Hays Nature Preserve
Hays Nature Preserve is a 538-acre City of Huntsville preserve where anglers fish Bar Lake — a Flint River oxbow with a 2024 ADA pier — no license required, plus permit-only Flint River access for bass, bluegill, and catfish.

James Gordon Williams ADA Pier (Bar Lake)
2024 ADA-compliant fishing pier on Bar Lake, funded by an $85,000 donation from the James Gordon Williams Legacy Fund; accessible via a Huntsville Public Works sidewalk from the front preserve parking lot. The primary built fishing structure at Hays — all abilities, low-angle pier deck over the oxbow water · Cricket or red wiggler under a slip bobber for bluegill along the pier's sides; chicken liver or nightcrawler on a slip-sinker rig off the pier end for channel catfish near dusk; wacky-rigged soft stick or small swimbait cast parallel to the pier for largemouth bass cruising the oxbow edge · Spring + Summer

Bar Lake Open Water
The oxbow pond itself — a cut-off meander of the Flint River inside the preserve, no state license or city permit required to fish, subject to posted limits. The main water surface around the ADA pier, fished from the bank via the Preserve Pond Trail loop · Wacky-rigged stick worm or a small swim jig along the shoreline for largemouth; bobber-and-minnow or 1/16-ounce crappie jig in any visible wood for panfish and occasional crappie; small spinnerbait on the bank in March when fish push shallow · Spring + Fall

Cherokee Landing (Flint River Access)
Named Flint River take-out inside the Hays Nature Preserve — the downstream terminus of the Alabama Scenic River Trail's 11.5-mile Ryland Pike-to-Hays paddle segment. Primary preserve access to the Flint River mainstem for kayak, canoe, and wading anglers; a permit and state fishing license are required to fish the river here · Ultra-light spinning rod or short fly rod works the water as reported by the Alabama Scenic River Trail's angler tip; small crankbaits and in-line spinners for spotted and largemouth bass, small poppers or sponge spiders for longear sunfish and bluegill, cut bait or nightcrawler on bottom for channel catfish and bullheads · Summer + Fall (best paddling conditions)

Flint River Riparian Banks (Preserve Trails)
Shoreline wading and bank access along the preserve's 10+ miles of trails that follow the Flint River and its oxbow lakes through low riparian habitat — old river levees, cane and shagbark hickory stands, and blown-down tree cover that holds river smallmouth, spotted bass, and sunfish in clear pools between bends · Short fly rod with a foam popper or sponge spider for longear sunfish and bluegill on calm pools; tube jig or small finesse worm on light spinning gear for spotted bass and occasional smallmouth around visible rock and wood; small crankbait worked through the seams and tails of riffles · Summer

Preserve Oxbow Lakes + Tupelo Ponds
Old cut-off Flint River meanders and groundwater-fed tupelo sloughs scattered through the preserve — the trail-description page explicitly notes Big Cove Creek meanders cut off in the 1960s that now form stagnant pockets plus groundwater-driven tupelo ponds through the Tuscumbia Limestone aquifer. Most hold few game fish (the preserve literature notes 'Few game fish can tolerate the low oxygen content of these swamp waters'), but the accessible outer oxbows connected to the river during high water hold seasonal bass and sunfish · Explore on foot via the preserve trail system, fish only clearly connected or named waters; small topwater or cricket-and-bobber for whatever holds in the more oxygenated pockets; this is supplementary exploration, not a primary fishery — Bar Lake and the Flint mainstem are the real water · Spring (post-flood connectivity)

Hays Nature Preserve — Lake Center