Buckeye Lake, OH

Buckeye Lake is in Fairfield, Licking, and Perry counties, approximately 23 miles east of downtown Columbus, 9 miles south of Newark, and 22 miles west of Zanesville. The lake is accessible from State Routes 79, 13, and 204.Buckeye Lake is one of Ohio's oldest impoundments. It was constructed about 1830 primarily to provide water for the extensive canal system being constructed throughout the state at that time. During initial impoundment, one 50-acre area along the north side of the lake, now called Cranberry Bog, rose with the rising water and became a floating bog. It remains as a state nature preserve today. With the rapid demise of the canals shortly after its impoundment, Buckeye Lake survives today as a popular recreational lake of 2,850 acres with a drainage area of 31,488 acres.Buckeye Lake has an average depth of about 6 feet with a maximum depth of about 14 feet. It has a relatively flat bottom without much underwater woody cover.Buckeye Lake has populations of largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie, channel catfish, flathead catfish, white bass, and carp. Fish stocked annually in Buckeye Lake include fingerling saugeye and hybrid striped bass. Gizzard shad is the main forage species.Largemouth bass are taken throughout the lake particularly around docks. Buckeye Lake is considered a good "early" lake to fish for largemouth bass because it warms rapidly in the spring due to its shallowness. Bluegill fishing is good especially in the vegetated portions of the lake. Try fishing prepared baits, nightcrawlers, or soft crawfish lakewide in June and July for channel catfish. Saugeye are taken throughout the year including through the ice. The winter months are often highly productive. Use a jig tipped with a minnow fished near or on the bottom. Another productive method to catch saugeye is to cast or troll 4-6" minnow imitations or shallow running crankbaits. Hybrid striped bass are caught throughout the lake using chicken livers fished on the bottom or by using minnow imitating lures.The Division of Parks and Recreation operates and maintains parking lots, boat ramps and docks, swimming beaches, and picnic areas.