Pimp Your Stream

**edeltrouts** · 10-31-2009, 04:05 AM

Sometimes nature needs a little help. Especially in summer my favourite stream gets very small. The trouts need some places with enough water to survive.

Take some friends, some stones, a chainsaw and you can enjoy a wonderful healthy day on your stream.

Thomas

**BrkTrt** · 10-31-2009, 04:33 AM

A great effort, with positive results for sure.

Thanks to you and your friends for careing.

- Brk Trt

**adam** · 10-31-2009, 03:03 PM

Wow, that's what I'm talking about.

**Jax** · 10-31-2009, 03:17 PM

Now that is what I call "Getting down and dirty in the interests of looking after an asset."

Well done guys much strength to your arms. Jax

**Mostyn** · 10-31-2009, 06:11 PM

Human Intervention for a better environment! Conservation given given a head start! Fantastic; and well worth the effort!

**Nick** · 11-03-2009, 11:45 AM

If I may ask, why change this:

Into this:

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about stream restoration and habitat improvement, but as a civil engineer who has done some stream restoration projects, that doesn't look like a good fix to me. Before, there was shelter and LWD (large woody debris) which are perfect for trout. Not necessarily perfect for fishermen's casts, but perfect for trout.

I guess I just take the minimalist approach when it comes to stream restoration. One small change can have huge impacts on the flow line, the effects of which may not be felt for several years.

The first stream restoration I worked on, we had a track-hoe operator decided that because trout like to hang behind boulders, he'd put a boulder he found in the middle of the channel. Two years later, the boulder had changed the flow of the river enough to leave some of our bank armoring dry, and erode the inside bank on a bend.

Nick

**edeltrouts** · 11-03-2009, 12:30 PM

Your question is eligible!
The place on pic 1 is struktured enough to give a good home for trout. It looks much better (more natural) than our artificial dam.

The idea for changing it you can't see on the picture. There is a very large tree upstreams with big roots an a nice pool between. We wanted to increase the water level. So we put the telefone pole under the surface and some stones in front. On pic 2 you can see the raised water level. Today the place looks much better because dead branches hang over the dam.

But you are right! Buildings like this are not for long. Changing bolders, high water and ice are strong opponents. We are happy if we have some larger pools for the summertime and enjoy to play the game every spring. I'll not change the place and show you a new pic next spring. We'll see what happens.

Thomas