Today wasn’t about fishing but giving back to an area Mike C and I take from. We were also noticed by a couple IDA followers. We showed up at 9:00am to help a lake association build some fish cribs. It was a great learning experience for us both. Once we arrived at the landing we noticed there were a few timbers piled up, it was enough to build 14 cribs. It was nice to see the turn out of people that wanted to help, and it was needed. By the end of the day there were some worn out dudes 
Things started off a little slow as the materials were being hauled to the sites by truck and trailers, and a couple of skid steers. Once things started rolling along a sweat was being worked up by all. The timbers used were a mix of 6×6 and 8×8. Let me tell ya they get heavy after awhile. The timbers are put together by drilling holes at the ends and stacking them like Lincoln logs over rebar. Rock is then dropped into the bottoms so they sink as the ice goes out.
The next step was piling them full of brush. The DNR biologist on the scene had great information for making the cribs as efficient as possible. Brush is to be pulled through the openings in the timbers to give them a porcupine effect and making the crib itself larger. Also the brush is not compacted in the crib making many openings and swimming lanes for the little critters. There was a lot more to it than piling logs and waiting for them to drop through the ice.
When things were done and not to be expected form Mike C or myself, there was pizza and suds served at a local establishment as a thank you, and yes we took advantage of it 
It was great to see the turn out for the project. With the temps we had today it could have been easy for a lot of guys to just stay home, but that wasn’t the case. We had a great opportunity to meet a lot of nice people and give back to a recourse we love to use. It was a great learning experience and a great way to make some new friends while working together. Plans have already been made to help and drop more cribs next year Hope it is ok I posted this here and I didn’t waist your time 
Tomorrow will be about fishing
Bret
That looks cool and would have been something to see and help with!
What lake did this take place at? Did you guys sink them as well or wait till spring?
They let them fall through when the ice goes out. These were placed on Neshonoc out side of La Crosse. They are hoping to get a good fishery going in the near future. I would say this is a step in the right direction!
Interesting story Bret,
I learned something new.
Great job Bret and Mike for taking time to do that
As poor as the fishing was today, I should have came over asnd helped you guys 
I firmly blame Mike for us not being there.
He drug me kicking and screaming out on to Lake Onalaska. I have to admit, it was nice and peaceful napping in my new Fish Trap Pro. 
Of course getting woken up by that giant 2″ sunfish was icing on the cake.
Hey Wats….How many fish did you catch today?
Great report Bret. Its great to see and hear of people giving back to the resource.
Thanks, Bill
Bravo guys!
Nice job you guys, sounds like a very rewarding day…
Jack.
Great report Buddy Bret
It WAS a fun day and the volunteer group were a great group to work with. 
It was a lot of work and my body is starting to recover – I only feel 70 today instead of 80 
By Wednesday I should be back to normal 
For all you young dudes 
keep this in mind for next year – it’s a great way to volunteer for something, get some good exercise, save some older dudes some pain and give something back to a sport we all love. 
