Hooked for life – by Bruce Kania

Fish 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

Engineers for the project CDM Smith, specifiy artificial products from Fishiding.com  for numerous reasons. The inert, reclaimed PVC limbs will last for decades or more underwater. The PVC material attracts bio-film and peripyton growth excessively, superior to other products. The ability to bend to shape and drop in the water landing upright, is another key feature.

American made from post consumer materials with no manufacturing process, these multi-faceted and species specific habitat units excell in developing protection and food, in the purest and natural form. Leading the Nation and the World  in cutting edge design and engineering experience, CDM Smith is the firm, policy makers look to for advice and decisions utilizing BMP’s for our Nation and beyond.

Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

Non native turtles such as red eared sliders as well as snapping turtles have been found, all dumped by people. Essentially, Lake Machado has turned into a repository for unwanted non native aquatic pets. Which is a shame considering the fact long ago , the lake was a natural body of water supporting indigenous species that no longer reside there.

Not everything about the lake is unpleasant. Amazingly, it attracts a wide variety of wading and aquatic bird species: snowy egrets, blue herons, green herons, black crowned night herons, cormorants, coots, ducks, bitterns, Caspian terns and least terns.

Driving by Harbor City’s 231-acre regional park, Machado Lake looks to be a serene and picturesque oasis. Close up, the reality is harsh.

For years the lake, which holds runoff storm water from the area, has collected everything from pesticides to swarms of mosquitoes and piles of trash.

What once was a pristine spot for bird watchers has deteriorated through the decades. The park now draws homeless encampments and has become a haven for lewd activity.

Habitat products both natural and artificial, are designed throughout the lake, creating a perfect environment for aqautic development and health.  Hundreds of  Fishiding Keeper and Safehouse models will be installed in clusters of five. These models allow engineers to place the habitat structures on ranging degrees of slopes, overseeing detailed specifications regarding spacing, type and texture.

The plan looks like a well designed landscape, only to be submerged for the fish. Large tree trunks, boulders and native plants will also be installed in abundance. Spawning gravels and aggregates will be spread in key areas to promote a yearly, healthy spawn of native fish and aquatic life.

Laddie Flock, owner of Floating Islands West, will be a key player in the installation and maintainence of the Floating Islands.

Floating islands will be created for nesting areas to support native habitat, as well as providing support for additional  habitat products to be suspended from the islands, which act as floating treatment wetlands. These magical islands not only provide habitat for fish, birds, bugs etc. , but even more amazing, they remove unwanted, over abundant nutrients and convert them back to food for the fish, naturally without chemicals. Fishing will be fantastic and the water quality will impress anyone and all that enjoy it’s surroundings.

Benches and other park amenities also will be added to the 231-acre Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park that surrounds the body of water.

“There are four goals: water quality improvements, recreational enhancements, wildlife habitat improvements and flood control,” said Michelle Vargas, public information officer for the city of Los Angeles.

“Clearly this will be a major improvement over what we’ve seen in decades of neglect,” said Jess Morton, also of the Audubon Society.

“You won’t see the summertime die-off of fish and birds caused by nutrient loads,” Morton said.

Algae, pesticides and pollutants such as metals from area industry are likely to be found in the sediment at the bottom of the lake once dredging begins and safely removed.

Once known by locals as “the slough,” the area was owned by the Dominguez family in the 1700s and American Indians remained prevalent around the lake. The property later went to the Sepulveda family.

It was annexed in 1906 to the city of Los Angeles and eventually was designated as a regional park.

In the 1990s, the park was named for Ken Malloy, a San Pedro environmentalist who died in 1991 at the age of 78.

Malloy came upon the undeveloped area in the 1930s when his car bumped into some cows grazing on the property and spent years nurturing it.

Convinced it could someday become a grand regional park, Malloy later formed the 62-acre Machado Youth Campground within the park. He was instrumental in planting hundreds of trees in the park as well, working with the California Conservation Corps.

Much more information coming soon as this 2-1/2 year projects begins this spring. For questions about fishing habitat products call 815-693-0894 or e-mail david@fishiding.com

STORY UPDATE: HERE