Trout Habitat And Structure Placement Below Bull Shoals

[smac]

I havn't seen anything about this on the forum, so I thought I'd post. Tomorrow, in Little Rock there is a Bid Opening for placement of a rather impressive amount of structure in the first mile below Bull Shoals Dam. Don't quote me on the exact amounts- but there are to be 400 4'-6' boulders, and approx. 1500 liner feet of logs placed primarily along the main channel, and the large flat above the powersite boat ramp. This is a major project with a few hundred thousand dollars being spent to better the trout habitat. Construction is to commence this spring and should take approx. 90 days to complete. Hopefully we will win the bid tomorrow and I will have more information to share. If I don't, I hope someone shares. We should all be excited about the activity and improvements to come. (And maybe be nice to the guys driving big excavators through your fishing waters...we want to make it better too)

[Ham]

It is mostly moonscape at low water right now. I hope it helps. It ought to make things more interesting navigation wise at high flow.

[taxidermist]

Is it below BUll Shoals dam or Power site dam.

placed primarily along the main channel, and the large flat above the powersite boat ram

[Phil Lilley]

Has to be the White... it's in Arkansas- Little Rock.

Interesting.

[smac]

Has to be the White... it's in Arkansas- Little Rock.

Interesting.

Yes- The White below Bull Shoals. I missed the contract by just a few thousand. Some guy out of Louisiana got the low bid. Oh well....welcome to the construction industry these days. It really is an interesting project. Pretty major structure placement. Most of the boulders go into just a few zones spread out along the channel- mostly to the middle of the riverbed. The highest is on the flat above the ramps, the lowest (downstream) ends somewhere just above the central island with the tree. The logs are a little more sporatic, but still in designated zones. Some of the trunks are to be lashed together in groups of 3-4. Pretty interesting way they anchor them to the riverbed. You have to hammer in a "duckbill" anchor- a one way collapsing anchor that once is driven in, it expands when trying to be pulled out. Similar type of anchor used in guy wires on utility poles.

Anyway- I think it's a great thing for the river, and maybe....just maybe somebody at the corps does care about those pesky trout.