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Home › Waters › Indiana › Eagle Creek
Tailwater · Central Indiana, Marion County, the reach below Eagle Creek Reservoir on the northwest side of Indianapolis · Indiana

Eagle Creek Fishing Guides

The tailwater below Eagle Creek Reservoir inside Indianapolis, urban water with smallmouth, catfish and panfish and unusually easy access.

Mist over a green river between wooded banks
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Eagle Creek

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About the Eagle Creek

Eagle Creek runs south through the northwest side of Indianapolis, is impounded to form Eagle Creek Reservoir, and continues below the dam toward its confluence with the White River. The gauge sits below the reservoir and the station name says so, which makes the reach a tailwater in the working sense used here: its flow is set by reservoir releases rather than by the weather over its one hundred and sixty-two square mile drainage.

What distinguishes this water is its setting. Eagle Creek Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States, and the corridor below the dam keeps a surprising amount of woodland for a stream running through a city of this size. That means an angler can fish genuinely decent warmwater habitat within a short drive of downtown Indianapolis, which is rare and worth stating plainly.

The fishery is a standard Midwestern warmwater mix, better than its urban location suggests. Smallmouth bass hold in the faster water and around rock below the dam, largemouth use the slower pools, and rock bass and longear sunfish fill the pockets. Channel catfish are common and flatheads work the deeper holes and woody cover. Crappie, bluegill, freshwater drum and carp are all taken regularly, and the tailrace itself concentrates fish after a release.

Urban streams carry urban cautions. Flow can change abruptly with dam operation, storm runoff arrives fast off paved ground, and anglers should check state and local consumption advisories before keeping fish. Wading is straightforward at normal levels, and kayaks open the lower reach toward the White River confluence. Indiana manages the creek under general state regulations, and the park itself sets its own hours and access rules that anglers should check.

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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.

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Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Eagle Creek.

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.

Access

Eagle Creek Park - the main public access, immediately above and below the dam.
Eagle Creek Reservoir - the impoundment upstream with developed ramps.
Indianapolis - the city itself, for tackle, guides and lodging.
56th Street crossing - road access to the reach below the dam.
Speedway - access to the middle reach downstream.
White River confluence - the larger receiving water at the lower end.
Eagle Creek Greenway - trail access to bank fishing along the corridor.

Seasons

Spring: high releases and the strongest smallmouth and crappie fishing of the year.
Summer: catfish in the deeper holes and bass early and late in the day.
Fall: clearing water and active smallmouth through the rock below the dam.
Winter: slow, with catfish and crappie in the deep pools near the tailrace.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Eagle Creek?

As of Sep 17, 5:00 am, the USGS gauge EAGLE CREEK BELOW RESERVOIR AT INDIANAPOLIS, IN reads 22 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Eagle Creek?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, White Crappie on the Eagle Creek in Indiana.

Where can you access the Eagle Creek?

Eagle Creek Park - the main public access, immediately above and below the dam. Eagle Creek Reservoir - the impoundment upstream with developed ramps. Indianapolis - the city itself, for tackle, guides and lodging. 56th Street crossing - road access to the reach below the dam. Speedway - access to the middle reach downstream. White River confluence - the larger receiving water at the lower end. Eagle Creek Greenway - trail access to bank fishing along the corridor.

When is the best time to fish the Eagle Creek?

Spring: high releases and the strongest smallmouth and crappie fishing of the year. Summer: catfish in the deeper holes and bass early and late in the day. Fall: clearing water and active smallmouth through the rock below the dam. Winter: slow, with catfish and crappie in the deep pools near the tailrace.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Eagle Creek?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Indiana agency site: https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/fishing/fishing-guide-and-regulations/