Triad Treasure

Oak Hollow Lake at High Point offers one-stop shopping for anglers seeking variety, especially during summer.

There’s nothing hollow about Triad’s Oak Hollow Lake, tucked away in High Point.This 810-acre lake offers one-stop shopping for Tar Heel anglers seeking a multitude of freshwater species. Oak Hollow’s residents include largemouths, channel catfish, Bodie bass, stripers, shellcrackers, bluegills, robins, pumpkinseeds and crappies.

The Guilford County impoundment has coughed up some monstrous-size fish. On top of that, it’s a good spot for quantity. A primary water supply for the City of High Point, Oak Hollow supplies anglers with an all-around good fishery.

West Fork and Deep River feed Oak Hollow Lake as it winds its way to the Jesse Heywood Washburn Memorial Dam. Anglers with full-size bass boats might think 810 acres is not enough water to explore, but that would be a grave mistake. This small lake fishes much larger than its surface acreage denotes, and oddly, can support quite a few boats.

What’s the catch?

“Good populations of channel catfish and hybrid-striped bass (Bodie bass) exist in Oak Hollow,” said Brian McRae, a district fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “Fair populations of sunfish, including bluegill, redbreast, redear and pumpkinseed exist, too. The crappie population was excellent in past years. However, that part of the fishery appears to have declined recently.”

Hybrids provide anglers a fun recreational fishery with the potential for some large specimens.

“We attempt to stock 10,000 hybrid-striped bass in Oak Hollow annually,” McRae said.

McRae and his colleagues survey Oak Hollow for different fish species, regularly checking the lake’s pulse to determine if adjustments are necessary. If tweaks are needed, the biologists may alter size and possession limits or increase stocking.

“The last crappie survey was conducted in 1997,” he said. “These data indicated that crappie were tending toward a stunted population. Black crappies were reaching 7 inches after age 2, and white crappies were reaching 8 inches after age 2. These growth rates are considered slow for Piedmont reservoirs. The largest crappie collected was 13 inches long and weighed 1.3 pounds.

“Largemouth bass were collected using electro-fishing (gear). The catch rate was 0.5 fish per minute. This is an average catch rate for Piedmont reservoirs. Approximately 70 percent of the largemouth bass collected were greater than the harvestable size of 14 inches. These fish are in good condition, and the fishery is in good shape, particularly regarding their plumpness. I remember large bass being collected off of steep banks in wooded structure.”

Predator fish at Oak Hollow include the usual Piedmont assortment. Informal collections during largemouth and crappie surveys indicated to biologists the forage base is mostly sunfish, juvenile gizzard shad and threadfin shad.

“Previous surveys indicated the largemouth bass and crappie fisheries would benefit from liberal harvest practices,” McRae said.

The WRC conducted largemouth bass and crappie surveys during 2005 to determine the current status of those fisheries.

“Angler opinion suggests the put-grow-and-take hybrid-striped bass fishery continues to be a success,” McRae said. “Anecdotal data suggests there is an abundance of small white perch in the lake. Any possible interactions between white perch and the other sport fish are yet to be determined.”
Local Knowledge

“I like to key on depths of 11 to 20 feet for crappies, year-round,” said Lawrence Harris, a High Point native and the Oak Hollow Lake record-holder for crappie. “I study my depth-finder religiously to locate brush piles in the lake. I look for the biggest crappie I can find. I’d rather catch one nice one than 100 small crappie.”

And Harris has caught some big fish during his years of fishing at the lake. His lake-record crappie weighed 2 pounds, 13 ounces, and stretched the tape to 17 inches. Harris, 75, has been angling for Oak Hollow slabs since 1985. He caught the record fish April 8, 2002, and lost a bigger fish at the boat the following year, he said.

Harris is a believer in the right-time/right-place theory. When turtles are on logs in the spring, the crappie are turned on, he said.

“The fuller the dogwoods are in bloom, the better the crappie bite,” Harris said. “I’d say the latter part of March through mid-April, and October, are my favorite times to be at this lake when it comes to crappie fishing.

“During the March-April time frame, as well as October, the water temperature is likely to be in the 62-degree range. I like a day without much wind, and for me, 62 degrees is the magic number.

“In summertime, I like to fish in the morning for my own comfort, before the day gets hot, but I fish a bit deeper, say, 20 feet when it’s hot outside. If the 20-foot areas aren’t showing crappie on the depth-finder, then I’ll move to an alternate spot. I fish about 40 different places at Oak Hollow, so I like to move around if one area isn’t working.”

He fishes mostly with a minnow impaled on a 2/0 brass Aberdeen hook or with crappie jigs tipped with small minnows. He is an advocate of 1/8-ounce jigheads (red or yellow head with a green tube) and barely moves his boat with the trolling motor, pulling the baits with his rods mounted in rod-holders. His goal is to keep the lines almost straight down so he always knows the depth of his baits.

“Watch the depth-finder and if the depth changes a bit, turn the reel handle a turn or two if you’re moving into shallower water,” Harris said. “I like to keep my baits about 2 feet off the bottom.”

This slab master knows exactly how many minnows to bring for an outing —he figures a dozen for each hour he plans to fish.

“A good spot to catch crappie at Oak Hollow is under the Route 311 bridge, between the pilings,” he said. “Additionally, there are brush piles all over the lake. All you have to do is look on the depth-finder from about 12- to 20-feet out from the bank, and you can locate plenty of them.

“The best (brush piles) are unseen above the water. Otherwise, everyone else can see them, too. Blowdowns that come into the water are okay, but everyone fishes these. I like to fish where it’s not so obvious.”
Stripers and Hybrids

As McRae mentioned, the hybrid fishery at Oak Hollow is a success. Jim Karriker, another High Point angler, makes it a point to chase hybrids and stripers at this Piedmont lake. He also is a current record-holder at Oak Hollow for his 22-pound butterball of a striper. Karriker, 60, has landed hybrids as big as 10 pounds, although there are some larger specimens roaming this lake.

“I’d say the average hybrid weighs between 3 and 4 pounds, with occasional bigger ones,” Karriker said. “As for stripers, the average is along the lines of about 10 pounds or more.”

Striper fishing is normally best during the cooler months at any lake, and Oak Hollow is no exception.

“I think wintertime at Oak Hollow is the best for hybrids and stripers because the bite is just plain better,” the soft-spoken Karriker said. “Plus, you don’t have to deal with crowds like in the summer.”

He uses a cast net to collect his bait (gizzard and threadfin shad) but will occasionally pick up baitfish — such as large shiners — at the local marina.

“I prefer to hook the shad or shiner through both nostrils to keep the bait alive longer,” he said. “It also keeps the bait attached to the hook better. I use an Owner Live-Bait hook in a No. 4 size. It’s a pretty small hook, but it works.

“I match my hook size to the size of the bait, and I tend to use small bait at Oak Hollow. I use a trolling sinker that has eyelets at both ends with a 4-foot fluorocarbon leader attached to the hook. I tend to use 1- to 1 1/2-ounce sinkers.

“I fish four down rods at different depths and two free-liners to hunt for the right depth to find their comfort zone. I usually have about a 2-foot difference in depth for each rod and the free-lined baits are considerably shallower.”

Karriker either barely moves his boat with the trolling motor or will anchor at choice locations.

“One of the prime spots at Oak Hollow is the left-most point of the mouth of the first creek on the opposite shoreline from the marina,” he said. “The point on the left of the creek mouth has a drop-off from 14 to 27 feet. Hybrids and stripers hang out at the drop or ledge. There are times that they’re up on the flat feeding, too, and when that happens, this is a good spot to anchor and cast to them with live bait.”

Karriker also trolls or casts a 3/8-ounce leadhead tipped with a shad body or a bucktail dressed with a plastic worm. As the seasons change, this linesider hunter does not change tactics much — nor locations.

“I downsize my artificial lures and live bait in the wintertime, but in the spring and summer I use a little more speed on my trolling motor and step up my bucktail size to 3/4-ounce,” he said. “I use a double rig — a bucktail with a worm about 5 feet in front of a Sassy Shad with a 3/8-ounce lead-head jig. I attach both of these with three-way swivels. My leader for the bucktail in front is about 18 inches, and the leadhead with the Sassy Shad is about 6 feet. One thing I’ve found over the years is chartreuse baits far outperform other colors.”

Karriker fishes the same way for stripers and hybrids. He catches them at the same locations and same depths, but each day varies.
Follow the Bait

“I follow the bait,” he said. “If you find the bait, sooner or later the fish are going to show up.

“In summertime, I fish a little faster with larger baits (6- to 7-inch live shad). Regarding artificial lures, I fish them the same whether it’s summer or winter, but in the summer everything is a little deeper.”

Deep is a relative term since Oak Hollow is somewhat shallow, at least in terms of striper habitat.

“The deepest spots that I’ve caught hybrids and stripers is about 18 feet,” he said. “Most of the fish I catch are in the 10- to 14-foot range.”

Although Oak Hollow’s largemouths are slow-growers, apparently High Point’s Charlie Hill didn’t get the memo. Hill, 59, has landed between 20 and 25 lunkers weighing 10 pounds or more, with the most recent one caught during August 2003. He has added three 9-pounders since then.

Hill, tied for the current lake-record largemouth with an 11-pound, 14-ounce pig, also has the hybrid record of 16 pounds, 2 ounces. Hill has been fishing Oak Hollow since it opened and was familiar with the terrain before it was impounded.

“I used to fish the farm ponds that are now underneath the lake when I was a boy,” he said. “I used to hunt rabbits and squirrels at what is now under water, too.”

He knows every creek that feeds this gold mine of a municipal lake.
Find Right Structure

“In the summer, I recommend visitors fish underwater brush piles, drop-offs and any submerged structure,” Hill said. “I like to drag my baits up the drop-offs during the day, but during low-light conditions, I reverse this and drag them from shallow water to the deeper areas. There is a great-big sunken island in the middle of the lake (marked with a buoy) that can be good in the heat of summer by using a Carolina-rigged lizard. In the evening I use a buzzbait and a Pop-R on top of the sunken island.”

When fall arrives, Hill recommends following baitfish as they migrate to secondary points.

“Crankbaits are the best lure for me in the fall time frame,” he said.

In winter, Hill and his partners catch bass by using jigging spoons, Little Georges, Silver Buddys or crankbaits.

“If we get a few sunny days in a row during winter, we can catch them in the treetops that extend out into the water with crankbaits,” he said.

In springtime, Hill said anglers can catch bass using just about any kind of lure.

“In early spring, crankbaits are the deal, but later in the season when they move up on flats, spinnerbaits are probably the best choice,” he said. “If you get on the right points while they’re staging, you can load up.

“It’s been a great lake in the past, but we had a bit of an off-period,” he said. “I do believe it’s on the rebound because we’re putting together some nice sacks of bass again.

“It’s important to know the structure and pay attention to the depth-finder. Finding deep structure and using a Carolina-rig is how I’ve caught most of my 10-pounders. I’ve also caught many of my best fish during Thursday night tournaments with Texas-rigged worms and lizards at the deep rocks.

“Areas near the golf course are the best places to start in summer because there are a lot of deep-water rocks and they hold summertime bass, especially at night.”

So, does anyone still believe 810 acres is too small to consider fishing? If it’s Oak Hollow Lake, think again.