If you’re one of those people who laments the lack of fishing opportunities during the cold winter months, the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, the town of Highlands, and Highlander Terry Potts have a solution just one block from Main Street.
Starting right now, Harris Lake has been stocked with 900 Brown and Rainbow Trout.
“At Mayor Pat Taylor’s request we’ve added Harris Lake to our Winter Pond Stocking program,” says NC Wildlife Commission’s Powell Wheeler, who oversees the agency’s Winter Pond Stocking Program.
The 2025-26 Winter Pond Stocking program includes 33 other small ponds across North Carolina. Small ponds in the state are typically too warm for trout in the summer. Trout are very sensitive to water temperature and don’t survive long in water over 70°F. But during winter, Harris Lake and other NC ponds are cold enough to support trout.
“Terry Potts, the lake’s owner, gave his approval,” says Mayor Taylor. “The Catch and Release sign will be taken down during this period. The basic rule will be fishing from the bank in the public access areas.”
“The fishing regulations are very permissive,” adds Wheeler. “Anglers can keep up to seven trout per day, with no minimum size, using any otherwise legal bait or lures. These permissive regulations ensure trout can be caught and harvested before the pond gets too warm in the summer.”
“The Winter Pond Stocking Program is supported by surplus trout from our hatchery system. Once the hatchery system meets the demands of our normal stream stockings, any leftover fish are available for the Winter Ponds. Using these extra trout helps manage hatcheries more efficiently and provides anglers with a new winter fishing opportunity. However, because we rely on surplus trout, we can’t promise how many will be available each year—and some years there may be none.”
“Now everyone can ice skate, shop, and fish in Highlands during the winter,” says Taylor.
And anglers in Cashiers have good news too — the pond behind the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library (the cleverly named Library Pond) is also stocked by the NC Wildlife Commission with hatchery-raised fish. Even better, you can use the library’s restrooms.
If you’ve been dragged along by a serious fisher-person and have no interest in casting a line, you can relax with the library’s high-
speed internet. Just look for the fontanalib.org stream, accept the terms of use (no naughty stuff), and you’re online!
And try to resist streaming Jaws or The Creature from the Black Lagoon — for obvious reasons.
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