Several local and regional waterways faced proposed fishing and designation changes under proposals by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

The public-comment period on dozens of proposed changes to the state’s hunting and fishing rules began Monday and will continue through a series of public hearings in January.

A 1.6-mile section of Winkler’s Creek near Boone could receive a “Wild Trout Waters” designation. The creek serves as the town’s back-up municipal water supply, but the designation wouldn’t affect the town’s ability to draw water from the creek.

“That’s actually a good sign,” said Boone’s water-and-sewer director Rick Miller. “That means it’s healthy enough for wild trout and the water is of good quality.”

The town draws water about 30 to 40 days a year from the creek, with its main intake on the South Fork of the New River. Miller said the town is permitted to draw 3 million gallons a day, combined, from either location. Because the Winkler’s Creek intake area is limited because of silt gathered near the intake, the town mostly operates the pump intermittently to keep the machinery in good working condition.

“We can’t utilize it for more than a hour and a half at a time,” Miller said, though the town is exploring ways to remove the silt and expand the intake’s capacity. Miller anticipated that even if the silt were removed, the intake would remain a back-up. The town is also seeking a permit to draw up to 4 million gallons a day from a site in the Brownwood community, and town voters approved a $25 million bond referendum for the water plant in November.

Another proposed trout classification would identify a section of the Watauga River as the upper boundary of Delayed Harvest Trout Waters. The area is described as “adjacent to the intersection of SR (State Road) 1557 and SR 1558.” Posting of private property has eliminated public access at the current boundary and the change would remove two-tenths of a mile of Delayed Harvest Trout Waters.

Wilson Creek, in Caldwell County, at the base of Grandfather Mountain, is also facing a proposed change. The designation would classify 3.5 miles of this stream as Delayed-Harvest Trout Waters. The change is designed to increase fishing opportunities for stocked trout on game lands under the delayed-harvest program.
Another proposal would remove the Public Mountain Trout Waters designation from Hoskins Fork in Ashe County, which is rated as “very poor” trout habitat and provides little fishing opportunity. This would remove two miles of Hatchery Supported Trout Waters and stocking of fish there.

Statewide proposals for hunters include the proposed removal of the “daily bag limit” for deer, which is currently two per hunter. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission believes the state deer population is healthy enough to remove the limit.

Other proposed changes include allowing hunters to use archery equipment during the muzzle-loading season, while overlapping the bow and muzzle-loading seasons for one week.

After hearing remarks at the public hearings in January and reviewing written comments, the 19 members of the Wildlife Commission will meet in March and vote on adoption of the proposed rules.

Complete proposals, public-hearing schedules and a public-comment form are available at ncwildlife.org.