New Public Fishing Access Areas Open on Yadkin River

  • 22 May 2015
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New Public Fishing Access Areas Open on Yadkin River
The Wildlife Commission partnered with Surry County and Yancy County to create two public fishing areas on the Yadkin River.

ELKIN, N.C. (May 22, 2015) — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has partnered with the Surry County Parks and Recreation Department and the Yadkin County Parks and Recreation Department to provide anglers with two new public fishing access areas on the Yadkin River.

The Burch Station Public Fishing Area, a joint partnership between the Commission and Surry County, is located just east of Elkin while the Yadkin Shore Public Fishing Area, which is a joint partnership between the Commission and Yadkin County, is located just north of Boonville. GPS coordinates for Burch Station are: 36.2756, -80.7689. GPS coordinates for Yadkin Shore are 36.2695, -80.722.

Both locations have turnaround areas and parking, including designated spaces adjacent to the launch areas for anglers and boaters with limited mobility. Burch Station has a set of stairs with an adjoining slide to make going up and down the stairs with a paddlecraft easier, while Yadkin Shore has a concrete boat ramp.

This stretch of the Yadkin River is relatively shallow and rocky, making it suitable to navigate using paddlecraft, such as canoes and kayaks, although small jon boats can be launched at the Yadkin Shore access area.

The two access areas are located approximately 4 ½ miles from each other so visitors can launch their watercraft at Burch Station and take out at Yadkin Shore. Alternately, they can launch their watercraft at the Elkin Boating Access Area, located in Crater Park, and take out at Burch Station. 

“Both trips provide an ideal length of river to fish in a day,” said Kin Hodges, a fisheries biologist with the Commission. “Anglers fishing this stretch of the Yadkin River can fish for smallmouth bass, spotted bass, redbreast sunfish and flathead catfish.”

Private landowners donated use of the two sites to Surry and Yadkin counties to provide river access to the public. The Wildlife Commission constructed the sites with funds from the Sport Fish Restoration Program, fishing license sales receipts, and a grant from the Recreational Trails Program, a federal assistance program that provides funds to states to develop and maintain recreational trails for both non-motorized and motorized recreational trail uses. Maintenance for Burch Station will be handled by Surry County while Yadkin County will be responsible for maintaining Yadkin Shore.

“These projects epitomize the crucial role of partnerships in meeting the Commission’s objective of expanding opportunities for wildlife-associated recreation,” Hodges said. “Neither of these projects would have been possible without the generosity of the landowners who are making part of their properties available for public access.

“The commitment of Surry and Yadkin counties to maintain these access areas is critical. While the Commission is well suited to building and patrolling access areas, we don’t have the staffing required to perform routine maintenance on these sites.”

For more information on fishing in public, inland waters, including an interactive map of more than 500 public fishing access areas throughout the state, visit the fishing page. For a list of all boating access areas open to the public in North Carolina, visit the boating page.


Download high-resolution versions of the photos above. Please credit Kin Hodges/NCWRC.

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Media Contact:
Jodie B. Owen
919-707-0187
jodie.owen@ncwildlife.org
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Categories: Boating, Fishing, Enjoying, News