The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has partnered with the Yadkin River Greenway Council and Wilkes County to construct a universally accessible pier on the Yadkin River in North Wilkesboro.

The fixed pier, which is built on pilings, is approximately eight feet above normal water level and measures 12 feet, 5 inches wide by 16 feet long, with an 8-foot-wide, 20-foot-long accessible boardwalk that connects it to the greenway path.

The pier has one low handrail in the front, center section of the pier to make it easier for children and anglers in wheelchairs to cast.

It is located adjacent to the footbridge spanning the Yadkin River that connects the Yadkin River Greenway in North Wilkesboro to Wilkesboro on the south side of the river.

A two-car parking area designated for use by handicapped anglers only is adjacent to the greenway on the North Wilkesboro side of the river a short distance upstream of the pier.

Other anglers can park at the greenway trailheads located above and below the pier on the North Wilkesboro side of the river and walk to the pier. They also can park at the trailhead on the south side of the river in Wilkesboro and walk across the footbridge to the pier, which is the shortest walking distance.

This section of the Yadkin River offers fishing for largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass, catfish, sunfish, suckers and the occasional chain pickerel, according to Kin Hodges, a fisheries biologist with the commission.

Because the pier is located just upstream of the mouth of the Reddies River, which is a Delayed Harvest Trout Water, anglers fishing from the pier may catch trout moving upstream in the Yadkin River from the Reddies River.

The commission has an interactive fishing map on its website with information on more than 500 public fishing areas across the state, many of which are owned or managed by the agency.

For more information, visit http://www.ncwildlife.org/fishing, or call (919) 707-0220.