# Deer creek today.



## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Went out this afternoon to do some fishin, ice is a nice six inches. But nothing but small gills and missed a channel cat. The ramp now has a concert dock next to it ,can’t see how the ramp into the water looks if it’s still gravel or they put some concrete down. Talked to a local and he said they stocked wipers in deer creek two years after walborn got a stocking. Some pics of price street over Berlin and few of the ramp.































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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

...walborn question. Just got done with a Google search on walborn. I really like the <dam> area along with the spillway. But I don't see parking anywhere near those areas. There is that nature trail that runs near the dam. Was kinda hoping a setup like westbranch where we park at information center and hike it to the dam.

Was just looking for a few more spots/places to fish this year...

Don.


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## mountainbikingrn (Mar 24, 2010)

Don you are correct that you have to hike in from the visitor center parking area or a smaller parking area off of Reeder. Neither hike is too bad, closer from the visitor center.


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

Deer Creek. Try off the riprap just off the causeway on the west side. Pretty deep holes there and gills tend to be a little larger. You will still have to weed through them. Also pay attention to where the culverts are with this warm up.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Don, you can park at the marina lot and follow a trail to the dam, it doesn’t have rip rap like W Branch, just shore line next to the dam, the other side of dam is just a concrete face like lake Milton has. Also they close the gate up at a certain time each night the same at deer creek. I walked to the dam once to check the spillway out, never went back.


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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

Thanks snag. I remember reading about a gate that gets locked. Going to check this place out this spring plus deer creek to. Didn't realize these places were some what close to me. 

Don.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

twistedcatfish1971 said:


> Thanks snag. I remember reading about a gate that gets locked. Going to check this place out this spring plus deer creek to. Didn't realize these places were some what close to me.
> 
> Don.


Hey don, I have to clarify a statement about the dam at walborn, it is rip rap but it’s on the other side of the dam/ spillway, I’m out here now fishing and took the trail from the horse riding area and it leads right up from the dam.. couple pics
























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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

Snag...I really appreciate the pictures brother! I will have an adventure out there soon enough.

Thanks again.

Don.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Snag, I live fairly close to Walborn and Deer Creek. The little bit I know abt these lakes, I've never been "intrigued" by either one enough to want to make them a regular stop but you must know something I don't! Outside of "maybe" a few(assuming very few!) walleye that "might" be swimming there, abt all I have heard is smallish crappie, farly good channel cats, and a few decent LM(none of which I really target-I like to fish good-sized panfish, incl. perch, and walleye mostly). Can you tell me why you go to both fairly frequently? Am I missing something? PM me if you don't want to "unbag" the cat(publicly)!


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

cJ, I’ve fished both deer creek and walborn for years before both lakes were taken over by stark parks. They just have a appeal to me quiet less traffic some nice cats in both and with the wipers in both I like going after them, other than the gates being locked up that’s about it, I used to bass fish it a lot back in the day. My BIL has fished it also and swears he has Hooked muskies. And he knows a musky ,being he lives near leesville and gets some big ones. So I have no secrets ,just like the low key places now that I’m older and the pace has slowed down. And I manely fish by myself so don’t like the big box lakes-to many speedy boats out.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

X2 On the "speedy" boats, tranquility! At my age, I must agree completely with your reasoning! Those are why I like Wingfoot and Mogadore(practically in my back yard). I have really missed the stripers(see avatar pic) we used to catch at WB back in the early 90's so I might just start fishing "your" lakes for the next best thing-hybrids!! Since you know Walborn, is there any Spring spawning action below it's dam!?? Whities, eyes, musky?(not sure there are any of these in Deer Ck, though I wonder why if not, but I would think it legal to fish the outflow down to McCallum?)
ps-My son caught a nice musky at Leesville at ice out last Spring by the dam.


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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

I,m 72 back in my early teens I helped land a huge muskie on the far shore from the fishing gazebo. when a fellow I think his name was art ran a bait an boat rental on deer creek.


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

I agree with snag on this one, Walborn and Deer Creek are nice because you don't have to deal with all the boat traffic. Walborn has some big crappie in there if you know where to fish for them in the spring. I have caught nice cats out of Walborn also. There is also good bass fishing at both lakes also. I fish from a float tube so those two lakes are my first choices in that area, unless I hit a back bay at Berlin where I can stay away from the boats.


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

snag said:


> cJ, I’ve fished both deer creek and walborn for years before both lakes were taken over by stark parks. They just have a appeal to me quiet less traffic some nice cats in both and with the wipers in both I like going after them, other than the gates being locked up that’s about it, I used to bass fish it a lot back in the day. My BIL has fished it also and swears he has Hooked muskies. And he knows a musky ,being he lives near leesville and gets some big ones. So I have no secrets ,just like the low key places now that I’m older and the pace has slowed down. And I manely fish by myself so don’t like the big box lakes-to many speedy boats out.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I'm with Ya on the Big Box Lakes Snag, I love Walborn. From the early 90's
till about 5 years ago, I made 80 to 100 trips a year there. I fish out of a charcoal grey
Alumacraft, you may have seen me. Only 5 or 6 trips a year lately do to work.
Plus I'm only a couple miles from Mogadore. Walborn is a
Super Bass lake. Not the numbers it used to have but it's got some BIG fish.
Lots of nice of shore structure, and that's where they're at.
ODNR has it ranked way up there for Crappie and Bass over 20 inches.
I've seen some monster Catfish come from in front above the damn you guys
are talking about. In your picture. Notice a lot of guys fishing below the damn
but never talked to'em. I'd say the best place to shore fish is the main point
about a half mile south of the boat ramp. Caution... if you are wading, south side
of that point goes from 2 or 3 feet to about 15 real quick. You might be swimmin.
Big bunch of stumps right on the edge, great spot for Bass and Crappie.
Never heard of any Muskie, but I got a Smallmouth that weighed 4-15 on the
point I was just talking about.
Deer Creek... Used to have Muskie but I haven't heard of any being caught
for years. My buddy catches nice Bluegill. Walks out to the damn and fishes
below the damn on the Berlin side.
I'm recently retired, I will be hitt'in Walborn hard this year.


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

BuckeyeFishin07 said:


> I agree with snag on this one, Walborn and Deer Creek are nice because you don't have to deal with all the boat traffic. Walborn has some big crappie in there if you know where to fish for them in the spring. I have caught nice cats out of Walborn also. There is also good bass fishing at both lakes also. I fish from a float tube so those two lakes are my first choices in that area, unless I hit a back bay at Berlin where I can stay away from the boats.


If I had a float tube, I would fish north of German Church road. No boat access, never been
fished, only from shore. I can only imagine what's up in there. The fish in the main lake
can travel in there, big pipe under the road.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

I only went below the walborn spillway once , it’s different from some I’ve been at, but it flows into that stream that goes into deer creek real brushy below the dam outlet looks to rough to fish it. 

Reel grip / I have a brand new float tube if your interested.. pm if so.


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

snag said:


> I only went below the walborn spillway once , it’s different from some I’ve been at, but it flows into that stream that goes into deer creek real brushy below the dam outlet looks to rough to fish it.
> 
> Reel grip / I have a brand new float tube if your interested.. pm if so.
> 
> ...


I really appreciate the offer, but with these old legs I would 
get out there and never make it back. I better stay in my boat.
Was you around there when they drained that lake?


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

REEL GRIP said:


> I really appreciate the offer, but with these old legs I would
> get out there and never make it back. I better stay in my boat.
> Was you around there when they drained that lake?


That’s ok on the tube that’s why I’m going to sell it my old legs would cramp up so bad I’d never get back. Yeah we shore fished it when it was partially drained back in the early 80s I think. I’ll b in a 12 ft sports pal canoe now .back to basics for me plus some wading.

cJ forgot about any good areas- we use to go out to some underwater humps out past the point on the left heading out in front of the dam, they about line up with the point and a real small crappy bay across the lake. Shallow like 10/13 ft deep then drop off on the dam sides, back then no wipers they just started the walleyes then. But I’d bet wipers would hold on the humps. Bass did then with Carolina rigs.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

I forgot to mention I talked to a local last week at deer creek and he said deer creek was stocked with wipers two years after walborn. So they should be pretty good size now.


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

I saw a Wiper posted here on OGF a while back caught at Walborn.
Looked to be pushing 10 lbs.


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## Tall Tales (Aug 28, 2018)

c. j. stone said:


> Snag, I live fairly close to Walborn and Deer Creek. The little bit I know abt these lakes, I've never been "intrigued" by either one enough to want to make them a regular stop but you must know something I don't! Outside of "maybe" a few(assuming very few!) walleye that "might" be swimming there, abt all I have heard is smallish crappie, farly good channel cats, and a few decent LM(none of which I really target-I like to fish good-sized panfish, incl. perch, and walleye mostly). Can you tell me why you go to both fairly frequently? Am I missing something? PM me if you don't want to "unbag" the cat(publicly)!


Hey CJ, maybe we can help! 

As far as Walborn goes, I feel it's the most underrated lake that we have in our area. Here's some short points:

-Crappie fishing here is the most popular spot of any of our area lakes once April hits. People typically fish near Reeder Rd. almost all year round from shore. I have personally had days from a small Jon boat near the bridges where I have caught more than 100+ crappie (most between 8-11") on small jigs. 
-We see the biggest channel cats actually come from Walborn if you average out each fish we see from each lake (the biggest actually come from Deer Creek). 
-We saw two beautiful walleye come from there (they are very rare but still in there) that were 31" and 28" respectively (pics are on our FaceBook page). 
-The largemouth we see there are pound for pound bigger than any of our area lakes, usually seeing a few between 4-7 pounds each year. They are easily accessible when they are on their beds in the late spring. 
-If you enjoy catching wipers, very nice fish are in there as well (we saw a few over 7# last year). 

For Deer Creek, it tends to peak and valley more than Walborn:

-There are some musky in there and we hear of fish being seen each year, but struggle to be caught as people are rarely prepared for the bite. 
-Wipers are also here and are caught more readily as of the last few years and get to nice sizes (over 5 pounds) 
-While not pursued as often as they should be, there is some decent perch fishing at Deer Creek with minnows or perch
-The ice fishing here is actually really good for bluegill
-Channel cats are stocked here in the odd numbered years and they produce year after year. If you needed a place to take a little one to keep them interested, the smaller cats and bluegills are readily caught here each year. 
-We did see a 55# catfish caught and released from Deer Creek while fishing for crappies with minnows in the spring of 2018. 

Hope that gives you some more insight! Both are great lakes for aspiring anglers and kids alike!


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

snag said:


> I only went below the walborn spillway once , it’s different from some I’ve been at, but it flows into that stream that goes into deer creek real brushy below the dam outlet looks to rough to fish it.
> 
> Reel grip / I have a brand new float tube if your interested.. pm if so.
> 
> ...


What float tube do you have if you don't mind me asking?


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

Tall Tales said:


> Hey CJ, maybe we can help!
> 
> As far as Walborn goes, I feel it's the most underrated lake that we have in our area. Here's some short points:
> 
> ...


There you go ruining all the peace and quiet of these lakes for me now! haha. Now they will be full of boats and kayaks. I will see you when the ice is gone and the crappies start eating!


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## Tall Tales (Aug 28, 2018)

BuckeyeFishin07 said:


> There you go ruining all the peace and quiet of these lakes for me now! haha. Now they will be full of boats and kayaks. I will see you when the ice is gone and the crappies start eating!


LOL Sorry! See you then! You will love all of our new crappie stuff! About 40% of our shop is now crappie and 60% is Erie/Walleye. We just added 100 colors of crappie tubes, Strike King Jokers, new Panfish Assassins, a new 4' section of whistler jigs (including small stuff for crappie), so much new stuff coming!


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## louisvillefisherman (Jun 9, 2012)

Walborn is a lesser known treasure trove. For a few years I fished it exclusively and rarely did I have a skunk day. Back then I did not "target" any particular species so any tug on the line was a win in my book. Lots of cats, crappie, tiny perch and BIG bass.

My favorite spot is the point that extends into the middle of the lake. Look for the park bench. The point runs directly out from it. Fish stack on either side of it.

This "larger than my ruler (at the time)" LMB came from that peninsula:


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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

Not sure if this record still stands?

Don.


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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

After further investigation. Deer creek lake or <state park> near Mt Streling Oh. is where record wiper came from. And it is 18.32 lbs.

Don.


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

I was gonna say I think that is the Deer Creek in Southern Ohio


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

BuckeyeFishin07 said:


> What float tube do you have if you don't mind me asking?


The float tube is sold pending meeting up with Don. If anything changes I’ll drop you a line.


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

snag said:


> The float tube is sold pending meeting up with Don. If anything changes I’ll drop you a line.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thank you sir


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Today I called stark parks about if deer creek is staying electric motors only being they are fixing up the ramp, and they are because its alliance water supply.


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

A few years back 12-14, they had Xmas tree piles all over the ice on Deer Creek. I gps’ed them but lost the cords a year or so ago. Wood is key for icing nice crappy in that lake. We walked across from that small parking lot to the downed trees on the other side.


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

STRONGPERSUADER said:


> A few years back 12-14, they had Xmas tree piles all over the ice on Deer Creek. I gps’ed them but lost the cords a year or so ago. Wood is key for icing nice crappy in that lake. We walked across from that small parking lot to the downed trees on the other side.


I've pulled up on those downed trees while bass fishing.
The whole screen goes black with Crappie.


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

REEL GRIP said:


> I've pulled up on those downed trees while bass fishing.
> The whole screen goes black with Crappie.


You didn’t happen to get all the cords again did ya? Lol


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

STRONGPERSUADER said:


> You didn’t happen to get all the cords again did ya? Lol


You can't miss those trees. 40 to 50 ft. out into the water.
Straight across the lake from the boat ramp. 3 or4 of'em.


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## slashbait (Jun 26, 2008)

Did they fix that problem with the dam at Walborn? Last time I was there a couple years ago that lake was way low.


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

I was there in the fall, water was down maybe a foot from full.
Problems with that dam for years.


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## BuckeyeFishin07 (Apr 10, 2017)

slashbait said:


> Did they fix that problem with the dam at Walborn? Last time I was there a couple years ago that lake was way low.


I am pretty sure they have not fixed the dam!


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## Mike Hatfield (Sep 2, 2015)

Lost one at the hole about 14" today probably caught 30 crappie all together with 8keeppers


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

Looks as tho you maybe walked across to the wood. Good job.


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## Mike Hatfield (Sep 2, 2015)

Thanks ya we were on the other side alot of shore line over there lol


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## HeaVyMeTaLFiSHinGFiEnD (Oct 2, 2010)

Mike Hatfield said:


> Lost one at the hole about 14" today probably caught 30 crappie all together with 8keeppers


Those are nice. How deep of water were they hitting?


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## Mike Hatfield (Sep 2, 2015)

10 to 14'


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Hit deer creek this afternoon till near dark, nothing but dink gills and they shut off close to five.. sketchy getting on at spots a lot of broken chunks near shore, a good 5 inches of ice, a big section open by the highway culvert. Looked at the new ramp looks like stone put in, don’t know if there done. Probaly better than before.










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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

I seen that gravel to ,don,t think were getting a cement ramp.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Probaly the gravel and a new concrete dock is it ,and redoing the parking lots next. Still anything done is better than nothing. 

At la due they don’t do anything to the parking lots or ramps.


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## REEL GRIP (Jan 11, 2013)

snag said:


> Probaly the gravel and a new concrete dock is it ,and redoing the parking lots next. Still anything done is better than nothing.
> 
> At la due they don’t do anything to the parking lots or ramps.
> 
> ...


A few years ago, the state offered to put in a nice boat ramp and parking lot
at Ladue if they would allow gas motors. City of Akron said no.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

That’s true, it’s something also to do with a tax that could be used for ramp improvements if motors were allowed. It’s to bad ,those ramps have never been the greatest.


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## Mike Hatfield (Sep 2, 2015)

snag said:


> Hit deer creek this afternoon till near dark, nothing but dink gills and they shut off close to five.. sketchy getting on at spots a lot of broken chunks near shore, a good 5 inches of ice, a big section open by the highway culvert. Looked at the new ramp looks like stone put in, don’t know if there done. Probaly better than before.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the report snag by chance did you happen to pull into the parking lot down by the causeway was wondering how far over the open water came over


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Mike Hatfield said:


> Thanks for the report snag by chance did you happen to pull into the parking lot down by the causeway was wondering how far over the open water came over


 That was where I ended up going, didn’t want to mess the the ramp area , to much shore broken up fo me to try. Parked by the lot guardrail and easy step onto good ice ,went toward the culvert flow which is about 50 some yards open. I was about forty yards from it on 5 inches of good ice.


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## Mike Hatfield (Sep 2, 2015)

Thanks


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## RAPID7 (Feb 17, 2012)

https://starkparks.com/parks/deer-creek-reservoir/


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