After the success of recent fish habitat projects in Truckee
River watershed and 2 years of planning, Trout Unlimited Chapter and Staff
completed a large-scale fish habitat improvement project this Fall on the main
stem of the Truckee River at Horner’s Corner, also known as “The DFW Loop.”
This project, aptly titled the “Truckee River Fish Habitat Enhancement Project”
constructed 3 major rock structures which greatly increased the available
habitat for large adult fish and available fishing opportunities in a quarter
mile long stretch of river.
The Truckee River itself is a mecca for anglers from all
over that want to fly fish for abnormally large brown trout and rainbow trout
in crystal clear mountain water and this project put new structure in the river
that provides the best possible habitat for these large specimens.
This project materialized in 2016 to build off of momentum
from previous Trout Unlimited fish centric projects. Horner’s Corner was
identified as a suitable site for fish habitat by TU and CDFW staff. The site
itself (on the upstream stretch of the loop) was devoid of natural habitat
because of previous human usage in the form of logging and ice trade and rarely
held large catchable trout.
The project went into construction in October 2018 and three
large rock structures were placed in less than a week. These three rock
structures completely changed the composition of the project site and created
prime fishing spots in areas that previously had none. In addition to the rock structures,
a few dozed boulders were placed throughout the project to create even more
holding water, especially in the lower flows of late summer when fish need a
place to escape to hold in deeper, cooler water. After construction was
complete over 85 volunteers came out and helped put the finishing touches on
the project by decommissioning illegal roads and building trails to help focus
human usage on this stretch of river.
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