Deer Creek Reservoir
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Deer Creek Reservoir Fishing Reports
Stay up to date with the latest fishing reports from Deer Creek Reservoir. Reports are submitted by local anglers, fishing guides, and our team of fishing experts.
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Smallmouth BassTechniqueHard JerkbaitsSeasonSpring (Pre-Spawn)StructureRock PileBeen fishing Deer Creek about once a week since Januray. It's now April 2nd and ice came off about 2 and a half weeks ago. I primarily fish Deer Creek for smallmouth, largemouth, and walleye but during the early months of the year, I catch a lot of trout on bass and walleye techniques. Fishing for brown trout and rainbow trout between 15-20 inches has been good with Keitech swimbaits, drop shot, and moving baits like jerkbaits and lipless crankbaits. Over the last week I've started finding smallmouth bass moving up on to steep ledges and points. They're sluggish but they'll hit a slowly retrieved jerkbait with a slow cadence. Deer Creek has a lot of small smallmouth and early spring is a good time to find some of the bigger ones before the little guys rule the shallows. Water is cold in the low 40s.
- Species
WalleyeTechniqueSoft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)SeasonWinterStructureLedgesStill finding a few smallmouth and walleye in deep water. If you're looking for trout, they can be caught by fishing the upper water column with swimbaits and jerkbaits. Smallmouth and walleye are on the bottom in deep water next to sharp drop offs or deep rock structure. We're mostly catching smallmouth and walleye on small swimbaits like the 2.8 keitech fat swing impact. To get down, we're putting it on a 1/0 1/4 Oz jighead. We've found some erratic hops and shakes can trigger fish, but with the colder water, a soft lift and drop has been most productive. If you're casting from the bank, use a football jighead to crawl over rock. A bullet head is great for getting down faster, but will wedge into rock structure. From a boat, it would be a good time to use a hover stroll or damiki rig.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueDrop ShotSeasonWinterStructureLedges
We found a few nice smallmouth on deep drop offs using a Zman TRD micro finesse bait on a dropshot. It seems like a strange combo, but the floating bait keeps it up off the bottom and has a very subtle action. Whatever approach you take needs to be extremely slow. Slow drag or slow handle turn and then a pause and let the bait marinate for a bit before repeating. For us reaction bait guys, it's a brutal way to fish, but it generated the few bites we needed to catch some November smallies. Best luck came on green pumpkin. If you're a trout fisherman, they seem to be very active and are willing to chase down jerkbaits, swimbaits, and the occasional dropshot. Most are cookie cutter sized rainbows between 14-17 inches.
- Species
Largemouth BassTechniqueStructure JigsSeasonSpring (Pre-Spawn)StructureBrush PilesSome largemouth are moving to prespawn locations. A few have already made it to backs of bays on heavy structure. They aren't very noticeable and aren't chasing down spinnerbaits and chatterbaits just yet. Find heavy structure such as dead brush piles and fish right into the deepest junk. I fish a 7'2" heavy with 17-20 fluorocarbon. A variety of baits will work. Standard flipping/pitching jigs in green pumpkins, blues, and blacks work best. 4-5 Yamamoto double tail grubs or similar styled craw trailers. There isn't a ton of heavy structure at deer creek, but the rising water conditions have flooded all of the brush that grew from last years epic low water. If the brush provides visible shade, you should be in business. The smallmouth are still being a bit stingy. I've picked up a few on jerkbaits but fishing isn't consistent just yet.
- Species
Yellow PerchTechniqueTexas Rigs (Worming)SeasonSpring (Pre-Spawn)StructureRock PileSmallmouth bass are starting to move up shallow and beginning to spawn. Through tubes, wacky rigged senko's, in the shallow gravel areas in the lake in the coves, and backwater. A ned rig is also a great way to get em.
AlexBronze AmbassadorSpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueNed RigsSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureSubmerged VegetationWaded out and first cast. Near the edge in submerged vegetation. Largemouth was still spawning.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueShallow Diving Crankbaits (0-6')SeasonFallStructureRock Pile
The lake is cooling rapidly. The fall transition is nearing its end. Largemouth can be found in coves and flats that have green sunfish and bluegill. If you find the bait, the Largemouth are likely close by. Smallmouth can be caught on more finesse techniques: dropshot, 1/16-1/4 oz jigs with 2.8-3.3 Keitech swimbaits, lightly weighted flukes, and jerkbaits. Walleye are also feeding up and we're catching quite a few on slow moving jerkbaits. Twitch, twitch, pause for 4-5 seconds. Make sure your jerkbait is tuned to suspend perfectly. Add a small lead strip if it's floating. Cover water if you don't find fish.
- SpeciesYellow PerchTechniqueNed RigsSeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureBrush Piles
Smallmouth bass are sitting on the deeper bushes in the coves. Lot of active bass. Water temps where at 57 degrees. Good time to get out and get em. Keep your baits small, for more bites.
