FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (Dec. 19, 2005) — Christmas came early this year for Fayetteville-area trout anglers when 1,000 trout were delivered yesterday to the John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center next to Lake Rim Park in Cumberland County.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission coordinates this winter trout-fishing opportunity annually from December through March, when cold weather makes conditions suitable for trout to live in Fayetteville ponds.

Kevin Gabel, a fish hatchery technician with the Commission, hauled the trout from the Bobby Setzer State Fish Hatchery in Brevard. Members of a local chapter of Trout Unlimited helped transfer the fish — 750 rainbow trout and 250 brook trout — to two of the fishing education center’s ponds.

The trout, which average 10 inches in length and a half-pound each, allow fishing education center staff to host fly-fishing clinics for anglers interested in battling trout but not battling traffic.

“Some of North Carolina’s trout streams are a seven-hour drive away from Fayetteville,” said Kris Smith, director of the fishing education center. “But winter weather allows us to bring trout to the people — at least through the end of March.”

The Commission’s fly-fishing clinics are co-sponsored by Fayetteville-Cumberland County Parks and Recreation. Scheduled dates are: Jan. 14, Jan. 28, Feb. 11 and March 4, starting at 9 a.m. A fifth fly-fishing clinic on March 25 is reserved for Boy Scouts working to fulfill fishing merit badge requirements.