Share your catch
US

Deer Creek Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

A Corps of Engineers lake south of Mount Sterling, ringed by Deer Creek State Park and Wildlife Area, where boating is unlimited horsepower and the level can move 20 feet.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
52 cfs
Air / High
68 / 68 F
Wind
NE 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 03230800, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Deer Creek Lake feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The main inflow is running 52 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 68. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:08 AM-12:08 PM and 10:36 PM-12:36 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

CrappieFair

Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

Tomorrow: Similar at 68 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Ohio requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $25.00 for residents. What a Ohio licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing crappie here? Check the size and bag limits with ODNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Ohio, read off the agency, are on the Ohio seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Deer Creek at Mount Sterling (inflow).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 03230800.

12927241652 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 46 years of October 23

At 52 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 03230800 (Deer Creek at Mount Sterling (inflow)) is at the 65th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 46 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 34 cfs; the highest was 352 cfs and the lowest 4 cfs.

p10 9median 34p90 189

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 03230800; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp68 F
High / Low68 / 39 F
WindNE 7-9 mph
Pressure1025.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain9% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:51 / 18:42
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Deer Creek Lake this week

The best day on Deer Creek Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:08 AM-12:08 PM and 10:36 PM-12:36 AM
Minor period
4:30 AM-5:30 AM
Sun
07:51 to 18:42
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Deer Creek Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Pre-spawn fish move toward shallow coves, and Iowa DNR points to wading as an effective way to reach them in spring; minnows or small jigs under a float.

When to come: the Deer Creek Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Deer Creek Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Crappie led the card at fair. High of 69 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Crappie led the card at fair. High of 71 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Crappie led the card at fair. High of 70 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Ohio requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Ohio fishing license. Ohio 2026-27 rules: crappie 30 a day, 9-inch minimum; no paddlefish in or within 2,000 feet of the reservoir and dam; walleye, sauger and saugeye six a day combined, no minimum; black bass five a day, 12-inch minimum.

Access

Deer Creek State Park boat ramps, docks and marina on the south and east shores; Division of Wildlife parking on the west and north sides (ODNR).

About this water

A Corps of Engineers flood-control lake of about 1,290 acres (ODNR) on Deer Creek, Pickaway and Fayette counties, Ohio; dam completed in 1968.

Fishing Deer Creek Lake: the full guide

The lake

Deer Creek Lake lies in Pickaway and Fayette counties, 4 miles south of Mount Sterling along State Route 207. The Army Corps of Engineers designed and built it and finished the dam in 1968. ODNR gives the impounded lake 1,290 acres, the Corps' visitor site describes a 1,277-acre summer lake, and the Division of Wildlife's fishing map lists 1,301 acres with 17.9 miles of shoreline.

A big watershed for a small lake

The dam holds water from two main tributaries, Deer Creek and Clark Run, draining about 177,000 acres. ODNR says that because the watershed is so large for the size of the lake, Deer Creek Lake sees water level changes of up to 20 feet. The flow gauge on this page, USGS 03230800 at Mount Sterling, is on Deer Creek upstream of the lake.

State park and wildlife area

The Corps owns about 7,600 acres here and leases most of it to ODNR. Deer Creek State Park, south and east of the lake, has a lodge, marina, boat ramps and docks, campgrounds and a swimming beach; Deer Creek Wildlife Area lies to the west and north, where the Division of Wildlife runs parking lots, a shooting range and an archery range. Boating is unlimited horsepower.

Rules to know

Deer Creek Lake is on Ohio's site-specific crappie list: 30 a day, 9 inches minimum. Paddlefish may not be taken or possessed in or within 2,000 feet of the Deer Creek reservoir and dam. Walleye, sauger and saugeye fall under the statewide limit of six a day with no minimum.

Common questions

How much does the level change?

Up to 20 feet, because the watershed is large compared with the lake (ODNR).

Is there a horsepower limit?

No. Unlimited horsepower boating is permitted (ODNR, Corps).

Is there lodging?

Yes. ODNR lists the Deer Creek Lodge and Conference Center and a state park campground with more than 200 electric sites.

Is fishing good at Deer Creek Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Hoover Reservoir41 miAlum Creek Lake42 miBuckeye Lake44 miCaesar Creek Lake45 miIndian Lake70 miLicking River89 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 03230800 β€” Deer Creek at Mount Sterling (inflow)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.6200, -83.2200 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.