. Nonnative.

Also recorded here: Common Carp, Grass Carp, Goldfish.

Depth: down to 31.8 ft at the deepest measured point

Deepest measured point: 31.8 ft (9.7 m). USGS RESSED gives 90 ft (27.4 m) at the dam at full pool: a measured figure, not a survey map. 95.7% of the water is 18 feet or shallower. We hold 57 depth contours for this water, drawn from 15,538 soundings.

  • 0–2 ft: 18.6% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 11.6% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 13% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 10.7% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 11% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 7.5% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 7.8% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 7.9% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 3.3% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 0.9% of the water

Stocking: 24,137,243 fish, 1992–2021

Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife records list 24,137,243 fish released into this water from 1992 to 2021. The latest stocking on record is from 2021, more than three years ago.

  • Walleye: 6,559,666 in 1974–1988
  • Muskellunge: 1,622,415 in 1970–1991
  • Largemouth Bass: 40,000 in 1979
  • Blue Catfish: 13,124 in 2010

3 more species on the stocking list.

4 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 4 boat ramps.

  • Dillon State Park - Big Run Boat Ramp — Nashport, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. N on 146 first left past the Over look Shelter road, Nashport 43830- · phone (740) 453-4377 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov
  • Dillon State Park - Marina and Ramp — Licking, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. from the park office follow CR60 south until it ends at the lake, Licking 43830- · phone (740) 453-4377 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov
  • Dillon State Park - Nashport Boat Ramp — Licking, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. 2/3 of a mile southwest of Creamery & 146, Licking 43830-0126 · phone (740) 453-4377 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov
  • Dillon State Park - Pleasant Knob Launch Ramp — Nashport, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. from CR 408 take Every Road to the end, Nashport 43830- · phone (740) 453-4377 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 4 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 4 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.