WCHS – ABC Reported 1st. There is a big project going on at Summersville Lake in Nicholas County and during the winter months is the perfect chance for the West Virginia DNR to get it done. If you’ve visited the lake during the winter you might notice it looks more like a desert.
Every winter, the Army Corps of Engineers drops the water level for flood protection, but when that happens fish habitats tend to dry up. That’s when the WV DNR, Army Coprs of Engineers, the Bass Federation Nation and volunteers get to work creating new habitats called spider blocks.
“We’re stepping in now and enhancing the habitat so we don’t have to play catch up at a later date,” said Jim Walker, WV DNR Biologist. “There’s already natural reproducing fish here and a good fish habitat but we want to sustain that so that’s what we’re doing here today.”
Cinder blocks are stuffed with PVC pipes that make them look like spiders. Sacrete is poured into the blocks that will keep them in place for at least 50 years.
More than 200 spider blocks have already been built at Summersville Lake and DNR officials say more are to come. Work has also been done at Sutton Lake and Burnsville Lake, and the DNR hopes to do this project at East Lynn and Beach Fork in 2016.
The project in Summersville has been going on for the past five years and is already proving successful.
“The neat part about this is we can see our success when we come back here from year to year,” said Jerod Harman, Bass Federation Nation.” We can see that the fish are using this for spawning and we’re making a difference in the lake.”
These teams say the project wouldn’t have this much success if it wasn’t for the partnership between these organizations.
In the end, it’s not just the fish who are benefiting but the anglers that come to fish.
“We just want to sustain what we have, hopefully make it better so the anglers are out there catching more fish and having a good time,” Walker said.