Lake O’ the Pines is a reservoir on Big Cypress Bayou, also known as Big Cypress Creek, chiefly in Marion County, Texas, United States. The reservoir also occupies a small part of Camp, Upshur, and Morris Counties. The dam is located approximately 8.5 mi west of Jefferson.

History

Lake O’ the Pines (formerly known as "Ferrell's Bridge Reservoir") was created by the construction of the Ferrells Bridge Dam on the Big Cypress Bayou approximately 81 mi upstream from the bayou's confluence with the Red River. The reservoir was created as part of the overall plan for flood control in the Red River Basin below Denison Dam in Oklahoma. The project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1946. Additional purposes of wildlife conservation, recreation, and water supply were added during construction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the dam in January 1955 and the dam was completed on December 11, 1959.

Dam and reservoir

The concrete-and-earthfill dam is 10600 ft long. The crest of the spillway is 249.5 ft above mean sea level. The conservation storage capacity is 250000 acre.ft with a surface area of 18680 acre. The bayou has a length of 140 mi and a total drainage area of 850 sqmi. The lake's normal conservation pool is 230 ft above mean sea level. The lake provides water supply storage for the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District which serves the cities of Jefferson, Ore City, Lone Star, Avinger, Hughes Springs, Daingerfield, and most recently Longview. The water supply storage exists in the conservation pool between elevations 201 to 230 ft. Water intake structures are located at various points on the lake and one downstream of the lake. Discharges from the two gates in the control structure located on the southeast end vary from a minimum of 5 cuft/s to a maximum of 3000 cuft/s.

Monstrous Catfish

Lake O' the Pines has long been known to be home to giant catfish. Legend has it that some of the catfish are so big as to be called monstrous. Most people consider this to be part of fishing folklore as evidence has never been found.