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Old 11-23-2018, 10:01 AM
Don Andersen Don Andersen is offline
 
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Folks,



Did part of my annual redd walk where I pick a section of Stauffer Creek and walk it during early November to determine the number of redds and therefore the possibility of increased brown trout populations.

I divide the stream into four sections and today I walked the section from the Lazy M upstream to the bridge.

I am pleased to report that someone removed the beaver dams along this section thereby allowing browns to utilize the traditional spawning habitat. From a low two years ago of only 12 redds, the beaver dam removal resulted in an increase to 36 redds in this section. Only nine below the removed dam shown bellow and the rest above it. There were some sections where the redds are so close together that counting was difficult. In this case, I error on the low side. No point in being too optimistic.

This redd located along where the dam was located humored me. A fishery screw you.



Regards,



Don
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  #2  
Old 11-23-2018, 01:53 PM
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italk2u italk2u is offline
 
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Great news indeed, sir.
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Old 11-23-2018, 04:26 PM
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Lornce Lornce is offline
 
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Excellent news, thanks for the report.
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Old 11-23-2018, 08:41 PM
flyrodfisher flyrodfisher is offline
 
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Great news!!!
Sounds like my bitching to the ACA earlier this year about dam removal may have actually helped. At that time, they claimed it was not their responsibility...that it was TU central chapter?
I hope they removed the "builder" of those dams too....

Don...did they take out the one just u/s of the bridge too?
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Old 11-23-2018, 09:24 PM
Maxwell87 Maxwell87 is offline
 
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Great news!!! Thanks for the updates
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Old 11-23-2018, 10:39 PM
Don Andersen Don Andersen is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flyrodfisher View Post
Great news!!!
Sounds like my bitching to the ACA earlier this year about dam removal may have actually helped. At that time, they claimed it was not their responsibility...that it was TU central chapter?
I hope they removed the "builder" of those dams too....

Don...did they take out the one just u/s of the bridge too?
You can rest assured if the ACA says they are not doing something, they don’t.
I have no idea who removed the dams.
I don’t know of fbs status of other dams or beaver control.

Don
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Old 11-23-2018, 11:16 PM
flyrodfisher flyrodfisher is offline
 
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Don...the one I was thinking of was the one no more than 50 yards upstream of the bridge...It had been there since last fall (2017)
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Old 11-24-2018, 09:27 AM
ecsuplander ecsuplander is offline
 
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Great to hear. Those beaverdams really do a number on the stream flow and trout travel. Not sure what the answer is in regards to the beavers. Seem to be difficult to remove the dams, beavers rebuild them quickly.
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Old 11-25-2018, 10:38 AM
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JReed JReed is offline
 
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Any trappers around? Their time is probably worth more than beaver pelts I guess
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Old 11-26-2018, 01:32 PM
Roderek Roderek is offline
 
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Sorry what is a REDD?
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Old 11-26-2018, 02:17 PM
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Lornce Lornce is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roderek View Post
Sorry what is a REDD?
A red is a spawning bed that a Trout makes by cleaning the gravel, you can easily recognize it by lighter areas on the stream bottom in pea gravel areas. Don't Tread on Redds.
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Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito bitten,
but never, with a fly rod in my hand have I been in a place that was less than beautiful.

My blog - casting on the waters

fishing regulations and facts on fish handling
Fishing Regulations
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Old 11-26-2018, 03:24 PM
Roderek Roderek is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lornce View Post
A red is a spawning bed that a Trout makes by cleaning the gravel, you can easily recognize it by lighter areas on the stream bottom in pea gravel areas. Don't Tread on Redds.
Thanks the picture makes way more sense now.
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Old 11-27-2018, 10:10 PM
Don Andersen Don Andersen is offline
 
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An update

Took another walk today looking for redds in the Buck for Wildlife area. Starting <> 600 yards east of the parking lot I wandered upstream checking out the usual spots. Well, it took a while to find the first one. From year to year, the browns will often use the same locations. Such wasn’t the case for the first several hundred yards. Then I found a possible. Occasionally, browns will try a spot and find it not to their liking. These trials redds often do not contain the large rocks at the upstream end indicating a rejected location.
Then I found a real one and within a short distance another. In one stretch of 50 years there was four.
The walk ended with eight redds found which is far better than the two I found two years ago and certainly down from sixteeen found about ten years ago. Whether this indicates normal is unclear.
I never check upstream of the Buck for Wildlife parking lot to the Lazy M any longer as there has never all been more than two redds in this location. Upstream of the Lazy M is a far more important spawning area.
I then checked two short previously used spawning areas.
Just below the culverts on the west property line of Stainbrookes site yielded four redds which is typical. Further upstream, downstream of the culvert on the Leavitt site often has redds but there were none.
So ended today’s redd check.
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