The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recently announced the completion of fishing piers at the Broughton Pond Public Fishing Area in Burke County, Wildcat Lake in Avery County, and Dallas Park’s large pond in Gaston County.
Broughton Pond Public Fishing Area, which is located on the South Mountain Game Land, comprises two ponds. Commission staff constructed two piers on the first pond — a floating, universally accessible pier, which is 59 feet long with a 48-foot wide T-shaped section at the end,and a 12-by-16 fixed pier. The universally accessible pier has benches and alternating high and low handrails with bait shelves that can accommodate children and anglers in wheelchairs.
On the smaller pond, which is located approximately 50 yards from the larger pond, Commission staff built another 12-by-16 fixed pier.
Anglers fishing in the ponds can expect to catch largemouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish. Commission staff stocks both ponds with about 700 harvestable-sized catfish every month from May through October.
“The Commission develops free, public fishing areas around the state to increase fishing opportunities,” said Chris Wood, a Commission fisheries biologist. “At many of our PFAs, we’ve cleared banks of underbrush, built universally accessible fishing piers, created gravel or paved parking lots and installed fish attractors. At a few sites, like Broughton pond,we stock catchable-sized channel catfish too.”
In addition to the fishing piers,Commission staff reconstructed the parking area, making it larger with two handicapped-accessible spaces large enough to accommodate vans. The Commission also constructed an accessible path to the main pier, and installed a kiosk that provides information on fishing regulations, such as size and creel limits, as well as information about the ponds’ fisheries.
N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission also worked with Gaston County Parks and Recreation, to construct a universally accessible fishing pier on Dallas Park’s large pond, in Dallas.
The pier is 43-feet long with a 48-foot T-shaped end, benches and alternating high/low hand rails. Commission and parks staffs also created an accessible paved path from the parking lot to the pier and a kiosk that provides information on fishing regulations, such as size and creel limits, as well as information about the local fisheries.
Dallas Park’s large pond is one of three ponds located in the park. It was recently drained for repairs, and then refilled. Commission staff stocked the pond with bluegill in March. Plans have been made for stockings of largemouth bass in 2014 and channel catfish in 2015, according to Chris Wood, a fisheries biologist with the Wildlife Commission.
Because the refilled pond only has fingerling bluegill now, Wood suggested that Dallas Park visitors fish in one of the other two ponds that have good numbers of bluegill, largemouth bass,carp and channel catfish.
“In addition, Poston Park and Rankin Lake are both located nearby in the same county,” Wood said. “Collectively, these public fishing areas offer a variety of excellent, new fishing opportunities in Gaston County.”
The Commission funded the construction of the Broughton Pond Public Fishing Area piers and associated improvements through the Sport Fish Restoration Fund Program, which utilizes state fishing license money and funds generated from taxes on fishing tackle and other fishing-related expenditures.
Gaston County Parks and Recreation paid for Dallas Park’s pier, kiosk and accessible path while the Commission provided the manpower and equipment, which were funded through the Sport Fish Restoration Program utilizing statefishing license money and funds generated from taxes on fishing tackle andother fishing-related expenditures.
Visit: www.ncwildlife.org/fishing for more information on fishing in public, inland waters of North Caolina.