Polk County’s Laughter Pond in Mill Spring has been stocked for the first time this year.
The N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission stocks the pond between May and October every year.
This year’s schedule includes May, the first week of June, before July 4, Aug. 4-8, the first week in September and Oct. 6-10.
Laughter Pond is county owned and open to the public for fishing. The pond on the former Woodland Mills property in Mill Spring and can be accessed through the county’s recreation complex and middle school. The pond includes a fishing pier.
Laughter Pond is scheduled to receive 4,200 channel catfish in 2014. Each stocking will include approximately 700 fish with the target size of the fish being eight and 12 inches.
Polk County joined the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Community Fishing Program and Tackle Loaner Program in 2005 for Laughter Pond.
The wildlife commission stocks the pond and installed a solar-powered fish feeder to provide a supplementary food source for the stocked fish, allowing them to grow bigger, faster.
The county named the pond after Bill Laughter for his years of dedication to the pond.
For more information about Laughter Pond, contact the Polk County Recreation Department at 828-894-8199.