Author Topic: March Fish Habitat  (Read 5774 times)

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Offline Jones

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 12
March Fish Habitat
« on: February 24, 2016, 07:35 AM »
Hi Everyone,

Our March habitat days are scheduled for Monday March 14 and Tuesday March 15 and we need to get a head count to see if we have enough volunteers. Right now we have one volunteer for both days.Please email me (akjones@azgfd.gov /call (623-236-7593) if you haven't already to let me know if you can attend either of the January dates.

We will be meeting at 9:00 am at the Mesa Game and Fish Office (7200 E University Drive; Mesa, Arizona 85207). For the pour the cement truck will be scheduled to arrive at 10:30. Any and all help is welcomed, 18 years or older. Children 14 to 17 years old need to be accompanies by an adult who will supervise them. If you have younger children (7-13) interested they can help out as well as long as they are being directly supervised at all times by a parent or guardian.

We will provide all the tools along with an ice-chest full of bottled water. We have a limited number of work gloves available and I suggest bringing your own pair in case we run out. The molds are made of fiberglass so dress accordingly, long-sleeved shirts and pants are recommended. Closed-toe shoes are required. Don’t forget to bring sunscreen as there is minimal shade and most of the work is in direct sunlight.

Feel free to forward this to anyone I have missed.

Offline Captain Jack

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 14
  • Just one of the guys who loves to fish.
Re: March Fish Habitat
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2016, 10:42 AM »
I have not been involved in this coming effort to improve the artificial fish habitat at Bartlett.  Great idea and my hat is off for anyone helping out.  I was involved in the massive amount of structure put in Bartlett decades ago.  This is just a suggestion but could be effective if done right.  With the water level being down, it's easy to spot the old structure that has deteriorated over time.   The majority of material used to build the structure was made of plastic.  We have all seen the stuff floating around.  I would think the people putting this together would see the old plastic still in place as a opportunity to simply repair and add to what is already in place but needing repair.  That alone would be a lot of work but salvaging and repairing the existing plastic parts into more functional habitat would help tremendously  If not for needing my right shoulder replaced sometime in March, I would gladly pitch in to help.  This kind of project is a good way to get your kids involved in conservation of a worthy cause.  One of the issues that has hindered the old habitat has been water fluctuation.  It's amazing to see so much of the old structure buried in mud and granite.  Repairing what we could get to would be a major project by itself.  Point being, it would save a lot of cash if the existing materials was reused.  A ton of the old materials is and has been buried for decades.  The Marina has some flatbed pontoon carriers that could be used to haul a small Bobcat to do the bulk of the hard work.  I would also encourage the people in charge of this project to consider any new, or old structure's they build to be buoyant.  Allowing the structure to suspend from the bottom 5 to 10 feet would keep the materials from being covered by mud.  Just my thoughts from one fishermen to another. :whip2:
Captain Jack

Offline Jones

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 12
Re: March Fish Habitat
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2016, 09:12 AM »
Hi everyone, this is my last attempt to get more volunteers for our March habitat, otherwise we are going to have to cancel. the March habitat days will be the last ones until October. Please email me at akjones@azgfd.gov if you can come help out. Thanks

Captain Jack,
Right now we are focusing our attention at Roosevelt and then are going to start working on the other Tonto forest Service Lakes like Bartlett.  Forest service had to actually remove a lot of their fluctuating structure because it became a boating hazard and they are hesitant to put any more in. I agree with you that a lot of the structure have been covered in silt and mud making them ineffective.  We are definitely trying to avoid this with our habitat placement.  At Roosevelt Lake many of the habitat sites are on gravel and small cobble areas to avoid this problem. I think trying to reuse the structures is a great idea and one we might be able to do at Bartlett.  I'll talk with the Forest Service and see what their take is and get back to you.

Offline Jones

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 12
Re: March Fish Habitat
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2016, 11:44 AM »
I talked with the Tonto National Forest Service and they were on board with moving and re-using the structures that are on the shoreline.  We are working on getting compliance paperwork done that would allow us to place habitat in all of the Tonto Forest Service Lakes except Horseshoe.  Once that is done I can start working on setting up a plan at Bartlett.  It's not going to happen overnight but hopefully we can set something up within the next year.

 

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