# Calling You Out Clinton/Paint Fishermen..



## back2spool (May 7, 2005)

http://www.crwc.org/calendar/clintoncleanup/clintoncleanup.html

The Clinton River Cleanup will be 9/15. Go to the website above for more updates/details.

Last year not one person on this forum reported as having attended. I made a similar post last year. 258 views. 4 replies.

Someone reports they saw a steelhead in the Paint and EVERYONE replies.

You have 2 weeks to clear your calendar even if it is only for a couple hours. And, if you don't feel like attending a sanctioned event. Make your own.

It is one thing to say "Oh, I bring trash out every time I go fishing."

It is another thing to dedicate 2-4 hours to that sole purpose.

Let's have a few more reports of cleanup efforts this year.


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## fasterfish (Jun 13, 2006)

How come there is no event at the Yates Cider mill area. I fish there and the trash is horible. I clean up the area as much as I can, but with all the cider junkies that are there now, its impossible. Last Monday, yesterday, I took at least to containers of empty worms out of the river when I was fishing, so I know others fish there also. Plus there are a lot of jams that need to be cleared up above the damn. Next week I am going back to work on cleaning out a hole that is chucked full of trash.

Just a thought.


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## back2spool (May 7, 2005)

Tell the CRWC you want to have a cleanup there and that you will be the point person (basically consists of handing out some refuse bags and taking down names so they get a count for participants).

I gotta believe they will work with you (even if you are not a member) to make it happen and get it on their site. They're reasonable folks. My guess is no one has wanted to set one up there for a while. The organization helps facilitate it, but it's up to regular joes to want to host it.

Heck, probably get some guys from this forum to join you!


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## the rapids (Nov 17, 2005)

first let me say that i applaud anyone who participates in this event. however, i have seen the floodplain parks and the trash which is left behind after every storm event. simply put, where i fish on the clinton there is probably a hundred tons of trash on the land adjacent to the river. it would probably take 20 years of cleanups to remove all this junk, but more just comes downstream. there needs to be a full time crew picking up garbage (instead of cleaning the highways maybe inmates could clean the floodplain?). it doesnt help when large logjams like this basically act as a garbage dam, then ocdc comes through and removes it, carrying the junk further downstream. now in this particular instance the removal was a good thing because the impoundment created by the jam definitley heated the water by at least 5 degrees. but it illustrates why we will never have a garbage free system in a metro area. literally everything in this jam that isnt woody debris is junk from upstream. there was even a boat in this particular jam. 




















as much as i hate to say it, the garbage is only a human eyesore. i have seen the animals in and around the clinton deal with it. however, invasive species, log jams, flash flooding and the low flows during summer due to lake level requirements upstream are probably the worst evils working against this river. until something is done about those issues i just dont see the clinton being enjoyed by enough people to generate interest in the cleanups.


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## back2spool (May 7, 2005)

The important thing form you to remember is that the CRWC serves the ENTIRE watershed, not just the Clinton. One could organize a cleanup on Paint Creek or East Pond Creek in Romeo or anywhere else anyone likes to fish.

I respect you as a fisherman, but I disagree 100% with your remarks that the garbage is a human eyesore only. Yes, there are BIGGER issues affecting the Clinton, but whose to say that the tire you remove or cooler or plastic bag won't help? Furthermore, with such eyesores removed, don't you think more people would enjoy it, thus creating more appreciation/interest??

If a warehouse has three broken windows it is nothing for someone to throw a rock and break a fourth or fifth. If the warehouse has 0 broken windows, people are much less likely to throw more rocks. Same goes with the river. People see that there is not debris everywhere or see people cleaning it up or maybe a family involves a kid in the cleanup and he feels really good about himself, maybe he develops more of an appreciation for the outdoors and goes on one day to do BIG things to protect them.

All I am saying is, small actions like river cleanups can have much more widespread impact than you could ever imagine and that it is not a good idea to overlook their significance.

We can't fix everything at once, but we can all show some appreciation to the river that entertains many of us.

And maybe take a chainsaw with you and take out a logjam while you're out there...


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## fasterfish (Jun 13, 2006)

I agree, you have to start somewhere. If just one person starts, hopefully others will see it and start to help. I don't care if anyone ever helps me, I just want it to be clean. There is a huge log jam above the damn at Yates that is creating a backwash, for lack of better terms, of warm polluted water. It is just below the junking of stony creek. This thing is a mess. Although there are no boats, there is a lot of debree. I use to be able to catch the ocassional rainbow in there, but it is to warm now. I am afraid of what is going to happen to the down river area when the are is free up. This area is beyound me and my ability to clean up. I can only pick up trash and free an occassional hole. I hope someday to organize a clean up for this area, but I don't have a clue on how to start.

Randy


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## rivastalka (Oct 27, 2007)

Back2spool,

I have a question regarding your comment of "And maybe take a chainsaw with you and take out a logjam while you're out there..."

Can I do that? I started to walk the Clinton, again this year, checking it for fish and also to see how good (bad) it will be for a canoe float this Fall. 

There are log jams all over the place. Can I take a chainsaw with me and clear them out, or do I have to get some kind of permit / permission from someone??? 

FYI- I am a member of the CRWC.

Any help on this would be great!!!


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## back2spool (May 7, 2005)

rivastalka said:


> Back2spool,
> 
> I have a question regarding your comment of "And maybe take a chainsaw with you and take out a logjam while you're out there..."
> 
> ...


Here's what I know Riva....

I sat in a meeting in Rochester City Hall with DNR Biologists, River Stakeholders, and CRWC employees and members to go over the 2005 Clinton River Assessment.

We were discussing the "flashiness" of the river (its ability to flood quickly) and someone mentioned, and I quote, "an enterprising group of canoeists" that regularly floated the Clinton and used chainsaws to cut out the middle of logjams to improve thier trips and the river's flow.

The DNR Biologists and the CRWC people were all pleased to know that people were taking it upon themselves to do this. I will say that the discussion had a bit of a tone of secrecy leading me to believe they were all happy this was happening, but not wanting to encourage people to do things to put themselves in danger.

The group of canoeists and their activities was actually mentioned by a CRWC employee who knew full well what they were doing and, from what it sounded like, was grateful for their efforts.

From the CRWC's employee's description, the canoeists were cutting out the heart of the logjams and leaving the sides, thus improving flow, passability...

In closing....

Would I do it? Yes, but I am a bit "aggressive" when it comes to river improvements.

Is it legal? I don't know, probably not, but neither is using spray paint on public property to paint over graffitti, but no one would be mad at you for doing so.

Is it dangerous? Yes. I would definitely not do this if the water was waist high or if I had little experience with a chainsaw...

And yes, I would be glad to help!


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## stelmon (Sep 21, 2000)

rivastalka said:


> Back2spool,
> 
> I have a question regarding your comment of "And maybe take a chainsaw with you and take out a logjam while you're out there..."
> 
> Can I do that? I!


I am pretty sure cutting down a log jam is illegal. There has been post about this on the pere marquette. I am pretty sure you have to get some sort of permit. However, if you do decide to do this, please just cut the size of the hole you need. Do not cut out the whole log jam. Having log debree and such is good for the river and for the ecosystem.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

stelmon said:


> Having log debree and such is good for the river and for the ecosystem.



Logs= forage and habitat for fish. A sterile "clean" river free of natural "debris" is not desirable.


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## the rapids (Nov 17, 2005)

this log jam before it was removed was a source of thermal pollution in the upper clinton, which is managed for coldwater fishes. i was fortunate/unfortunate enough to document this logjam over two years. there is an abandoned boat trapped inside which i witnessed migrating downstream several miles througout 2006. while streams that have enough groundwater input/ coldwater tributaries can benefit from a logjam of that size (essentially creating a deepwater refuge) the clinton cannot. this summer i have seen 4 trees end up in the water which would again create such an enormous logjam if left unchecked. this one had to be cleared out with heavy machinery as it was threatening a city of rochester sewerage interceptor that could have devestated the river if broken by flooding.

while less urbanized streams can benefit from such instream structure, the stretch of clinton this was on cannot. there are trees in the river which are anchored to the banks, and those ones provide a benefit. the trees jams like the one pictured above do not.


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## rivastalka (Oct 27, 2007)

I definitely agree with you stelmon and esox, I'm not going to clear the entire log jam out, just enough to float a canoe through. Like probably most of you that are reading this thread, I use the river for fishing ten times as much as I canoe down it. I just want to be able to canoe -fairly easily- to my "honey holes".


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## back2spool (May 7, 2005)

Precisely.

Logs along the side of a stream can actually help stabilize banks. Logjams in the Clinton are not good. I agree with the approach of cutting out the middle and leaving the sides.


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## the rapids (Nov 17, 2005)

this is a good example of "proper" instream large woody debris on the clinton, which doesnt impede the flow of the river or obstruct passage for canoes. the banks are well armored by trees heading all the way down through the bend looking downstream.


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## back2spool (May 7, 2005)

That's how it should look...


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