Paint Creek Lake Bass Fishing Report

Paint Creek Lake is only 13 miles away from Rocky Fork Lake in southwestern Ohio, so if you are in the area, be sure to plan a trip to both lakes! Paint Creek Lake is a long, narrow lake with dramatic high wall sides and ample natural shoreline. The 77 – 82 degree water is stained and hard bottomed, making it a perfect habitat for small mouth bass. We found it to be another lake just chock full of giant balls of bait fish everywhere. Hard to compete with that, but deep crankbaits that run 8 – 10 feet tempted small bass to bite. Used shad colored baits successfully along the creek channel. Sorry about the picture, took it at the last minute before he released the fish and never caught another to get a better picture!  I Got the chance to speak to a local angler who uses Ned rigs and jigs this time of year to catch bass. This lake looks as if the water can get really high – several feet higher than its current level of water. It looked somewhat low if anything. We used the Deer Park launch ramp, which is in great condition with a huge parking lot and lots of shoreline fishing available. The marina is adjacent to the boat ramp area, and camping very close by in the same park.