StructureSpot

THE SPROCKET FISH SPAWNING ROCKET

The Sprocket Fish Spawning Rocket is the only, multi-species, artificial spawning structure, designed exclusively for nest protection and fry survival.

Self weighted and fully assembled, this 14 pound spawning rocket, can be installed directly from the box into shallow spawning water.

Three individual compartments provide fish a choice to bed in any direction with three sided protection, each measuring approx. 15″x72″ with an overall diameter of over seven feet!.  More habitat models at fishiding.com

PLM Lake & Land Management Corp. Joins Fishiding

PLM Lake & Land Management Corp.

…is an American, woman-owned and operated small business whose goal for over thirty years has been to protect your property from the aesthetic and economic damage caused by invasive plant species. More habitat articles at fishiding.com

We provide a team of expert biologists, foresters, ecologists and managers to evaluate your environment, prioritize…more

What Exactly Is Fish Habitat and Why Must We Care?

Forward Post: AFS Journal
What Exactly Is Fish Habitat and Why Must We Care?
Mon Jun 3, 2013 2:29pm
What Exactly Is Fish Habitat and Why Must We Care?Thomas E. Bigford
Office of Habitat Conservation, NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
E-mail: Thomas.bigford@noaa.gov

“Fish habitat” is a
simple term. We can easily
imagine a fish languishing
under a log or in
a kelp forest, and we can
picture a school of forage
fish zipping through the
water column. We can
also grasp that the preferred
space for many species might change as the seasons change and
the years pass by. But the rest of the story is not quite so simple,
mostly because life is more complicated and knowledge is often
limited. This month’s “Fish Habitat Connections” seeks to demystify
those details so we can appreciate the intricacies in the
fish habitat world and become more emboldened to serve fish
not just as a meal but as they deserve.
Let’s begin with semantics. Each fish occupies its preferred
niche in the ecosystem. The environmental conditions of that
space define the fish’s preference at each life stage—water
temperature, depth, salinity, flow, bottom type, prey availability                                                annual cycles, and much more. It is important for us
as professionals to place those variables in proper context so
that individual fish can survive, fish stocks can flourish, fishery
management can succeed, and society can benefit from our nation’s
waters.
That simplistic summary reflects our hopes, which are
complicated by the reality that we know very little about our
most basic habitat questions. With luck, we know where fish
live throughout their life cycles. But oft times we have few
insights into the shifting preferences of each life stage. Even
that knowledge is elusive unless we have close observations
from multidecadal stock assessments or the insights offered
by a healthy fishery. Almost universally, we rarely understand
the relationships between fish and their habitat.

If a wetland is
dredged, how will the local fish populations change over the
short and long term? If a dam is breached, will the new hydrological
regime support native species or invite invasive species?
If an acre is protected or restored, how will the population respond?
Will harvests increase?
These issues read like the final program at many an American
Fisheries Society (AFS) conference. They have vexed us
as a profession for decades. We must manage fisheries with the
best available information, scant as it might be. And we must
identify our primary needs so that gaps are addressed.
COLUMN
Fish Habitat Connections There is also the still-new concept of ecosystem-based approaches.
Habitat must be an essential variable in stock assessments,
but those analyses must be conducted with an ecosystem
in mind. Those perspectives can be as important as data. Without
that challenge, we won’t even know we have a data gap.
Considering how complex this simple topic can be, and
how it reflects human pressures from our coasts to the mountains,
it is probably no surprise that we continue to lose habitat
function at alarming rates. Along our oceans, marine and estuarine
wetland loss was three times higher between 2004 and
2009 than in the previous 5 years (Stedman and Dahl 2008;
Dahl 2011). Inland wetland loss is not as severe, but hundreds of
rivers representing thousands of river miles are compromised by
blockages that prevent fish movement upstream or downstream.
The first-ever national fish habitat assessment found that 53%
of our estuaries are at high or very high risk of habitat degradation
(National Fish Habitat Board 2010). Given those numbers,
it is unfortunate that those places provide vital nursery habitats
for many of our favorite fish.
As fishery professionals from all disciplines, our assignment
is to combine our skills to protect important habitats and
restore those that are degraded. Our mission will be slightly
less daunting if we and our partners can set a pace to match
the steady pressure of human population growth and looming
challenges such as climate change. AFS represents an incredible
knowledge base. If anyone can analyze our habitat knowledge,
fill our priority gaps, apply lessons learned, and improve habitats
for the benefit of all, it is us.

More habitat articles at fishiding.com
Next month we will shift from the nuances of semantics
to the harsh realities of the challenge before us. It is imperative
that we engage now! Economic and ecological facts urge AFS,
its units, each of us, and our home institutions to accept the challenge.
We will explain the opportunities before us and how our
collective skills are needed for success.
REFERENCES
Dahl, T.E. 2011. Status and trends of wetlands in the conterminous
United States 2004-2009. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish
and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. 108 pp.
National Fish Habitat Board. 2010. Through a fish’s eye: the status of
fish habitats in the United States 2010. Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies, Washington, D.C. 68 pp.
Stedman, S., and T. E. Dahl. 2008. Status and trends of wetlands in the
coastal watersheds of the Eastern United States 1998 to 2004. National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine
Fisheries Service, and U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and
Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. 32 pp.

Hooked for life – by Bruce Kania

Hooked for life – by Bruce Kania

May 30, 2013
posted by Anne
IMG_0604Fish Fry Lake may be the best fishing hole in Montana…at least for kids!  The lake is only 6.5 acres, but the water’s invitingly clear and it is extremely easy to catch yellow perch, crappie and bluegills.  Even some Yellowstone Cutthroat trout happen here…which may be their easternmost extension.  Fish grow fast in this lake at Floating Island International’s headquarters 25 miles from Billings, Montana.  Fish Fry Lake is a test site for BioHaven® floating islands as well as other embodiments of BioHaven technology.Last year over forty kids (and a couple adults) caught their very first fish on the lake.  For most of these fisher people it was as simple as attaching a piece of nightcrawler onto a small jig head, then flipping the baited hook into the crystal clear water and watching their line for some indication of a bite.  Typically the line will twitch when a fish picks up the offering, and then it’s a straightforward process.  Lift the rod tip and reel in a scrappy panfish.  Some kids start off with a cane pole, just like I did way back when.  Today there’s even lighter fiberglass extension poles and it’s pretty easy for little guys, and gals, to swing the offering over open water, wait a moment, then pull up a seriously exciting fish!The pond is also home to painted turtles, leopard frogs, bullfrogs, tadpoles, blue herons, mallards, wood ducks, teal, spoonbill, widgeon, yellow and red headed blackbirds, woodpeckers, garter snakes, the occasional bull snake, crawfish, salamanders, Canada geese, osprey and even the occasional Bald Eagle, all of which tend to be of great interest to kids.  As I was growing up there was a similar wetland within walking distance…and kid tracks along the shoreline evidenced fascination with critters and plants, and pretty much everything wild.  Episodes with poison ivy notwithstanding, kids and water and fields and wildlife, they used to go together as naturally as water flows downhill.  Today though, computers seem to have taken over some of that space, some of the territory that used to be reserved for kids and nature to get to know each other. 

We are not against computers!  The advances associated with the huge strides in information transfer technology that we’ve experienced in the last twenty years are life changing, and mostly positive.  But wouldn’t it be ideal if we could retain some connection with nature?  And certainly not just on a computer screen, but in person and up close!  Catching a fish, splashing after a leopard frog, or sneaking up on a big old gander goose is the stuff of childhood, and I don’t think it’s a good thing to miss out on.

I remember a troupe of kids passing by with fishing rods in hand one day last summer, when one of the boys, lagging behind, complained about the sun being “too hot!”  A young gal in the group suggested he “man up”, at which point the young lad was pretty much forced by the amazing power of peer pressure to deal with conditions.  Not sure if those kind of life lessons happen frequently in front of a computer screen.

And kids don’t catch fish automatically.  Not even on Fish Fry.  They must learn the process, think it through, and then connect the dots.  Along the way, with a bit of patience, they are rewarded.  This is good stuff for kids.

There was a young gal that could not handle touching a worm.  When it came to touching a fish, that was at least as bad as the idea of touching a worm.  An hour later she was independently doing both.  Real life lessons, and a new connection with where food comes from.  More good stuff!

Today the majority of fresh water lakes in the U.S. are so nutrient rich that they are at risk of running out of dissolved oxygen, without which fish die.  Fish Fry Lake has turned this condition on its head.  We have learned how to cycle those same nutrients into fish, instead of algae.  Catch rate on Fish Fry is a fish every two minutes on average.  The 6.5 acre lake yielded 5,168 fish last year, which translates to 210 pounds of fish per acre.  And along the way the water in Fish Fry was kept within Cutthroat Trout temperature requirements.  A nearby public lake, with conventional management, yielded about ten pounds of fish per acre.  And those fish were stocked, while Fish Fry’s are wild and naturally reproductive.  In late summer, the bottom half of the public lake is devoid of breathable oxygen.  Trout that were stocked in that lake in the spring have a choice…they can cook in the warm water on top, or suffocate in the stratified cooler water below.  The same conditions repeat themselves in thousands of U.S. waterways every summer.  But it doesn’t have to stay this way.

What if we focussed on our public waterways, especially in cities and villages?  What if we took that water and cycled the nutrients that are already there, into fish?  This is a very real prospect.  We do have the science, and we have the tools.  Dive into our website and keep this vision in mind…of kids catching fish hand over fist.  This is a new vision of abundance, and it’s within reach.  We can concentrate nature’s wetland effect and the result is an upward spiral that leads to both clean water and huge abundance of healthy, vibrant and edible fish.

Following are a few Thank You notes by kids who’ve fished here on Fish Fry:

Dear Ms. Anne and Mr. Bruce.

Thank you for letting us go to Floating Islands.  It was a lot of fun. I loved catching fish.  It was fun.  I like your dogs.  I think the picnic was fun, too.  I think I learned a lot about fishing.  You made my day.  Thank you for everything.
Thank you for letting us fish and play with the dogs.  I caught four fish.  It was awesome!  The floating islands are really cool and I hope to come back again.
I liked….. fishing, seeing the fish.  Thank U.
Thank you for letting us fish for different kinds of fish.  I enjoyed fishing.  I also caught a ton of fish within the small amount of time I spent fishing.  I also enjoyed walking on the floating islands.  I really enjoyed throwing frisbees for the three cute dogs….. I thoroughly enjoyed going to Floating Islands and I hope to come again.  Thank you very much.

– See more at: http://www.floatingislandinternational.com/2013/05/hooked-for-life/#sthash.iT9q5opN.dpuf

GRDA to host ‘Build A Brush’ Saturday

 Spidery habitats

Cheryl Franklin / Grove Sun

Spidery habitats

Fish habitats built by volunteers at Build a Brush workshops.Kaylea M. Hutson

Anglers and others who have a passion for all things Grand Lake will have a chance to learn how to build an artificial fish habitat on Saturday, during a workshop sponsored by Grand River Dam Authority.

The “Build A Brush” hands-on workshop, set for 9 a.m. Saturday, May 11, Wolf Creek Park, is designed to teach people how to build artificial fish habitats made using cement blocks and plastic pipes.

Members of the GRDA staff will be on hand during the event, to teach those gathered how to make the habitats, known as “spider blocks” because of the way the black plastic pipes resemble spider legs.

Jacklyn Jaggars, assistant director of GRDA ecosystems and lake management, said the spider blocks become fish habitats once immersed in the lake, because moss and algae grow on the pipes. Five or six blocks placed together provide cover for even the smallest fish.

Those in attendance will have the opportunity to take home several blocks, and encouraged to place them in their favorite fishing spots, explained Jaggars.

The workshop is set for 9 a.m., Saturday, May 11, at the Wolf Creek Park. The event is free, but Jaggars said reservations are encouraged to ensure they have enough materials. To register, persons may call 918-256-0723.

This is the first of two “Build a Brush” workshops. The second workshop is set for Saturday, June 1, at Cherokee State Park, below the Pensacola Dam in Langley. More habitat articles at fishiding.com

B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Improves Habitat with long Term Advantages

Artificial Habitat Benefits Bass Fisheries

DateFriday, March 8, 2013 at 9:21AM  ActivistAngler.com

Fisheries in West Virginia and New Mexico are showcasing a new generation of manmade habitat, thanks to innovative state conservation directors in the B.A.S.S. Nation (BN).

Both Jerod Harman and Earl Conway saw the need for effective and long-lasting habitat in reservoirs that endure huge water fluctuations on a regular basis. More habitat articles at fishiding.com

“Climate change is already impacting the Southwest,” said New Mexico’s Conway. “Over-allocation of water rights and drought have drained many reservoirs in New Mexico and west Texas. Shoreline and aquatic vegetation is gone and replanting is futile when lake levels fluctuate 20 feet or so every year.

“That’s where floating islands come to the rescue.”

In West Virginia, meanwhile, the West Virginia BN has teamed with a company that makes fish habitat from recycled vinyl and reclaimed PVC to build an “oasis for bass” in Sutton Lake, according to Jerod Harman.

It consists of pea gravel, spider blocks, artificial structures fromFishiding, and vegetation growing in a 5,000-square-foot cage on a mud flat, with a creek channel nearby.

“The artificial structures attract the bass looking for a place to spawn,” Harman explained. “The pea gravel provides the correct bottom structure for bedding.

“When the young bass hatch, the artificial structures help provide a protective environment. The periphyton (mixture of algae, microbes, and bacteria that forms the base of food chain) will provide nutrients for growth, and, later on, the small bass fry can relocate to inside of the vegetation cage for protection from predators.

“This is something that I am really excited about!”

Harman added that he believes the habitat made by Dave Ewald’s Illinois company, which features vinyl strips attached to a heavy base, will greatly enhance periphyton growth, as well as provide better cover for survival of young bass than will the spider blocks alone.

“The structures are ready for installation right out of the box, and David was great to work with,” the conservation director said. “I would definitely recommend these, especially for a small group of volunteers who need to complete a larger-scale project in a limited amount of time.”

Conway and the New Mexico BN also are growing periphyton, but on floating islands instead of vinyl strips. One of those islands, complete with spawning platform, won the 2010 Berkley Conservation Award and was the first step in what the conservation director hopes will be a major habitat restoration project for Elephant Butte.

Bruce Kania’s Floating Island International, a Montana company, has provided the New Mexico BN with prototypes and expertise.

“Floating islands aren’t new,” Conway said. “They occur in nature and have a proven track record for improving water quality and enhancing fish production, but I think that we are just beginning to realize how they can add an entirely new dimension to habitat restoration options.

“My experience is that the shade and food they provide makes them better fish attractors than boat docks or tire water breaks. They are being used more often in public waters and it is just a matter of time until someone wins a major tournament or catches a monster bass off a floating island.”

(This article appeared originally in B.A.S.S. Times.)

Floating Islands Southeast is offering a free webinar

Our first Webinar for 2013, BioHaven® Floating Island Technology Overview & Update, will be Friday, March 15 at 11am EST.

This is a FREE Webinar.

This session will provide an updated, general technology overview, and will include:

  • BioHaven® Floating Islands technology (Floating Treatment Wetlands)
  • Leviathan – adding circulation to increase results
  • BioCoral – increasing surface area
  • BioSwale – “in ditch” treatment
  • Living Shoreline – alternative to conventional solutions

We recommend/encourage inviting scientists, engineers, facility/municipality managers, and anyone interested in improving water quality, creating habitat and or preserving shorelines.

More habitat articles at fishiding.com

To join this free webinar, send an email requesting “log on” information to: info@floatingislandse.com.

You can invite as many others as you like, but they must also send a request for “log on” information.  Each “log on” is unique and they will not be able to use yours.

Please note – you must have the “log on” information that is provided by the webinar software ilinc.  About 24 hours prior to the session, you will get an email from the ilinc software that will provide you with your unique “log on” information.  If you have any questions, please call us at (888) 660-3473.

For ilinc technical support, please call (800) 799-4510.

BioHaven Floating Islands

Technology Overview & Update

Free – Webinar

Friday, March 15

at 11:00am EST

Submit your request to join this free webinar to:info@floatingislandse.com

24 hours prior to the webinar, you will receive the log on information and password to join this free webinar.  For ilinc technical support, please call (800) 799-4510.

BioHaven® Floating Islands biomimic nature and provide a “concentrated wetland effect” that can help solve many environmental problems challenging our water and wildlife. Unlike natural or constructed wetlands, they can be launched in any depth of water and are unaffected by varying water levels.

Floating Island SE

(FISE) is an exclusive and licensed manufacturer of BioHaven® Floating Islands and this proprietary technology.  FISE works with universities, municipalities, government agencies, engineering firms, private parties and various environmental strategic partners to design and sell customized solutions that leverage the BioHaven® Floating Island technology.

Phone: (888) 660 3473          Website: www.floatingislandse.com          Email: info@floatingislandse.com

Forest Turns Into Underwater Housing

A forest for the fishes

A forest for the fish

If you look through the ice on a winter day, or peer into the water during a rare summer moment when the wind is calm, you might glimpse the tips of the trees that make up Ocean Lake’s underwater forest.

Below the surface is a Christmas tree forest “planted” by sportsmen and Wyoming Game and Fish in an effort to enhance fish habitat. In more than two decades some 8,000 trees have been left on the ice of Ocean Lake, tied to cement blocks to sink to the bottom providing fish habitat. It is an effort that began in the early 1980s by four friends who loved to ice fish on the lake and noticed the fish population dwindling. It has grown into a Fremont County community event where more than 500 Christmas trees are donated to the project each year.

Kelsey DaytonKelsey Dayton

The result? Healthier fish populations and happier fishermen.

Howard Johnson of Riverton, always loved ice fishing. It’s a sport that takes little gear as long as one person has an ice auger. No boat is needed to catch as many fish as you would in the summer. And the cold adds a challenge and bonding experience.

“You just have to weather the weather and that’s the fun part of it,” he said.

In the early 1980s he started ice fishing with Bob Wilczewski and Scott Stanley of Riverton, along with Bob Baumann of Shoshoni  at Ocean Lake.

They’d gather with their families and campers, playing cards and games and baking biscuits to go with the fresh fish they’d catch on the ice.

After a few years of bountiful hauls they noticed their catches diminishing. They knew the history of the lake, and it didn’t seem right. Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

Christmas trees are left on the ice of Ocean Lake. Each year recycled Christmas trees are left on the ice to sink to the bottom of the lake where they provide fish habitat. (Photo courtesy Wyoming Game and Fish).

Until the 1930s, Ocean Lake was basically a pond, about 225 acres in size, known as Dry Lake and surrounded by sagebrush and rocks, said Nick Scribner, a habitat biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish. The Riverton Reclamation Irrigation project started in 1922.When new irrigation systems were developed in the area, water started draining to the low spot in the area, where the pond sat, covering the weeds and willows with water and making the pond more of a lake. It kept rising until the Bureau of Reclamation built an outlet off the east side to drain to a creek, stabilizing the water level, Johnson said.

Fish stocking began in the 1930s, bringing black crappie, bluegill, burbot and largemouth bass to the lake, Scribner said. Walleye stocking began in 1954 and became an annual practice starting in 1972.

Old-timers told stories of the incredible fishing in the area, especially walleye and perch, Johnson said. As the plants on the bottom began to thin and decompose, the smaller fish had no place to hide, the bigger fish had easy feasts and thrived. Fishermen caught fish “by the washtub full,” Johnson said.

For several years Johnson and his friends found Ocean Lake’s fishing bountiful. Then a few years later the fish stopped biting.

On a particularly slow day, the four men lay on the ice, put their coats over their heads and peered down to the bottom. There was nothing but mud.

“It was just like a carpeted floor down there,” Johnson said.

Ocean Lake sits northwest of Riverton in an open area exposed to Wyoming’s wind.  The gusts create waves, which stir up the silt in the bottom,  Scribner said.

The silt makes it hard for plants to grow and there is little natural vegetation on the bottom of the lake, he said. Small fish have little cover to hide from predators.

With no place to hide, the small fish population was decimated by the larger fish, whose population then suffered because there wasn’t enough food.

Most of Johnson’s fishing group came originally from the Midwest, where using old Christmas trees for fish habitat is common. They decided to see if they could help the fish of Ocean Lake. That winter they wandered alleys and picked up about 50 Christmas trees they hauled to the lake, tying on cement blocks and letting them sink to the bottom. A strong believer in that anyone who fishes should donate at least one day a year to projects to that helps habitat, Johnson and the group continued to collect and “plant” Christmas trees each year.

The effort became an annual event and now, with the help of the Fremont County Solid Waste Disposal District, Wyoming Game and Fish and about 20 volunteers, about 500 trees are planted in Ocean Lake each year. Johnson estimates they’ve planted about 8,000 trees since they started the project. One year, when an area business sold trees where the needles fell off quickly, they received about 1,000 trees — too many for the small number of volunteers, Johnson said.

Volunteers bundle Christmas trees at Ocean Lake. Each year recycled trees are gathered and planted in the lake to help fish habitat. A date for this year’s event hasn’t been yet. (Photo courtesy Wyoming Game and Fish).

The trees are tied together in bunches and attached to concrete blocks and left on the ice. Eventually they drop through the ice, settling on the bottom- about 15 to 25-feet below the surface, where for three or four years they’ll provide fish habitat before decomposing. The trees provide cover for small fish and perch spawn in the branches, Scribner said. Other species, like tadpoles use the habitat as well, he said. The cement blocks are left on the lake bottom, but don’t cause any environmental harm, Scribner said.

The trees come in all shapes and sizes from small “Charlie Brown”-like ones to the full and tall that would dominate a room. All of the trees break down quickly once submerged, Scribner said.

While the practice of using Christmas trees isn’t common in Wyoming, similar efforts have been done elsewhere in the state, Scribner said. In Boysen Reservoir cottonwood and pine tree stumps are put in into the lake.

While Game and Fish monitors the area and knows the trees benefit fish habitat,  it’s hard to quantify the impact of the project on fish populations, Scribner said.

Johnson doesn’t need numbers. He knows the fishing is better. They are seeing more age groups of walleye. The locations the trees are dropped are tracked by GPS and those areas have noticeably improved, if a fishermen knows the lake — when and how to fish it.

“It’s all how you do it, where you do it and when you do it,” he said.

And that information, he added like any good fishermen, is a secret.

Get involved:

A date hasn’t yet been set for this year’s tree “planting.”

To volunteer with the project, contact Howard Johnson at (307) 856-1145, or contact Wyoming Game and Fish Lander office at (307) 332-2688.

To donate your Christmas tree, recycle it at no cost at the Lander landfill, Riverton bale facility or the Dubois landfill.

— “Peaks to Plains” is a blog focusing on Wyoming’s outdoors and communities. Kelsey Dayton is a freelance writer based in Lander. She has been a journalist in Wyoming for seven years, reporting for the Jackson Hole News & Guide, Casper Star-Tribune and the Gillette News-Record. Contact Kelsey at kelsey.dayton@gmail.com.

All Natural Fish Feeder Never Needs Filling and Cleans Water

The Hangout Artificial Fish Habitat Fish Feeder

Fishiding habitat products

Product Description

Growing big fish starts with growing lots of food to feed them. In order for the fry and forage fish to thrive and reproduce, they need mass amounts of food to develop and prosper.

Minnows, small panfish and fry feed on film that grows on surfaces underwater called peripyhton. This magical micro-floral community of bacteria and fungi, protozoa and zoo-plankton, dance together forming this wonderful highly efficient, nutrient converting fish food.

Phosphorus and nitrogen are often the biggest culprits in abundant weed growth and eutrophic waters. Converting these nutrients into fish food and ultimately fish, is not new and has been being used with ongoing success sometimes called brush parks. Create the food source and the fish will come.

The more surface area available, the more food can grow. Weed beds are a good example of surfaces for this film to grow and hiding places for the small fish.

The Hangout is where the smaller fish will congregate and eat this highest form of food available, within the protection of the maze of vinyl limbs that surround the feeder bag.

the-hangout-artificial-fish-habitat-feeder.jpg

The plastic mesh feeder bag holds an incredible 400 square feet of surface area from a matrix of woven plastic recycled from drinking bottles. Weighing just over two pounds and approximately ten inches diameter and two feet long, these bags hold the key to fish development.

Over thirty two square feet of flexible vinyl limbs, the same material in all fishiding fish habitat products, complete this protective eating establishment. Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

Bend limbs and pinch crease with fingers, no tools or additional supplies needed.

Opens to a full 46″wide by 48″ tall, hang at any depth, unit sinks.

Each unit comes with 5.5 pounds of pre-drilled vinyl limbs, ranging in length from 12″-28″ long and 1″-4″ wide with feeder bag with ten feet of mono bait-ball line.

Hang unit from underside of dock or pier for year around fishing action.

Suspend unit from raft or tree limb to keep predators close by your food source.

Attach unit to full size habitat unit or anchor and add foam to feeder bag to add buoyancy.

Tie multiple units together for deep water applications.

SOlitude Lake Management donates hours, cash and goods to fulfill Core Company Values

SOLitude Lake Management celebrates 2012 outreach and volunteer efforts

Source: SubmittedSOLitude Lake Management staff gathers with a check representing the $16,500 donation in cash and goods donated through The SOLution program in 2012.  From top to bottom (l-r) are Brad Harris, Trina Duncan, Matthew Phillips, David Beasley, Ellen Stace, Shannon Junior, David Riedl, Gavin Ferris, Lisa Richards, Greg Blackham, Kim Niesel, Brent Weber, Kevin Tucker, Kyle Finerfrock, Cyd Kroskey, Jessica Mueller, Dave Ellison, Tracy King, Dustin Kennedy and John Phelps.
Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

SOLitude Lake Management, an industry leader in lake and pond management, fisheries management and related environmental services for the Mid-Atlantic and surrounding states, announced 2012 was a successful year of volunteering, donations and outreach through The SOLution program.

The company recorded 351.5 volunteer hours; donated more than $16,500 in cash and goods; helped remove 2,640 pounds of trash from waterways; recycled more than 16,380 pounds of paper and cardboard; cleaned, shredded and recycled 8,508 plastic pesticide containers; and supported 14 causes.

The SOLution is a company-wide outreach program that encourages all employees to give their time to volunteer, take action, and fundraise for charitable and ecological causes. SOLitude’s company leadership feels it is important to not only be good stewards of the environment and good corporate citizens, but also to fulfill company core values to take action and be accountable, and to protect and respect nature.

In addition to supporting well-known organizations such as the National Forest Foundation, Wounded Warriors, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Foodbank, Special Olympics and the Center for the Inland Bays, SOLitude Lake Management also created two programs to help support the mission of The SOLution, creating a better world. The Little Gobblers program donated turkeys or grocery store gift cards to elementary and middle schools that had identified underprivileged families in need. These schools spanned from New Jersey to North Carolina. This year the program helped 62 families with their holiday dinner and groceries.

Another program created through The SOLution was Holiday Cheer, where gifts were donated to children or families who had fallen on hard financial times or were fighting health issues. Along with the B-Strong Foundation, www.b-strongfoundation.org, which supports the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, The SOLution spread Holiday Cheer to the children currently spending the holidays on the oncology floor at CHOP. Staff purchased $475 in board games and toys to help keep them occupied in between treatments. The Holiday Cheer program also adopted a family which not only has a child fighting an inoperable brain tumor, but has also fallen on hard financial times due to the child’s illness. The SOLitude employees purchased items from the kids’ wish lists and also gave the mother a $150 Walmart gift card to help with additional family needs.

“I am proud of our entire staff’s contribution to The SOLution,” said Kevin Tucker, president. “We found opportunities that helped us serve others and positively impact our communities to ‘create a better world’. Our entire company’s enthusiasm will fuel our goals in 2013.”

To participate or share a nonprofit’s goals for consideration in The SOLution, contact Director of Marketing Tracy King at tking@solitudelake.com.

Learn more about SOLitude Lake Management and purchase products, including fishiding artificial fish habitat,  atwww.solitudelakemanagement.com.

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