Lost Creek and Evening Hole Restoration Projects

Update by Jesse King, November 9, 2006

Biologists complete one of the most ambitious streams restoration projects ever undertaken in Oklahoma

With the exception of having the trees planted, the Evening Hole Project has been completed for nearly a year and half. From the beginning, fish have been wandering in from Lost Creek above and migrating up from the Evening Hole bridge below. At first they were found near the bluff at the upper end where Spillway and Lost Creek joined together but as time passed they began showing up further down stream until they occupied the whole stretch.

In the beginning there were some concerns that removing the concrete retaining wall at the bridge had left the stretch too shallow to hold fish. This has not proven to be true. On the contrary, once the bottom took on the natural look with algae growth, the fish seem to favor the shallow runs and riffles almost as much has they do the deep water at the Bluff. It is well worth the effort to take a slow stroll along this stretch of river where you will be able to see fish holding in many locations. This reinforces the long-time belief that trout do fine in shallow water environments. The park has always lacked for a place where people could observe trout in a natural state. The Norfolk River in Arkansas is well known for sight-fishing, and manly anglers travel there to do just that. We now have the opportunity to do it here in the park.

Another good development is that it did not take as much time to produce a good insect population as anticipated in Lost Creek. This process was probably sped up when Spillway swelled because of heavy rains causing some dislodging of insects that ended up down stream in this stretch. The result is that insects are now found through out Lost Creek.

After a year and half I find that the Evening Hole Project has improved the overall trout fishery here at the LMFR. Many other anglers must feel the same way, for it is being fished constantly.

The end result is the ODWC GOT IT RIGHT!

The Projects

It’s not everyday that biologists can create a brand new trout stream, but fisheries personnel with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation recently did just that.

“When we showed people where we were thinking about building this new creek, I think people thought we were a little crazy,” said James Vincent, southeast region fisheries biologist for the Wildlife Department. The area looked like it would make much better squirrel habitat than trout habitat.

In Beaver’s Bend State Park along the Lower Mountain Fork River, fisheries personnel transformed an ancient stream channel into a brand new 2-mile trout stream, dubbed Lost Creek. While the area was still dry, fisheries personnel used bulldozers and backhoes to clear the channel to create a series of riffles, runs and pools that would become first-class trout habitat when water was directed into the new stream.

“We used a huge, 20-ton water control structure to divert a small amount of water into Lost Creek. The channel winds through woods and eventually dumps back into the Lower Mountain Fork River,” Vincent said. Not only is this going to become a great trout fishing area, it is also just a beautiful place to take a walk.

Streams biologists did not stop there. Just down stream from the start of Lost Creek, fisheries personnel turned their focus on a 1-mile stretch of the Lower Mountain Fork River, known as the Evening Hole.

The fishing wasn’t as good as it could have been in this particular area of the river, Vincent said. “The Evening Hole had three problems – the water was too warm; it moved too slowly; and there was a good amount of silt in the area. None of these conditions are good for trout or for trout anglers.”

Vincent and his colleagues came up with a plan to make the area more desirable for trout.

“After we received all the necessary work permits, we dumped about 600 loads of gravel along the banks of the river to narrow the channel. This caused the water to move faster through the area which will keep the water temperature from rising too quickly and help to move the dirt and muck on downstream,” Vincent said. “We also recycled every big rock and log we could find and placed them in and around the Evening Hole and reated a good number of places for trout to hide and to find food.”

The Wildlife Conservation Commission recently voted to establish special trout fishing regulations on the Evening Hole and Lost Creek areas. Upon gubernatorial approval, anglers will be required to use only artificial flies and lures with barbless hooks and may harvest only one rainbow trout and one brown trout 20-inches or longer per day. When the proposed regulations were opened to public input recently, the Department received overwhelming support of the new regulations.

“This is certainly one of the most ambitious streams restoration project that has ever been undertaken in the state. We can’t wait for people to come down and see it for themselves,” Vincent said. “This is a great example of what we can accomplish when we work together. We certainly couldn’t have done this without the strong partnership and support from a wide range of public and private organizations like the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation, the 89er Chapter of the Trout Unlimited, the Oklahoma Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Oklahoma State Parks and Resorts and the Tulsa District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to name a few.”
Biologists used 600 dump truck loads of gravel to narrow the river channel, causing the water to remain cooler and move through the Evening Hole faster. With the addition of large rocks, logs and islands, fisheries personnel transformed once sub-par trout habitat into a first class fishing area. The 286 trees for the Evening Hole were planted in January and February

Evening Hole – After Restoration


Rearing Pens – Trout Rearing Stations

The pens were removed in 2009 because they were not as effective as originally hoped. See below.

Over 10,000 additional trout are removed from the rearing pens and released in Zone II twice a year. This improves fishing and opportunities for all of us.

The rearing stations are important to the fishermen who fish in the trophy water (Zone II).  Almost 40,000 trout ranging in size from 7-11 inches are placed in the pens throughout the year. The trout are allowed to grow larger giving them a better chance of survival. The LMFRF pays for 25% of this cost per year.

Three to four months later, or after they have reached adequate size, the trout are released into Zone II.

We should be getting 15,000 brown trout in the spring (March). These will go into the east side of the rearing pens. The rainbows that are in there now will be gone by then. There are also an additional 8,000 rainbows that will be added to the west side pen around the same time.

The ODWC will be reinforcing pen panels when pens are pulled this summer. Even after the pens were repaired last year by the Foundation, they did not hold up as anticipated. This goes to show the power of the water on those pens. The ODWC is still very appreciative of the work that was done to restore the pens from the shape they were in.  The LMFRF funds food for the trout that are put into the pens each year.

We thank the ODWC for managing this project.  The Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation is committed to financially supporting the project each year. The Foundation is responsible for the new pens that were manufactured in 2004 and for the purchase of the feed that is used to grow the fish large enough to have a good chance of survival.

UPDATE

By Tom Atwood

The Rearing Pens were removed on 4/7/08 to accommodate high water flow when flood gates were to be opened on 4/8/08.

The rearing pens, which were removed earlier this year, turned out to be in much worse shape and a much bigger project than originally projected. Much of the metal mesh was deteriorated to the point of being worthless. When the algae dried and the metal was exposed to air, it was very easy to simply punch a hole in it by hand. Since this metal was previously coated with a heavy galvanization process, this deterioration was amazing. I have never seen metal in fresh water corrode to this point as quickly as it did.

That having been said, all of the mesh has been replaced with at least one and sometimes 2 gages heavier metal. The pen sections next to the heaviest water flow were reinforced with heavier mesh. The screen areas are now supported with heavier cross bracing where before there were large areas that were unsupported and subject to vibrational stress.

The entire structure(s) were sandblasted and powder coated with a heavy three step process. First an under coat was applied. After the undercoat was baked, two finished coats were applied and baked separately. In an outdoor environment this process would last in excess of fifty years. However, in the hostile conditions we will use them, life expectancy is unknown.

In my opinion, and after seeing the damage caused by the water and conditions previously mentioned, I believe we should expect between 3 and 5 years serviceable life from the pens. However, this is not a guarantee. We should start planning now for the successor method of trout rearing.

I would like to express my gratitude to Pat Waters for his assistance in rebuilding, welding, grinding, lifting and moving the different panels. He has proved that he is much more than simply the trout whisperer. All told there is probably more than 80 man hours involved in this rebuild. Also thanks to Jesse King and George Winton (a friend who was in the wrong place and the wrong time) for assistance in removal of the pens.