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Location - Fool Hollow Lake is located less than two miles from downtown Show Low, off of Old Linden Road. Access Old Linden Road either from Highway 60 in town or at its western end from Highway 260.
Description - Fool Hollow was named for a hapless settler who attempted to farm the rocky canyon in the 1880s. The Arizona Game and Fish Department constructed the lake in 1957 specifically to provide water-oriented outdoor recreation. Fool Hollow Lake consists of 150 surface acres, with an average depth of 23 feet. It is located within the Fool Hollow Recreation Area, and is cooperatively managed by the Arizona State Parks Department, the U.S. Forest Service, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and the City of Show Low. The elevation of the lake is 6,260 feet. It contains self-sustaining populations of largemouth and smallmouth bass, sunfish, walleye, carp and black crappie. The Arizona Game and Fish Department stocks the lake with catchable-sized rainbow trout throughout the spring and summer, and occasionally stocks channel catfish.
Amenities - Arizona State Parks maintains visitor amenities that include 31 tent camping sites, 92 RV sites with water and electric hookups, two boat ramps, two fish-cleaning stations, picnic tables, barrier-free restrooms, showers, drinking water and a dump station. Additionally, there are four barrier-free fishing piers, ten single-family picnic ramadas and five large-group ramadas that can each accommodate up to 150 people. Fees are $20 per night for a site with hookups, $15 per night for tent camping and $6 per vehicle for day users. Day-use anglers can use the west side boat ramp and parking lot free of charge. In the summer, the Forest Service presents an outdoor speaker program each Saturday evening starting at dusk; topics are nature-related.
Fishing Techniques - Fool Hollow Lake provides a great opportunity for novices and kids to catch anything that bites. For these folks, night crawlers on the bottom or under a bobber are a good way to go. More experienced anglers can try spinner baits, jigs and night crawler rigs around underwater rocky structure, where large bass and walleye lurk. This is a great lake to catch trophy-sized walleye. Catch catfish in summer and early fall with night crawlers or chicken livers on the bottom. The lake is open year round, rarely icing over and never for long. Trout and walleye fishing are fair year-round.
Special Notes - Statewide fishing regulations apply and a trout stamp is required. The daily bag limit is six trout, six bass (any species), six walleye, and 25 catfish for licensed anglers. Bag limits are halved for unlicensed anglers under the age of 14. There is no bag limit on crappie, sunfish or carp. Fool Hollow Lake holds the current Catch and Release State Records for smallmouth bass (21 inches) and walleye (33 inches).
Boat motors are restricted to electric or 10hp or less gas motors. It's illegal to move live fish from one lake or stream to another because of the potential to harm existing fisheries. Without exception, no live baitfish may be used or be in possession on any fishable waters in Apache or Navajo Counties.
Please pack out your trash, including discarded fishing line and other tackle.
