NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1502484
50 Nebraskaland • July 2023 even in the heat of summer. It runs clear, other than when rainfall washes in sediment. It is full of oxygen, supporting the mayfl ies, caddis fl ies and other aquatic life, and contains gravel beds on which trout can spawn: the same features you might fi nd in a trout stream in Colorado. As such, it is one of the top trout waters in the state, with self-sustaining populations of both rainbow and brown trout. The creek's value for fi sh, wildlife and recreation are why it was the fi rst water in Nebraska to gain an instream fl ow right from the state's Department of Natural Resources. Granted to the Commission in 1989, the right helps ensure fl ows will be suffi cient to sustain trout year round. Growing Bigger Fish Long Pine Creek fl ows lazily through Long Pine SRA. In the mid-1990s, the Commission installed wood lunker structures in the stream there to both create bank line habitat and prevent erosion. Aside from occasional maintenance, the structures have stood the test of time. Biologists sample more fi sh, both stocked and wild rainbow trout and wild brown trout, in that reach of stream than all but one other in the state. By the time the stream reaches Pine Glen WMA, it has gained fl ows and velocity, and there is less in-stream habitat to hold fi sh. Fisheries biologists saw an opportunity to use the Aquatic Habitat Program to improve a reach of the stream there to benefi t fi sh and anglers. "We recognized that Pine Glen WMA was a good candidate because it's somewhat secluded and with less harvest, it might allow us to grow some bigger fi sh with some additional habitat structures," said Brett Roberg, a Commission stream biologist. The work was modeled after another project completed on Nine Mile Creek in Scotts Bluff County, which boasts the highest density of trout in the state. When work similar to that was also done on a private stretch of the creek upstream from Pine Glen, "the trout literally moved into those habitat features almost immediately after we built them," Roberg said. The in-stream habitat work focused on two straight runs that, combined, covered 1,800 feet and off ered little variation in depth and habitat types. An excavator was used to place boulders in and along the stream, creating nine diff erent types of structures, 38 in all. The largest were cross-vane weirs, V-shaped structures pointing upstream with a notch at the tip, and weirs running straight across the stream, also with a notch. Both concentrated the fl ows through the Green ash trees in fall color contrast the ponderosa pine and cedar forest that fi lls the picturesque, mile-wide canyon that rises 200 feet above Long Pine Creek.