Walleyes Forever |
Canyon Ferry netting update: April 11, 2008  A National Guard helicopter lifts Christmas trees to create fish habitat in Canyon Ferry. with Christmas for Canyon Ferry From ERIC ROBERTS Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Due to some changes in scheduling with the National Guard, Friday was Christmas tree day instead of Thursday. Throughout the day Friday, the Guard was able to get all but a handful of trees into the reservoir using one Black Hawk helicopter. We had a few cables break and some bundles fall apart, but overall things went really well. We attached some extra cable to each of the bundles so the pilot could roll right up to the bundles, and the ground crew could reach through the hatch of the chopper and grab the cable and attach it to the hook. Then the bundles were lifted off and dropped out in the reservoir. We ended up with 75 bundles of trees comprised of 5,000 to 6,000 individual Christmas trees. If anyone heads out to the lake this weekend, you will easily be able to see where the drop zone was for the trees--there are tree tops sticking up out of the water throughout the drop area. There are a lot of people that contribute to the tree project both financially and with time. The City of Helena collected and delivered the trees on site. Walleyes Forever bought most of the cable for the project. The Townsend Chamber of Commerce kicked in money for concrete blocks. The Gallatin/Madison Chapter of WU provided money for concrete blocks and some additional cable, hauled up a load of trees from Bozeman, and they provided much of the man power putting the bundles together. There were also many people from the Bozeman and Helena areas who helped with the bundling. Many thanks to all who help with this annual habitat enhancement effort! Not much change in the Merwin traps. Water temps are pushing 42, and we are starting to see a few more perch in the traps. All the females are still full of eggs, so it doesn't look like they are quite ready to spawn yet. We are still seeing some really nice rainbows, especially in Duck Creek. Walleye catch is still low, with 6 small males caught over the last couple of days. There was a steady stream of boats pulling into the Silos this morning, so it looks like people are taking full advantage of the warm weather this weekend. Volunteers are always welcome--for more details call my office line at 495-3272 and leave a message.   Copyright, 2008  BigSkyOutdoors.Net |