N.C. stocks Piedmont lakes with trout for the winter

Bringing trout down the mountain: N.C. stocks Piedmont lakes for the winter

BY Charles Duncan North Carolina

PUBLISHED 3:54 PM ET Dec. 14, 2023 PUBLISHED 3:54 PM EST Dec. 14, 2023

In the hours after the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission workers left, people lined up on the bank of Twin Lakes in Durham, casting for the opportunity once a year to catch trout in Durham.

Each year, as fall turns to winter, the state trout hatcheries in the mountains truck fish down to the Piedmont and stock lakes as far east as Rocky Mount.

Trout generally can’t survive once they get out of the cold waters of western North Carolina. But with water temperatures dropping, the Wildlife Resources Commission can stock ponds around Charlotte, the Triad, Triangle and parts east.

Trout fishing in western North Carolina had an economic impact of $1.38 billion, according to a recent study by the Wildlife Resources Commission. That includes more than 320,000 in-state anglers and another 48,000 people coming from out of state to fish for trout, the study found.

The western North Carolina fishing industry supports more than 11,800 jobs, according to the commission.

People fishing the freshly stocked lakes in the Piedmont can keep up to seven fish a day and fish with any type of tackle, including a fly rod or a simple hook baited with a piece of corn.

Here’s the winter trout stocking schedule from the Wildlife Resources Commission: