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Post by oldrockerdude on Jul 20, 2015 12:40:44 GMT -5
Anyone know of a website that shows where any of the artificial reefs a have been located on SML???
Thanks!
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Post by formula180 on Jul 20, 2015 14:27:31 GMT -5
I think it was in 1973 when one of the bass clubs helped in planting Christmas tree reefs and tire reefs. They than had a survey where you fished at marked locations with some of the locations being reefs that they planted. I would contact the local bass clubs to see if they still have the information. Here is a picture of the barge planting the tire reefs:
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greg
New Member
Posts: 335
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Post by greg on Jul 20, 2015 16:19:45 GMT -5
That's the first time I've ever heard of this. I know of some Christmas trees that have been planted....OOPS, I didn't mean to say that.
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Post by formula180 on Jul 20, 2015 19:23:33 GMT -5
Looks like Eric Prince did his thesis on artificial reefs: The biological effects of artificial reefs in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia. Author: Eric D Prince Publisher: 1976. Dissertation: Ph. D. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 1976 Edition/Format: Thesis/dissertation : Thesis/dissertation : Manuscript Archival Material : English Database: WorldCat It is 570 pages so should be interesting. BookLooks like the Va Tech library has a copy: linkThe Smith Mountain Reservoir project covered 9500 m2, used 7000 tires, and 400 evergreen trees. Like the Arkansas project, most of the materials and labor were donated for this project, so the total cost in 1974 was only $4,998 (Prince and Maughan, 1978). From the date of the pictures taken, looks like the reefs were planted in the summer of 1973 in the lower part of the lake.
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Post by formula180 on Jul 20, 2015 19:41:46 GMT -5
Here is another interesting article "Largemouth Bass Predation on Stocked Striped Bass in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia". You can print this article out. link"Compatibility and complementarity of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) as forage fish in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia" linkIf you are an educator, you can join for free. linkMore homework: linklink
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Post by oldrockerdude on Jul 21, 2015 16:35:25 GMT -5
Man, you guys never make this easy. ? I thought I read online that they sunk some of the man made plastic tree / bush looking things here in the lake. Thanks for the replies. I will study up. Catching more everytime I go out so the blind squirrel theory does work!
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Post by mwardncsu on Jul 21, 2015 16:39:14 GMT -5
That's the first time I've ever heard of this. I know of some Christmas trees that have been planted....OOPS, I didn't mean to say that. I know of some "planted" trees (well, a cinder block and a main trunk....) which have also been relocated to due to discovery from a castnet.... A few years ago DGIF created a process by which individuals/land-owners could "plant" artificial structures/trees..... I believe there is some type of registration process, etc....
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Post by stillwagon1 on Jul 21, 2015 20:27:38 GMT -5
Man, you guys never make this easy. ? I thought I read online that they sunk some of the man made plastic tree / bush looking things here in the lake. Thanks for the replies. I will study up. Catching more everytime I go out so the blind squirrel theory does work! A few years ago working for a local dock builder, I sunk a dozen under someones dock.
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Post by stillwagon1 on Jul 21, 2015 20:39:47 GMT -5
They were used to solve a shoreline qualm with aep. The dock crossed the imaginary property line in the lake i believe. So instead of turning they dock into an hexagon they were allowed to "plant" habitat. It reminded me of a thicker pex tubing, black, with about an 80 lb base.
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Post by striperjohn on Jul 22, 2015 6:10:18 GMT -5
Those planted reefs were done in lower lake to fish and counter pumpback erosion. Look like part of the bottom now. I know of 3 they built.
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Post by formula180 on Jul 22, 2015 8:54:48 GMT -5
Those planted reefs were done in lower lake to fish and counter pumpback erosion. Look like part of the bottom now. I know of 3 they built. How would the reefs counter pump back erosion?? I remember some of the reefs being placed on island points and points off of the mountain ridges. The staging area was out of Penhook and I remember most of the reefs being placed in that area. Eric Prince's work seems to be the first study of artificial reefs in lakes. You will find later studies done by others using his information and guidance.
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Post by striperjohn on Jul 23, 2015 14:59:02 GMT -5
The ones I saw placed were to prevent the erosion along the pumpback area. Mounds and mounds of tires some filled with concrete used rebar to keep them together. No idea what study you refer just what I witnessed.
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Post by formula180 on Jul 24, 2015 8:46:08 GMT -5
The ones I saw placed were to prevent the erosion along the pumpback area. Mounds and mounds of tires some filled with concrete used rebar to keep them together. No idea what study you refer just what I witnessed. If you do not have pictures, it didn't happen. Looking at the time line, the reefs were installed in 1973 and Prince's study was not published until 1976 which is the only study that I know about on reefs in SML. I wasn't there after May 1974 since I had moved to Santa Barbara so there could have been erosion tires after that time. I only fished from the S-turn down to the dam during that period. My friend that was in the bass club moved to Florence, SC and is no longer around. The bass club had a hard time finding volunteers so I got involved. I think the reefs greatly improve the bait fish population overall. The biggest void is lack of weed beds for smaller bait fish and stocked strippers which act as feeding stations and cover.
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Post by mwardncsu on Jul 24, 2015 9:00:11 GMT -5
The biggest void is lack of weed beds for smaller bait fish and stocked strippers which act as feeding stations and cover. Increasingly I am worried about this as well - for all the fisheries on SML. The desire by some to pruge the lake of every last week by spraying & introducing grass carp, etc is going to have damaging effects on the fisheries....... Those grass beds serve as havens for all small species - perhaps more so the bass than the stripers actually - it is a healthy part of a thriving aquatic ecosystem, being purged from the lake out of perhaps unfounded concerns by some lake home-owners. This is an area that those that care about the various fisheries need to get united on and get their voice hear - TLAC is driving this issue now with a singular agenda - needs to have some balance to that conversation.
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johnr
New Member
Posts: 1,295
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Post by johnr on Jul 24, 2015 10:42:40 GMT -5
I agree that the removal of every last blade of aquatic grass will ultimately be the demise of this lake. The grass carp have kept the entirety of bull run void of grass for a few years now, when that place would be choked with grass by late summer.
Look what they've done to Gaston and Claytor as well. Grass carp were introduced and the grass disappeared.
Fish and waterfowl depend on the grasses in the absence of vast expanses of slackwater marsh for food, cover and breeding locations.
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