Submitted by jbraico on Thu, 2013-10-10 20:10 Groups audience Adirondack - 473 Vote Up Down 0 + 20-17-19-06-P7310178.JPG Location East Branch Ausable River Toe Wood Structure Back to Gallery In 2012, TU teamed up with the US Fish & Wildlife Service along with long standing partners (Ausable River Association, Essex County SWCD, Town of Keene) to restore a previously barren and over widend 1/2 mile of former trout water with a natural channel restoration. This project relied heavily on US F&W expertise, previous geomorphic studies, and locally available materials to create a stable, rough channel with abundant new habitat at relatively modest costs. Wild Brook trout and rainbows quickly recolonized the 1100' of undercut toe wood structures and the new boulder studded riffles with pocket habitat. Remarkably, the project withstood 10 over bank events in 10 months with no loss of habitat and only modest effect on the flood chute cutoff blockers used to restore the braided stream to a single channel of stable dimensions. How's the fishing? Well, given the fact that it was fishless for over two decades, it's heartening to hear anglers reporting on their catches. Time will tell about the quality of the fishing, but for the present, it's good to know that trout have returned and fishing opportunity exists where there wasn't any.