[gambusia]

I was thinking with the declines in walleye populations in other mountain lakes (Glenville, James, Fontana, ect) that Lake Lure might be a candidate lake to stock walleye in to maintain a reproducing walleye fishery. The current fisheries at Lake Lure are largemouth bass, white bass and crappie.

As of now Lake Lure does not have any blueback or herring and is stocked with 30,000 threadfin shad a year.

Threadfin shad are eaten more by walleye than gizzard shad or herring.

You do need a boat permit to fish Lake Lure but ironically I think that is what has kept people from introducing herring which are problems with walleye in other lakes.

And if walleye did establish there would be a nice run of fish up into the Rocky Broad where fisherman could target them from the bank.

Thoughts?

 

[SnowCamp]

My wife's cousin lives in Shelby and claims to have caught a lot of walleye in Lake Lure in the summertime trolling in 50-60 feet of water. I fished the lower end in a canoe just once and was skunked..

 

[gambusia]

I've never heard or seen walleye in Lake Lure.

Maybe he /she meant trout?

Used to be good trout fishing in the lake deep trolling.

 

[gambusia]

No mention of walleye in this 1979 survey of Lake Lure. I guess they are not in there.

http://www.egovlink.com/public_docu...4_27_Regular_Town_Council_Meeting_Minutes.pdf

 

[canoecat54]

alot of mountain folk call fish be something completley diffrent. alot of people call waleye pike or perch. iv even herd people call trout (from lakes) as salmon. yes i know one lake has salmon but not in fontana or santeela.

 

[dbeam]

very few mountain folk on Lake Lure , too pricey

Darrell

 

[SnowCamp]

No mention of walleye in this 1979 survey of Lake Lure. I guess they are not in there.

http://www.egovlink.com/public_docu...4_27_Regular_Town_Council_Meeting_Minutes.pdf

only know what he told me. But 1979 is a long time ago...

 

[gambusia]

very few mountain folk on Lake Lure , too pricey

Darrell

I see boat trailers in the parking lot every time I go over there though.

To be fair somebody told me the cost of the permits to go there fund dredging of the lake and dam maintenance.

It might also be paying for the fish stocking going on there every year?

Not sure.

 

[gambusia]

I was told to talk to the lake advisory board about stocking walleye in Lake Lure.

We will see what happens.

 

[gambusia]

More information about where the money goes from boat permits (SOURCE: Lake Lure Budget message 2014)

The costs associated with lake operations (staff, supplies. fuel, lake dredging, fish stocking, outside services, environmental management) are fully covered through boat permit fees.

If you have been to Lake Adger in Polk County you can see what not dredging a lake can do to ruin fish habitat. That lake has lots of filled in shallow silty water.

If boat permit fees are really going towards dredging (and the river channel at Lake Lure really is shallow and silt filled), fish stocking and water quality maintenance, I can see paying a "reasonable" fee to boat on the lake. A fishing boat permit costs 121 dollars!

30,000 adult threadfin shad were stocked in the lake in April with funds generated from boat fees.

So FYI there is where the money goes.

 

[gambusia]

Just an update:

The NCWRC said they would entertain my request if I could get the town of Lake Lure on board and I could find a vendor that would supply walleye fingerlings.

I doubt there are any hatcheries that supply walleye to North Carolina so there goes this idea.

The biggest hurdle is just acquiring some walleye to stock.

 

[SnowCamp]

Where did walleye in lake James and Kerr Scott Reservoir come from?

Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

 

[gambusia]

Where did walleye in lake James and Kerr Scott Reservoir come from?

Sent from my Venue 8 3830 using Tapatalk

Best I can tell they were stocked way back in the 1950s.

In 1949, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) first introduced
35,000 walleye fry into Lake James. By 1955, over 1.1 million fry had been introduced. As a
result of these stockings, walleye became established and have remained a major game fish in
Lake James.

www.insidewrc.org/divisionlinks/06_...WALLEYE INVESTIGATION SURVEY SUMMARY 2001.pdf

 

[gambusia]

I might have finally sourced some walleye fingerlings for my proposal.

I will now go before the lake advisory board at the next meeting.

Its taken a month to find a possible supplier of walleye. The possible fish in question are 5-7 inches so far less fish will have to be stocked, another plus. (Compared to stocking 1 inch fish like the NCWRC does).

I should also mention the NCWRC will consider my proposal if the town goes along because they would have to issue a stocking permit.

For you kayak fishermen and fisherwomen, its 28 dollars for a yearly permit for Lake Lure.

 

[gambusia]

Okay it was recommended to me to try 2 fish/per surface acre.

So that comes out to 1440 fish at a cost of 1600 dollars.

$1600 dollars plus a $600 dollar delivery charge= $2200 total cost for the project (est)

 

[gambusia]

The meeting is at 3:30 PM at the Lake Lure town hall if anyone else wants to attend or speak.

I could also link to the email if anyone wants to email about this project.

Meeting is tomorrow.

 

[gambusia]

OK.

I am back from meeting with the Lake Advisory Board. The gentleman who deals with the fishery and ecosystem was not there today but several other board members were there and so was the lake operations manager, Mr Dean Givens.

It was mentioned they spend up to $8,000 dollars on fish stocking and currently stock threadfin shad.

Mr Givens informed me he was the one who got the town to stop stocking rainbow/steelhead trout in 2008. He further mentioned he had been looking at putting walleye in the lake at the time to replace the trout.

However the town had a lake survey done in 2007 and the folks who did that survey recommended against stocking walleye, saying they would not survive and the lake was too small. I have not seen that survey.

Lake Lure is plenty big enough for walleye (720 acres). Georgia stocks several lakes smaller than Lake Lure with walleye successfully (Lake Seed, Lake Rabun, Lake Yonah)

I am going to talk with the state biologist over Lake Lure (Mr Wood) and see what he thinks.

Any other comments from walleye fishermen welcome.

The town seems not opposed to walleye, just that the fish will survive and reproduce. Makes sense.

 

[gambusia]

Started a group on Facebook for anyone who wants to be kept informed on the proposal to stock walleye into Lake Lure, NC.

search for 'Lake Lure Walleye Group'

 

[gambusia]

Next Lake Advisory Board (LAB) meeting is August 4th 3:30 PM at the Lake Lure Town Hall.
Anyone can attend and speak on fishing at Lake Lure or fish stocking or boating.

 

[meenyt]

I used to go to summer camp at Lake Lure. Always felt gypped! Never got to fish! Only saw the lake once each week I was there.