OXFORD - Barreling north across Falls Lake on Interstate 85, you'll notice it's full. With this year's rains, the once-dry lake bed is now under water and this premier North Carolina largemouth bass lake is flush with anglers, pleasure boaters and jet skiers.

Anglers looking for a slower pace shouldn't back off the gas until they get to the Oxford exit, another 15 minutes north, where a few miles off the interstate they'll find something a little unexpected -- another premier bass fishery, Lake Devin.

The lake easily ranks among the top small-water bass lakes in the Triangle, said Corey Oakley, the District 5 fisheries biologist for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

"Without a doubt, Lake Devin in Oxford probably has the No. 1 trophy bass fishery in terms of the city lakes and maybe district wide," Oakley said. "It's a quality fishery.

"If I had to pick one reservoir that I wanted to go bass fishing in, in the Triangle it would be Lake Devin."

The Triangle is shared between wildlife District 5 and District 3. Kirk Rundle, the District 3 biologist, ranks Raleigh's Lake Wheeler No. 1 in his district, but at 650 acres, it is about three times the size of Lake Devin.

Lake Wheeler also allows boats to use gas motors. At Lake Devin, boats with gas motors can launch, but the gas motors can't be operated. Electric trolling motors are the only non-human power allowed.

The reason Lake Devin is such a good fishery, Oakley said, is the forage population. It has good numbers of gizzard shad and small bluegills. Another reason is the management plan.

Mary Caudle, director of the Oxford Parks and Recreation Department solicited input from wildlife commission about how to manage the lake.

"They sent their wildlife biologist in, and we became partners with the Community Fishing Program, and so they do an intensive lake management program for us," Caudle said. "... Their first recommendation to us was more people needed to fish this lake because it was overpopulated."

Although boat fishing has always been allowed at the lake, the city changed the ordinances in 2005 to allow bank fishing. The city also worked with the wildlife commission to install an accessible fishing pier and fish feeders, all done through federal and state grants used for developing the property as a natural resource.

The biologists periodically conduct surveys, using a shocking boat to stun fish then scoop them up in a net and record their size, weight and health.

And there is good news from Lake Devin.

"It's nothing to shock all the shorelines and just catch fish after fish after fish," Oakley said. "I mean, it's just one fish after another and they are all quality fish."

Testing the waters

A couple of recent trips proved how good this lake is. I joined longtime friend Terry Pigford of Durham and hit the lake at daybreak. You can fish from sunrise to sunset every day from March 1 to Dec. 31, but you must buy a lake permit at city hall in the finance department. You also can send a check and the department will mail you the permit. The cost is $10 for Oxford residents and $12 for non-residents. Call (919) 603-1120 for more information.

With the sun on the rise in the east and a full moon setting in the west, the lake was picture perfect as we launched my johnboat.

Using a portable Eagle fish finder, we began to explore the lake. The two arms of the lake form a "Y" with a creek channel in each arm. Numerous points jut into the lake, and the west side has a good number of fallen trees providing excellent cover, close to deep water. The creek channels are generally about 15 to 20 feet deep, and the deepest water, about 30 feet, is near the earthen dam.

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