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Trees and rock added to help Smithville Lake...
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Trees and rock added to help Smithville Lake fishery
April 15, 2012
Photo: Large trees sunk in Smithville Lake on Saturday,
including the one dropped by this Missouri Department
of Conservation crew, are part of a long-range program
to keep the lake’s fishery healthy. Photo courtesy of MDC.
Smithville Lake’s fish and anglers both received a boost Saturday from tall trees. Crews sank trees in the lake to replace fish-friendly cover that has weathered away as the 30-year-old lake ages.
Large cedar trees were spaced in shallow water in coves in the Route W Bridge area. In deeper water, crews tied on concrete weights and sank trees such as locust, Osage orange and oak that were cut from woodlands that needed thinning.
The brush in shallow water will provide spawning areas and shelter for young fish, and in deeper water the trees will attract larger fish such as crappie and enhance chances for angler success. Over time, Smithville Lake’s woody cover decayed and vanished. Waves washed soil from shorelines so annual vegetation declined. The trees sunk in the lake on Saturday are large and durable enough to provide new cover for decades, said Eric Dennis, a fisheries management biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).
“We’re working on a multi-year fisheries improvement program for this lake,” Dennis said.
Fish habitat work has been done at the Smithville Lake before. But Saturday’s work day is part of a broadened, four-part improvement program. MDC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Clay County Department of Parks and Recreation are cooperating to boost the fishery.
Large rocks will be scattered on the bottom in some sites to create submerged boulder fields. Rock piles will create humps. Rock will also prevent some wind-swept shores from erosion.
Crews will cut notches in trees growing near the water line in some areas of the lake so they will eventually topple into the water. But the trees remain connected to the stump via the “hinge” that holds them in place as shelter for fish in the shallows.
Fast-growing willow trees are planted in some shallows with mud bottoms to prevent erosion and shelter fish. Volunteers planted willows during Saturday’s work day.
Large trees, often hardwoods, are being placed in the lake annually. While Christmas trees are placed in the lake each winter, they decay quickly. So the brush replacement effort has shifted to large trees that will last for many years. Sunken brush piles are marked with GPS data and many locations are available to anglers at http://www.claycountymo.gov/@api/deki/files/1878/=Crappie_Bed_Map_2012_Binder.pdf.
The goal with large-scale brush piles is to work on them at different locations around the lake and create a rotation so that about every five years an area gets a habitat treatment, Dennis said.
“By concentrating on specific areas,” he said, “we can make a difference.”
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