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RETURN to Putah Creek Trout -> Putah Creek Fly Fishing Forum -> Putah Creek Fly Fishing -> Volunteer help: the creek is in trouble
Post Info TOPIC: Volunteer help: the creek is in trouble
SK60


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Volunteer help: the creek is in trouble
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All: In early March this year a heavy rain storm cell sat over the badly burned Cold Canyon/Wildhorse Canyon watershed for several hours, dumping inches of rain onto the steep canyon slopes, and heavily eroding the burned ground. The result was a sudden high pulse of mud and water roaring down Cold Canyon into the creek; within a few hours the creek flow jumped from 100 cfs to 800 cfs before returning to 100 cfs. This pulse of tons of silt flowed down the Interdam reach down to Lake Solano, deposited into new mud islands and deltas as far down as fishing access 4. Much of the silt was mobilized by the high agricultural flows, but large submerged mud bars are becoming visible as the creek level drops.

 

The major spawning bed at Deer Sign was buried under several inches of silt at a critical time for the eggs and alevins present in the gravel. We believe much of the 2016 spawn cohort was killed by the siltation of the beds. A recent survey of the adjacent side channel turned up "0" young trout-this had never happened in surveys from previous years. Deer Sign spawning bed is in horrible condition right now and the new spawning season is just around the corner. It is critical for the health of our fishery that we remove silt and weeds from the spawning bed at Deer sign and also at the resort. This is a call for all hands to volunteer to prevent another disastrous spawn.

 

The end of this month, on October 29, and then during the following weekend on November 6, we are holding work days to clean the gravel spawning beds of silt and weeds at both sites (October 29) followed by gravel supplementation at one site (November 6). We need at least 20 volunteers for the 29th and at least 60 for the gravel augmentation Sign up for the 29th bed cleaning at the link below

If not showing, click on the “Spawning Bed” tab to get to the spreadsheet

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13eqJmRxO66MDmgi2Ysrkx4edS61gWhqjKdi-HmdzmbU/edit?usp=sharing

 

Signup for the November 6 gravel augmentation through our PCT Facebook link, using the “Going” Button; or email or call Steve Karr directly):

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/170214676760431/

 

SK60@putahcreektrout.org

530-400-1171

 



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PCT Contact Info: putahcreektrout@gmail.com, SK60@putahcreektrout.org

Address: Putah Creek Trout, 1520 East  Covell Blvd, Suite 5, #331, Davis CA 95616

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lightfoot


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I've opted out on these operations in the recent past but feel the creek this year could really use the help. Arthritis and a bad back are going to scream at me but bring it on. I've got a couple of rakes to bring though in the past we have been dealing with a lot of weeds, not so much a river of silt. This should be an interesting challenge.

As a Jeeper, I prefer boulders over gravel but plan to attend that second event as well.

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Winter eats heat the way darkness swallows light. The terrors of failed power and frozen stems are stymied with fire, smoke and white ash.

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Rossflyguy


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Expecting my first born the next several days. Gotta be in standby for her or I'd totally be down. I've noticed some spots are much easier to get to due to the silt build up.

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lightfoot


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Congratulations Mr. N Mrs. Brown :)

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Winter eats heat the way darkness swallows light. The terrors of failed power and frozen stems are stymied with fire, smoke and white ash.

Cedarville, Mi
Skol Bandit


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Is there anyone from Fish and Game or CalTrout involved in this project at all? Is it sanctioned by any organizations? Does the project have any permit or authority to alter the creek, etc?

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DrDan


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All permitted and approved after much work and effort. 



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bono


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Hey Steve I will not make it this weekend , but I think I can swing it on the 6th. Can you use a small kubota tractor with a front loader? I also have a large dump trailer . What do you think?



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Greg Bonovich
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lightfoot


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There was a pretty good turnout for this event, thank you all that took the time out of your weekend to make a positive impact on the chance for the fish in Putah to have a successful spawn this year. Karma goes a long ways, you all earned a bunch of good.

Hey Greg, the Kubota is actually an interesting idea. I've got a clopped out trailer on 33" tires for my jeep to pull. Loading that with the Kubota and backing that trailer down just might save some backs. I'm a little disappointed that I headed down to deer sign instead of upstream to the island area. Putting eyes on the "muck" might have been a better idea to see if it's feasible. I'm going to go out on a limb and say a fullsize might not be a good thing. Besides, if I buried it, you could pull me out :)

I presented the Jeep/trailer suggestion to Steve but he stated somebody else was in charge of that scope of the project. I don't recall who that was, much less who to contact.

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Winter eats heat the way darkness swallows light. The terrors of failed power and frozen stems are stymied with fire, smoke and white ash.

Cedarville, Mi
bono


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Well hopefully somebody out there can give us an answer. I'm a firm believer in "smarter not harder" we can really expedite things if we can utilize the tractor somehow.  myself and my boys may just show up with the equipment anyway. If nothing else I can load peoples wheelbarrow, that's what we do at our jobs, it saves time.



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Greg Bonovich
greg@putahcreekflyfishing.com
http://www.putahcreekflyfishing.com
Phone: 800-480-5285
Cell: 707-480-3809
SK60


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I discussed this with Greg: the access from the gravel pile to the creek is blocked by large boulder riprap, too large to move. The distance between the boulders is too narrow to allow even a small tractor through. Also the trail to the water is uneven with a downhill slope on the outside. The plan is to cut down the trail on the uphill slope to level it and load wheelbarrows with Greg's Kubota, run the wheelbarrows down the trail to waters edge, load buckets out of the barrows and carry them out into the water for spreading. So, if you have a wheelbarrow that you can transport, bring it. Parking won't be available on the property-its available across the bridge in the two Fish and Wildlife parking lots.

-Work area is at Canyon Creek Resort
-Unload your wheelbarrow in the Lodge parking lot before parking
-Cross over the Highway 128 Bridge and Park  in the West or East Parking lots just past the bridge
-Use the bridge walkways to walk back to the resort.
-Cross over highway 128 to the Lodge parking lot
-Walk down the driveway towards the Security kiosk and pass through the black metal gate
-Follow the gravel road down to the bridge, pass under and continue walking towards the dam until you reach the gazebo-this is the work site.
 
Please bring the following:
 
-Gloves that can get wet
-Waders-hip length to chest
-a shovel, garden rake, wheelbarrow if you have one you can transport
 
-Lunch, Gatorade, water, and snacks provided

 



-- Edited by SK60 on Wednesday 2nd of November 2016 10:47:27 PM

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PCT Contact Info: putahcreektrout@gmail.com, SK60@putahcreektrout.org

Address: Putah Creek Trout, 1520 East  Covell Blvd, Suite 5, #331, Davis CA 95616

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Mike42


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Steve, what time would you like us to assemble?

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SK60


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If you can arrive by 8:30 that would be great. Some people are coming from long distance, so its is going to be a spread arrival between 8:30 and 9



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PCT Contact Info: putahcreektrout@gmail.com, SK60@putahcreektrout.org

Address: Putah Creek Trout, 1520 East  Covell Blvd, Suite 5, #331, Davis CA 95616

Visit our website at www.putahcreektrout.org
Fenwick


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Heads up: Daylight savings ends 2am Sunday Nov. 6th, set the clock(s) back an hour.

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SK60


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Close to 50 volunteers helped move and spread 20 yards of gravel on Sunday; with so many newbies on this blog that I haven't met, I would like to know if any of you were there? Group photo by Marcel Siegle below.

 

_40A0654.jpg



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PCT Contact Info: putahcreektrout@gmail.com, SK60@putahcreektrout.org

Address: Putah Creek Trout, 1520 East  Covell Blvd, Suite 5, #331, Davis CA 95616

Visit our website at www.putahcreektrout.org
Rossflyguy


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That's awesome. Wish I was able to help! Next year for sure when the baby is older.

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lairdbaird


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thank you to all for volunteering to make the creek better. I am living in another country now but would have liked to lend a hand.

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