There are some folks who fish here on a regular basis and they love to tell the park staff all their “fish tales.” Some of us even have fish stories of our own to tell.
The following is from a recent email received by Park Manager Robert Chapman, from Greg Heath a local fisherman and friend.
Greg Heath with a nice crappie at Holliday Lake State Park
“Got a little fishing in over the holidays and this past weekend….Kenny and I fished December 26th, the first two pictures are a crappie and a yellow perch we caught that day. We ended up with 29 total fish, mostly chain pickerel, one citation yellow perch and about 8 nice crappie, biggest one in picture. All fish were released."
Kenny with a Yellow Perch, Holliday Lake Dam in the background
"We fished again Monday Jan 2nd, I fished alone in my boat and Kenny fished with his wife’s son, they caught 25 and I caught 20, again mostly chain pickerel and again one citation yellow perch. We kept 6 yellow perch for eating. He fished alone on Friday, caught just 5 yellow perch. We fished again yesterday, me and my 10 year old grandson, Samuel in my boat. Kenny and Charles fished from his boat.
Samuel and his string of fish from Holliday Lake State Park
Samuel and I caught just 8 fish all day, 7 fat yellow perch and one 13 inch bass. We had three citation yellow perch, Samuel caught two of them, I caught one. 10 years old and now has 4 citations! Kenny and Charles caught about 20, they kept just 10 yellow perch and we kept 7 but ours were all nice ones, 3 citations and 3 more just under. A nice stringer of yellow perch. We caught most all of them on live minnows, Samuel did catch two yesterday on a crankbait.”
Another shot of Samuel with a string of fish
Some fish stories are pretty far-fetched and we don’t believe everything we hear. But these guys had pictures! We have also heard from several other fishermen that the yellow perch have really been biting.
While the water level is not back up to full capacity, it is high enough that the boat launch is useable. So bundle up, come on out and try some fishing. If you have a really good fish tale, please share it with our staff. Who doesn't LOVE a good fish tale?
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Location of the park: 2759 State Park Road, Appomattox, Virginia 24522. Access via State Route 24 between Appomattox and U.S. Route 60 and from Routes 626 (Holiday Lake Road), 640 (Wooldridge Road), and 692 (State Park Road).
Approximate drive times: Northern Virginia, three and a half hours; Richmond, two hours; Tidewater/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, four hours; Roanoke, two hours; Farmville, thirty minutes.