Fishing for new revenue on Clemson Sandhill
The Clemson Sandhill Research and Education Center’s quest for new revenue might open a new recreational opportunity in Northeast Richland.
The center has scheduled a public meeting tonight at its Lake House to discuss the possibility of allowing fishing in its ponds.
In the past, the ponds were off-limits to anglers, but the staff knows there’s a pent-up demand.
“Over the years, we’ve had quite a few people we’ve had to interrupt in their fishing pursuits,” said Sandhill director Mac Horton.
The center has allowed some youth fishing events on the largest pond, but for the most part it hasn’t been fished.
With recent state budget cuts forcing the Clemson research centers to become self-supporting, they have begun looking for new revenue streams.
Sandhill already sells the right to rake pine straw and pick up pecans on its 600-acre campus, across Clemson Road from the Village at Sandhill shopping complex.
The details of a fishing program have yet to be worked out, and ideas from tonight’s meeting could be incorporated into the plans. But it will be based on a fee/permit system that brings in revenue and allows controls on use of the ponds.
Anglers already flock to another large public pond nearby. The handful of handy fishing spots on the bank of the lake at Sesquicentennial State Park are full most seasonable afternoons. While anglers pay no fee to fish at Sesqui, they must pay for park admission.
Experts from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources did a survey of the largest of the three ponds at Sandhill several years ago and found it to have a healthy fish population, said Stan Perry, director of special projects at Sandhill. Though the lake hasn’t been stocked in several years, it has plenty of largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie and shellcrackers.
The preliminary plan is to allow fishing only in the largest ponds, Perry said. Anglers might be limited to bank fishing, or motorless boats might be allowed. A catch-and-release requirement is under consideration. Those are some of the topics to be discussed tonight.
“We just want to talk with people, want to see what the interest is,” Perry said.
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