Howdy: I have been watching your effort to gather up enough people to make it worth while. Finding the worker Bee's is always a problem when you are looking for free labor. This is a worthy project for sure. When you look at the condition of the old plastic parts used to build cover for younger fish decades ago you can see why what you are wanting to do is so important. Heck, the Lions share of what we did decades ago is mostly covered in mud and coming apart. Just to repair the old plastic that is still above water and add to it would be a major project but could be the best place to start. I don't remember what year the old habitat improvement program started, but I do remember talking about the chance that a far amount of the new structure placed on the bottom would be covered in mud by the end of the first year. Sure enough, that was and is the case. If the water level would stay at what ever level that would give us some idea of where and how to place any new structures, but SRP doesn't care about the fish. This is just a suggestion, but worth some thought. Fixing the old that you can get to would be great. Simple labor and some needed materials. I would suggest what ever new structure you may be planning on building has the ability to fluctuate with the water level. If high and dry so be it, but if the water does come up like it has over the past few years, put in place a system that will come up and go down with the water levels. I would think 5 to 10 feet of slack would do it. Put in one, or two water tight 5 gallon flotation jugs to keep the structure off the bottom out of the mud and it just might make one heck of a difference. Look at the structure in the middle of the covers. Some are 2 to 3 feet, or deeper in the mud. Keeping them buoyant when the lake is low is something to consider. Captain Jack
