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Home › Waters › Delaware › Garrisons Lake
Lake · Kent County near Cheswold, just south of Smyrna, one of the larger state ponds on the Delaware coastal plain · Delaware

Garrisons Lake Fishing Guides

An eighty-four acre Kent County millpond with a rebuilt concrete ramp and an accessible footbridge, among the most fished bass waters in Delaware.

An angler on a dock beside a moored boat on a calm reservoir
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Garrisons Lake

Garrisons Lake lies in Kent County near Cheswold, a short distance south of Smyrna, and covers about eighty-four acres. Like most of Delaware’s public fishing waters it is a millpond rather than a natural lake, a shallow coastal plain impoundment with timber, lily pads and weed edges rather than depth. That shape suits largemouth bass, and the state’s own material notes that a four to five pound fish is a realistic goal here.

It is one of the five most heavily fished ponds in the state and sits in the top tier for bass tournaments, which is worth knowing before planning a weekend trip. Club traffic is common, and the parking area fills early on tournament mornings. Midweek the same water is quiet, and the pond fishes better for it.

Facilities are unusually good for a pond this size. The concrete boat ramp was rebuilt and reopened in the autumn of two thousand twenty one, and it handles everything from a hand-carried jon boat to a trailered twenty foot bass boat, with a courtesy dock and a repaved lot. A hundred and forty foot accessible aluminium footbridge, installed in two thousand twelve, carries bank anglers out toward the spillway and opens up water that was previously hard to reach on foot.

Beyond bass, the pond holds black crappie, bluegill and other sunfish, chain pickerel along the weed edges, and catfish and bullhead in the deeper water near the dam. American eel are present, as they are throughout the Delaware coastal plain. A Delaware fishing licence and a Fisherman Information Network number are both required, and statewide pond regulations apply. Anglers should confirm any current motor restriction with the state before launching, as pond rules vary across the system.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

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5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

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Pool right now

5.72ft NAVD88
  • 24 hours-0.03 ft → steady

Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 01483510, GARRISONS LAKE NEAR CHESWOLD, DE. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Posting to Garrisons Lake.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Garrisons Lake ft (NAVD88)

Now: 5.72 ft pool elevation, read 5:15 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 01483510, GARRISONS LAKE NEAR CHESWOLD, DE).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Garrisons Lake boat ramp - the rebuilt concrete ramp with a courtesy dock and repaved parking area.
Accessible footbridge - the hundred and forty foot aluminium span giving bank anglers access toward the spillway.
Spillway - the dam end of the pond, a natural holding area and a productive bank spot.
Cheswold - the nearest village, a few minutes away on Route 13.
Smyrna - the larger town just north, with tackle, fuel and food.
Dover - the state capital south on Route 13, with full services and licence vendors.
Lake Como and Garrisons Lake area ponds - the other Kent County millponds nearby, useful alternatives on tournament weekends.

Seasons

Spring: the strongest window, with bass spawning in the shallows and crappie stacked on the timber.
Summer: warm and weedy, with bass under the pads early and late and catfish through the night.
Fall: cooling water pulls bass back onto the edges and gives a second reliable stretch for crappie.
Winter: slow but fishable on mild days, with pickerel the most cooperative fish and catfish in the deeper water.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Garrisons Lake?

Anglers target American Eel, Black Crappie, Bluegill, Bullhead, Chain Pickerel, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Largemouth Bass, Redear Sunfish, Warmouth on the Garrisons Lake in Delaware.

Where can you access the Garrisons Lake?

Garrisons Lake boat ramp - the rebuilt concrete ramp with a courtesy dock and repaved parking area. Accessible footbridge - the hundred and forty foot aluminium span giving bank anglers access toward the spillway. Spillway - the dam end of the pond, a natural holding area and a productive bank spot. Cheswold - the nearest village, a few minutes away on Route 13. Smyrna - the larger town just north, with tackle, fuel and food. Dover - the state capital south on Route 13, with full services and licence vendors. Lake Como and Garrisons Lake area ponds - the other Kent County millponds nearby, use...

When is the best time to fish the Garrisons Lake?

Spring: the strongest window, with bass spawning in the shallows and crappie stacked on the timber. Summer: warm and weedy, with bass under the pads early and late and catfish through the night. Fall: cooling water pulls bass back onto the edges and gives a second reliable stretch for crappie. Winter: slow but fishable on mild days, with pickerel the most cooperative fish and catfish in the deeper water.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Garrisons Lake?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Delaware agency site: https://dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/fishing/regulations/