WILMINGTON, N.C. (March 3, 2017) – Fisheries staff with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission placed artificial fish attractors in Sutton Lake on Feb. 25 to help augment and replace existing fish attractor structures.
Commission biologists teamed with Bass Angling Southern Style Fishing Club, of Jacksonville, N.C., to deploy 12 Mossback™ Trophy Tree™ fish attractors in the 1,100-acre lake, which is located in New Hanover County. Club members serve as stewards of the Sutton Lake Access Area and assist with keeping the area clean through their participation in the North Carolina Angler Access Foundation's Adopt-a-Boat-Ramp program.
Sutton Lake, a power-cooling lake constructed by Duke Energy in 1972, has received habitat enhancements in the past, mostly in the form of sunken Christmas trees. Although Christmas trees make good fish habitat, they eventually degrade and need to be replaced every few years.
After a recent sonar survey of Sutton Lake’s fish attractor sites, Commission biologists determined the sites were degraded and in need of replacement. Because the Mossback™ Trophy Tree™ fish attractors provide durable, long-lasting fish habitat, biologists believe they will make better fish attractors than Christmas trees.
Anglers can see the locations of these latest fish attractors, as well as others deployed on inland waters across the state on the Commission’s fish attractor webpage. This habitat enhancement project is funded through the Sport Fish Restoration Program, which utilizes state fishing license money as match for federal grant funds derived from federal excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuels.
For more information regarding fish populations in Sutton Lake, visit the Commission’s Monitoring and Surveys page. 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 www.ncwildlife.org/fishing.
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