Fish Lake Gaston

Lake Gaston Fishing Apparel. Lake Gaston Area: Lake Gaston is a not a city or township, but rather a very large "community" of the privately owned property surrounding it. Because of the recreational and relaxed pace of our community, our population of residents on the Lake is drawn primarily from a very large and diverse mix of vacation homeowners and retirees. Approximately half are full time residents. There are no public/state parks on Lake Gaston, but each of the five surrounding counties provide boating access to the public, and many fishing tournaments are held throughout the year. Location: The main body of Lake Gaston is located on the border of Virginia and North Carolina, between I-85 on the west and I-95 on the east. This location also places Lake Gaston on the border of the coastal and piedmont regions of the states. For more detailed information, please click on the Geography link, or Home link for maps. Because of its size, locations around the lake are often referred to as being in one of the four quadrants (NW, SW, NE, SE) using the Eaton Ferry Main Lake Bridge as the most central dividing line and providing access to and from the north and south shores. The Lake: The impoundment of Lake Gaston in 1963 was created for the purpose of hydroelectric power generation, and it is owned by Dominion Resources. Lake Gaston has more than 20,000 surface acres, is 34 miles long and 1.3 miles across at its widest point. Its average water depth is 40 feet. As one of many lakes along the Roanoke River Basin, water feeds into Lake Gaston from the Kerr Lake Dam upstream and flows over the Gaston Dam into the Roanoke Rapids Lake downstream. Under normal conditions the maximum water elevations are 200 feet above mean sea level on Gaston, and 132 feet in the Roanoke Rapids lake. A real plus for Lake Gaston is its relatively constant water level, which generally fluctuates only one-half a foot higher or lower than its average 199.5 feet above mean sea level. Like all bodies of water its size, Dominion operates the lake within the regulations and license of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the U.S. Corps of Engineers. It is monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Wildlife Commissions of both North Carolina and Virginia.