MESA, Ariz. — Possibly starting as soon as late fall, massive habitat enhancements will begin on the Arizona’s Salt River chain of reservoirs, beginning with Roosevelt Lake.
“The Arizona B.A.S.S. Nation (ABN) and other groups will be involved in additional construction and the placement process,” said Don McDowell, state conservation director.
“Our goal is to place fish habitat into Roosevelt Lake starting sometime between late fall and early spring, depending on the completion of all the necessary environmental compliance and permitting paperwork,” explained Amberle Jones, aquatic habitat specialist for Arizona Game and Fish (AGF).
“Thanks to all the fish habitat volunteers, we currently have 114 concrete fish balls ready to be deployed.”
Habitat inventory also includes 80 Safe Haven kits, 80 High Rise Fishiding structures, and material for 50 Georgia cubes, she added. A favorite for supplementing natural saltwater reefs, the concrete balls, measuring 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall, will be placed via a crane on a pontoon boat.
Concurrent with placement, ABN volunteers and others will help build more concrete balls from fall through early spring at the AGF Mesa office.
“Building concrete fish balls is a two-day process, assembling the molds and pouring concrete the first day, and then taking the molds apart the second day,” the agency explained, adding that more than 80 volunteers contributed 328 hours to create the structures that soon will be providing habitat for bass and other fish in Roosevelt.
AGF started its Fish Habitat Restoration Program in 2014 to supplement fish habitat in the state’s reservoirs, most of which are more than 70 years old. Wood and even rocky cover have disintegrated over the decades, especially in Roosevelt, which is more than a century old, and other fisheries where water levels fluctuate wildly.
“The reservoirs of central Arizona lack sufficient hiding and ambush cover and habitat for growth and survival of young fish,” AGF said. “Some of these reservoirs have also experienced a decline in the fishery as measured through periodic fish surveys.”
Along with Roosevelt, other fisheries along the Salt that will receive habitat enhancement include Apache, Canyon and Saguaro. All are within Tonto National Forest, as are Horseshoe and Bartlett on the Verde River. In 2013, economic value associated with these fisheries was $318 million, according to AGF.
At Lake Havasu on the Colorado River, meanwhile, one of the nation’s largest and most successful habitat projects has been going on since 1993, and is credited with improving both native and sportfish habitat. While it is a quality bass fishery, Havasu more recently is best known for 5-pound-plus redear caught there in 2011 and 2014.
