Fish Castles
Because this is the Ozarks, one of the things we have plenty of is rocks. And because the dam leaks, another thing we have plenty of is the opportunity to wander about the empty lakebed. When we do, we try to use the chance to build structures to nurture the fish we will some day have.
Any kind of structure in a lake is beneficial for fish. It gives the littles ones places to hide from predators, and it gives predators places to ambush little ones. (That whole circle of life thing.) There are also certain types of fish (flathead minnows) that prefer to lay their eggs on the undersides of submerged flat surfaces.
When the dam was being constructed, the builder piled all of the trees he had cleared from the Central Valley in the lakebed and burned them. A small part of this never burned, so we tied it down with nylon rope so that the snarl of branches and trunks could be fish structure.
The builder also pushed several very large limestone boulders into place along the northern shoreline. These are (or . . . will be) in about 5-10 feet of water, which is supposed to be ideal for fish structure. The boulder I carved our initials into is one of these beauties.
In addition to these, though, are the many structures L and I have constructed with the extra rocks that happen to be in the lakebed. When we have the chance, we stack rocks to create walls and chambers and piles. Presumably, the fish will find these and make use of them. (Knowing approximately where they are will also make me a better fisherman some day.)
Once I got the mania, I began to see everything as potential material for fish structure. Lawn furniture, cement blocks, PVC pipe, old tires, the old cars the old tires came from, and so on. L, who is much more level-headed and sensible, cautioned me about going overboard. Did I really want to fill our lake with trash? Would we begin to call it Lake Landfill?
Her wisdom eventually reached me, but not before I managed to get three old tires piled within casting distance of the shore. When the USDA man visited, he commented that old tires are now considered bad things to put in bodies of water because of their petroleum origins. I’m not sure if he meant that they have been found to leach toxins into the water or if he just implied the possibility of it. Either way, next chance I get, I will pull them out.
(This photo was taken with a convenience store disposable camera and then developed onto a CD. Sorry about the quality.)
August 27th, 2005 at 3:05 am
Looks like my swimming pool!
Today I bought some “American” Hot Dogs.
This sausagedog is not going to rest until he has explored the snagosphere.
August 27th, 2005 at 7:34 am
Sorry, but I’m with L and the USDA guy. The pic reminds me of what is left by folks who stop on the bridge by my place and unload garbage of all kinds. Makes me spittin’ mad. It got really bad a few years ago when the local landfill started refusing to take old tires. The worst one was when I heard someone at the bridge, heard the splash, and then heard a man say “come on kids, we better get out of here”. As outraged as I was by the tires I had to haul out of the creek, the fact that this man brought children with him to learn this particular nasty, not to mention illegal habit torques me to this day. Landfill now takes tires again but not before lots of them were dumped into ditches, streams, creeks, rivers, ad infinitum.
August 27th, 2005 at 8:53 am
They used to use tires for artificial reefs here too, but they have fallen out of favor and are now a no no.
I am envious of the fun you will have in low water times building rock havens for your lucky future fish. There is something so rewarding about making…not taking…habitat. Pile away.
August 27th, 2005 at 9:08 am
L is a very wise woman. I love when you write about her. And you are a wise man for knowing when to listen!
Very cool to be building structures for the future fish. One of the things I always found creepy about lakes is not knowing what was down on the bottom, especially when it was deep and mucky. You know every inch of your lake, and that must make swimming a total joy.
BTW–that disposable camera took a fine photo.
August 27th, 2005 at 10:11 am
the tires do give your lake a low-rent sort of look. man-made objects, even when softened by algae, impart a trashy ambience. i’m guessing you have a few non-round rocks to stack. i have lake envy. i’d have to lay down in our pond to get wet above the knees.
August 28th, 2005 at 7:03 am
Rocks. I wish we had more rocks but the Appalachians have just covered them all over as they flow toward the south.
What I find in the upper elevations is a kind of crumbly conglomerate that is useful but not very pretty. The black widows love it.
Where the creek has flowed down in the hollow though, it has uncovered some very interesting things. I’ve found shards of pottery, and the rocks there are a very dense, very hard granite that turns black when uncovered. Probably not too surprising – it’s clear from our well water that we have a high iron content.
March 17th, 2006 at 7:08 am
[...] Well, they are all connected to the odd underwater structure shown in the photo on this post. [...]