Guilford Lake fishing: Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass

Target species: Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Channel Catfish, Sunshine Bass
Boat: 3 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Guilford Lake State Park - Campground Side.

The lake

Guilford Lake covers 384 acres in Ohio, across Columbiana County. It is a lake: 94.5% of it is 20 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 24.1 feet (7.3 m). Our records hold 5 species for this water.

Guilford Lake State Park.jpg
Todd Fowler · CC BY-SA 2.0

5 target fish, led by Muskellunge

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

Depth: down to 24.1 ft at the deepest measured point

Deepest measured point: 24.1 ft (7.3 m). 94.5% of the water is 20 feet or shallower. We hold 23 depth contours for this water, drawn from 7,594 soundings.

Coming about (Hanoverton, OH).jpg
j33pman · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • 0–2 ft: 7.1% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 12.9% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 12.1% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 11% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 11.3% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 9.8% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 8.8% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 8.6% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 7% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 5.9% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 5.7% of the water

Stocking: 659,013 fish, 1973–2020

Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife records list 659,013 fish released into this water from 1973 to 2020. The latest stocking on record is from 2020, more than three years ago.

Sailing (Hanoverton, OH).jpg
j33pman · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Channel Catfish: 242,274 in 1979–2020
  • Northern Pike: 141,398 in 1970–1978
  • Largemouth Bass: 128,729 in 1970–1984
  • Muskellunge: 2,000 in 1980

2 more species on the stocking list.

3 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 3 boat ramps.

  • Guilford Lake State Park - Campground Side — Lisbon, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. from CR 241 go S. on Clewell Rd., Lisbon 44432- · phone (330) 222-1712 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov
  • Guilford Lake State Park - Dam Ramp — Lisbon, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. East Lake Road south of Park office, Lisbon 44432- · phone (330) 222-1712 · website parks.ohiodnr.gov
  • Guilford Lake State Park - Red Maple Area — Lisbon, ODNR Division of Parks & Recreation. from SR172 to Hanna Dr to Shore Ln, Lisbon 44432- · phone (330) 222-1712 · 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.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 69°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 7.7. These readings span 2022. The latest reading is from 2022, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

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.
  • 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.