Three Lakes Park

Fishing

Lake No.1 as historically been one of the better public lakes for bass angling in the Richmond Metropolitan area. In the spring of 2000, this lake was incorporated into the Department’s Community Lakes Improvement program (CLIP) in an effort to sustain and improve the fishery. Under this program, additional bass, grass carp, hybrid bluegill, and harvestable-size channel catfish had been stocked. Past electrofishing surveys revealed a stunted population of bluegill with a strong population of bass up to 17 inches in total length. This lake and the other Henrico County Park impoundments have now been included into DWR’s FishLocalVA initiative.  

The full community electrofishing survey conducted on April 30^th, 2019 revealed the presence of 14 fish species. The two species that comprised the majority of the survey were bluegill (86%) and largemouth bass (6%). The survey collected a total of 497 bluegill with a high proportion of fish in the 3 to 5-inch range. The survey showed an increased concentration of 5 to 7-inch fish with the largest bluegill measured at 7.6 inches. The survey revealed additional species diversity with limited populations of redear, warmouth, and pumpkinseed sunfish. 

Three electrofishing survey days (4/23, 4/30, and 5/7) were used to access the largemouth bass population. The largemouth bass collections remained rather consistent with the majority of the bass collected from the upper half of the lake. The collected bass revealed several prominent year classes of recruitment, with a higher concentration of adult bass than any of the other Henrico County Park impoundments. The 2017 and 2018 year classes were observed in the collection, but did not impress with overall size and abundance. The survey was successful in catching a pair of 5-pound largemouth bass along with decent abundance of 2 to 3-pound bass. The presence of gizzard shad will provide forage for the adult bass that have switched from their diet of consuming small bluegill. Gizzard shad can provide an extra boost to the growth rate of bass. Three Lakes Park Lake #1 provides anglers the best chance out of the Henrico County Park impoundments at catching a 5-pound plus bass.   

The black crappie population appears to be rather limited. The three survey days collected only 18 black crappie with the majority of fish in the 5 to 7-inch range. One larger crappie of 11.7 inches provided additional excitement. Anglers should not expect to catch too many larger crappie at this time. The surveys revealed a limited abundance of channel catfish with only 3 collected. These fish were in great physical shape and ranged in size from 16 to 22 inches. We suspect that many catfish had been caught by anglers and plan to continue stocking this lake at the maximum allowable rate annually during the fall. The bowfin population within the lake will provide additional excitement for anglers. Bowfin are a native fish species to Virginia and they serve as another predator fish to feed upon the stunted bluegill population. Anglers are encouraged to practice catch and release on the bowfin.  

Lake No. 2 is closed to fishing.

Lake No.3 is not accessible to our sampling gear, and therefore, we have no information regarding the status of the fish populations there at this time. Efforts will hopefully be made during the fall of 2019 to see if a small electrofishing boat can be hand launched into the lake.

Biologist Reports

• 2018 Three Lakes Park Lake Popular Report
• 2017 Three Lakes Park Lake Management Report
• Three Lakes Park Lake 1 Report 2015
• 2010 Three Lakes Park Bio Rpt
• 2006 Three Lk Bio Rpt