DeKalb County Public Fishing Lake
DeKalb County Public Fishing Lake is a 120-acre ADCNR State Public Fishing Lake on Sand Mountain one mile north of Sylvania — stocked with largemouth, bluegill, redear, channel catfish, and crappie, with covered piers, campsites, and rental boats.

Covered Fishing Piers
ADCNR-built covered fishing piers on the developed shoreline near the concessions building — the headline bank-fishing structure on the lake, shaded from the Sand Mountain sun, with easy access for families and anglers fishing with kids · Crickets, red wigglers, and waxworms on a small hook under a slip bobber for bluegill and redear off the pier; chicken liver or nightcrawler on a slip-sinker rig for channel catfish at dusk; small tube jig or minnow vertical-dropped for crappie in early spring · Spring + Summer + Fall

Boat Ramp + Concessions Cove
Developed-shoreline cove anchoring the boat ramp, rental-boat dock, and concessions building — rental jon boats launch here, bait and tackle are sold on site, and daily permits are checked at the office · Launch a rental jon boat or personal boat (fishing permit plus launch permit required); work the cove edges with a wacky-rigged Senko for largemouth at first light, a small jig-and-minnow for crappie on the ramp pilings in spring, a bobber-and-cricket for bream off the concessions-side bank · Year-round

Main Pool / Open Water
Open-water main pool of the 120-acre impoundment — the deepest, clearest water on the lake, the summer holding zone for largemouth pulling off shoreline cover, and the target for suspended crappie on brush piles in winter · Drop-shot or Carolina-rigged worm on mid-pool structure in summer for largemouth off the bank; vertical-jig a 1/16-ounce hair jig tipped with a minnow over suspended crappie schools in late winter; a small inline spinner covers water for bream and bass ahead of a bite · Summer + Winter

Shoreline Timber + Brush Piles
Shoreline timber edges and sunken brush piles along the less-developed banks — natural cover for bluegill, redear, crappie, and bedding largemouth; ADCNR maintains and refreshes lake habitat as part of the intensive-management PFL program · Flip a small jig to shoreline wood for largemouth in April; long-line a 1/16-ounce crappie jig through visible timber in March; cricket under a slip-bobber on the shallow brush-edge for bream bedding in May · Spring + Fall

Upper End / Tributary Inflow
Shallow upper end of the impoundment where small Sand Mountain tributaries feed the lake — stained water after rain, shallower spawning flats, and the first zone to warm each spring when bass and bream push up · Square-bill crankbait or ChatterBait on the clear-to-stained seam after spring rain; wacky-rigged stick worm on the spawning flats; small spinner for bluegill staging in 3-5 feet · Spring

DeKalb County Public Fishing Lake — Lake Center