Milford Lake Fishing

Located on the southeast shore of the state’s largest lake, 16,000-acre Milford Reservoir, Milford State Park is a favorite getaway for outdoors loving visitors. It is a popular destination for anglers eager for walleye, crappie, largemouth bass, white bass, catfish and smallmouth bass.

The lake structure consists of flooded brush, edges of flats, rocks, drop-offs, humps, channel ledges, and standing timber. Nearly all of the brushy and rocky coves contain crappie, but the coves around Rolling Hills and Curtis Creek are traditional hot spots. Autumn finds the crappie back in the same haunts as in the spring. Ice fishing in winter in the Curtis Creek area often yields sizable strings of crappie. Milford usually produces a white bass run in the Republican River each spring in late April or early May. In years when the river is high and turbid, a spawning run occurs off the face of the dam, rather than upriver. In summer, the white bass can be taken while trolling deep-diving lures across underwater drop offs. During the hot summer months, night fishing for white bass under lanterns or floating lights is popular. One of the best places for night fishing is Madison Point and along both sides of the Wakefield causeway.

There are many opportunities to observe or photograph wildlife on the 19,000-acre wildlife area located on the west side and upper end of the reservoir. The Steve Lloyd refuge contains an additional 1100 acres. The diverse habitats support many species of non-game birds, mammals, reptiles and aquatic life. Nearby Milford Nature Center and Milford Fish Hatchery (both are located below the dam) offer a variety of interpretive exhibits and displays. The lake hosts a large influx of American Bald Eagles in the winter.