Moose Droppings

Building a Better Fish Feeder

Nov 25, 2007 @ 09:58 am by Moose

Photo Courtesy of NCWC

Shelly Lake in Raleigh is part of the North Carolina Wildlife Commission’s Community Fishing Program that is a partnership between the NCWC and the local government to provide fishing access to the public. Community fishing sites are located throughout the state, many having handicap accessibility, and are stocked regularly with channel cats. Supplemental feeding of the fish is important in these ponds and at Shelly Lake the drastic fluctuation in water levels has resulted in the destruction of the stationary feeders by flood waters.

“At one time, the stationary feeders attracted and congregated so many fish that Shelley Lake was considered a premier fishing location in Wake County,” said Bobby Glenn Kimbrell, a fisheries technician with the Commission. “But during heavy rain, water levels in the lake would quickly rise as much as 23 feet and destroy the feeders, which were valued at $400 each.”

Bobby Kimbrell and David Hart from the park designed a new feeder and with the help of the inmates at the Dan River Prison Work Farm in Caswell County they got some prototypes built. The new fish feeders are no longer mounted on a pole but will float. The new feeders also hold a month’s supply of food as opposed to the old ones that only held a week’s supply of food.

This is the forth edition of prototype feeder and so far it appears to be working well. They will test it through March 2008 and make sure it continues to function properly and if it does they will have additional feeders built to be used in the park as well as other community fishing sites that have similar issues with rapid water fluctuations.