Better Fishing Opportunities at Ashe County Park Pond

RALEIGH, N.C. (April 23, 2008)– Anglers who have fished Ashe Park pond in the past are in for a pleasant surprise this spring. Better fishing opportunities are just a cast away now that the 2-acre pond, also called Phoenix Lake, has joined the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Community Fishing Program.

As part of a cooperative agreement between the Commission and Ashe County Parks and Recreation, Commission personnel, working with park staff, constructed a universally accessible pier, sidewalk and parking lot to make fishing accessible for anglers of all abilities. The floating pier has an 8-foot-wide walkway and extends 48 feet from shore. It features a 48-foot wide T-section at the end and incorporates seven low handrail sections to make it easier for anglers in wheelchairs to cast their lines.

The concrete parking pad has two universally accessible parking spaces — one regular-sized space and one that can accommodate a van — and is connected by a concrete sidewalk that leads to the pier.

“The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission was routinely stocking fish in Ashe Park pond as part of our Fish-For-Fun program, which provides fishing opportunities for kids,” said Kevin Hining, a fisheries biologist with the Commission. “As a result, it was an easy decision to add the park as our newest cooperator in the Community Fishing Program, which then enabled us to build the fishing pier, parking lot and sidewalk through a cost-share partnership.

“Projects like this allow our agency to meet one of its goals and objectives to promote recreational fishing and optimize angling opportunities for all citizens.”

To enhance fishing opportunities further, park staff removed some shoreline shrubs and bushes, which provided additional open areas for easier casting, installed some Christmas trees for fish habitat, and stocked grass carp to help control aquatic vegetation.

Ashe Park Pond will receive two stockings of fish annually — trout in the spring and channel catfish in the late summer/early fall. Earlier this month, Commission personnel stocked the pond with 200 brook trout, just days before an annual kids’ fishing derby took place.

For visitors who like to fish but don’t have angling equipment, the park has 30 loaner rods and reels available free of charge on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The loaner rods and reels are provided by the Commission through its Tackle Loaner Program, which works just like a library that loans books. Anglers register at the Ashe County Parks and Recreation Department to receive a tackle loaner identification card that lets them check out a rod and reel for the day. While the program is geared toward children under 16, anyone interested in fishing can participate. Anglers under 16 must have a parent or guardian complete the registration form.

After returning the loaner rods and reels to the park office, first-time participants under 16 receive a free mini-tackle box containing hooks, bobbers, sinkers and a stringer. Anglers can use the tackle loaner identification cards at any Tackle Loaner Program site in North Carolina, but they must return the rods and reels to the original loaner site.

The Commission partners with more than 40 Community Fishing Program sites across the state. Program expenses are cost-shared with local cooperators, with the Commission providing 75 percent of the operating costs through the Sport Fish Restoration Fund and local cooperators paying the remaining 25 percent. Anglers’ purchases of fishing equipment, fishing licenses, boats and motorboat fuels help the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission obtain Sport Fish Restoration funds for projects such as the Ashe Park fishing pier, parking lot and sidewalk.

Ashe Park is located at 363 Ashe Park Road, off of Old HWY 16, just north of Jefferson. For more information on Ashe Park, contact Joe Boccardy, (336) 982-9828.

For more information on the Commission’s Community Fishing, Tackle Loaner and Fish-For-Fun programs, visit the fishing page or call the Division of Inland Fisheries, (919) 707-0220.