State rules snag

trout stream for area
By Scott Nicholson

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has approved some fishing, hunting and trapping regulations that affect local waterways.

The commission voted last week to classify 1.6 miles of Winkler's Creek in the Town of Boone as Wild Trout Waters, signifying it's clean enough to support native trout.

Watauga County's other Wild Trout Waters are Dutch Creek, Howards Creek, and a portion of the Watauga River from the Avery County line to Riverside Farm Road.

The upper boundary of a section of Watauga River in Watauga County was shifted due to a change in property status access, and the upper boundary of Delayed Harvest Trout Waters is now defined as “adjacent to the intersection of SR (State Road) 1557 and SR 1558.”

Wild Trout Waters allow angling only for single-hook, artificial lures, with a daily creel limit of four fish. The season is open, and fish must be at least seven inches to keep, though most people return their native fish to the water due to small size and respect for the environment.

"Wild trout waters are a good place to practice catch and release because you're not going to catch many over the size limit," John Lord of Foscoe Fishing Company. "Now there's a good local stream right in town where we can fish. Go there for a good time, some sport, and to see some beautiful wildlife. The colors on the wild fish are just amazing."

A 3.5-mile section of Wilson Creek in Caldwell County) was classified as Delayed Harvest Trout Waters. In Ashe County, Hoskins Fork was removed from the Public Mountain Trout Waters designation.

Statewide changes now include members of the U.S. Armed Forces, military families on appreciation days, and those with physical or mental limitations among those qualified to receive fishing-license exemptions during special fishing events.

Community Fishing Program waters are now included among those waters where fish size and creel limits that differ from statewide regulations are posted.

Statute changes also affects requirements of reporting of deer harvests through the Deer Management Assistance Program, and the daily "bag limit" on white-tailed deer was removed. Hunters are also allowed to use archery equipment to harvest deer during the muzzleloading firearms season on game lands.

New regulations also shorten the bow season by one week and open the muzzleloader season one week earlier to create a two-week muzzleloader season.

The hunting season on red and gray squirrels was amended to open Oct. 1 and close on the second Saturday of February.

The commission also voted to remove the 1,000-acre upper limit on controlled hunting preserves and new laws allow a landowner with a valid depredation permit to give away the edible portions of deer to anyone.

Complete regulations are available at www.ncwildlife.org.