FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
This Needs Little Comment From ME
My buddy Chago sent me this and you could have knocked me over with a feather. Since Coleto lost its “grass” it has not been the same lake. It was sad to see the decline but maybe there is hope after all.
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Hello all,
Just wanted to take a moment to reach out and communicate a few project details for our upcoming native aquatic vegetation reestablishment project. We are very excited about the project and look forward to working together on this great community initiative to restore and enhance fisheries and aquatic habitats at Coleto Creek Reservoir. We’d love to see habitat in the reservoir eventually restored to its former glory. Thank you all for your commitments to help with that goal.
We are excited to once again work collectively with the GBRA, the Coleto Bassmasters Friends of Reservoir Chapter, and TX BASS Nation. We are also extremely excited to engage some local youth in the project. We hope this will be a great opportunity for the kids to get involved with a boots on the ground restoration project and learn some stewardship principles, but also to make some connections with some local scientists.
TPWD, GBRA, and BioWest (consultant) will be on-site Friday, November 12th to initiate day-1 of the project. We will be looking forward to have all other project partners join the following day on Saturday, the 13th to help implement day-2 and put the finishing touches on the project.
Let’s plan to meet at Coleto Creek Park around the boat basin area on Saturday, November 13th at 9 AM. Entrance to the park for the day should be free for all volunteers and GBRA will provide lunch and drinks for everyone. TPWD will also have some drink coolers with water. Attire can be casual, such as shorts or blue jeans and a comfortable shirt or top. Attire will likely be weather dependent, hopefully it will be cooperative. The plan is to have all volunteers working from the shore or in boats as small teams with TPWD and GBRA personnel.
Both TPWD and GBRA will bring additional lifejackets, but if anyone has any at home or in their personal boats, it would be great to have some extras on hand for your personal use or other volunteers to utilize.
Here is a brief overview of the several initiatives and planting components of the project as well as some detail of how we plan to implement and manage the teams and workload.
- In-reservoir native aquatic vegetation plantings. This will involve transport and planting various aquatic vegetation at specific sites scattered throughout the reservoir. This task involves getting in the water and planting clusters of native plant in the lakebed at various depths, then building protective enclosures with fencing materials to shelter the plants from being grazed down by herbivores. The cages will help assist in plant establishment. The plan for this component is for TPWD, GBRA, and consultant BioWest (Casey Williams) to try and complete the bulk of this work on Friday, the 12th. There may be a few remaining sites that carry over in to Saturday, but the hope is to have the bulk of this task accomplished. This work will be completed by TPWD, GBRA, and BioWest staff only. If there is additional time on Saturday, we could run interested students and other volunteers out to view some of these planting sites.
- Finalize building of floating cages and deployment of aquatic plant coontail at specific locations. This will involve putting the finishing touches on some floating cages constructed out of PVC, pool noodles, and vinyl fencing. Once cage building is completed, small teams will venture to specified locations and deploy the floating cages and fill each cage with coontail. The plan is to collectively tackle this component with all project partners on the 13th.
- Floating islands planting and deployment. TPWD purchased two floating islands that will be deployed on the reservoir to provide additional habitat. These islands will be planted with desirable native plants, small protective enclosures built around them, then loaded on boats for deployment. The islands will be secured to the lakebed with t-posts and rope. The plan is to collectively tackle this component with all project partners on the 13th.
We look forward to connecting with everyone soon and if there are any questions in the meantime, please feel free to reach out anytime.
Best,
Greg
Greg Binion
District Supervisor
TPWD Inland Fisheries Division
Corpus Christi District
PO Box 116
Mathis, TX 78368
361.547.9712 (office)
361.547.7225 (fax)
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I have been surprised a time or two but this is one of the better ones in a while. It can turn the lake around in a short time. I have been critical of TPWD at times, but nothing but props for addressing what was is a real problem. So a big thanks to TPWD for addressing this in a big way. And to the participants, Coleto Bassmaster and Bass Nation , your work is appreciated and will change the future of the lake. For you younger guys who want a career in fishing or the outdoors here is your chance. And to the rest of you, leave the stuff alone, the future of the fishing is at stake.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.
For all your wading needs.
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