Anglers improve our waters

Anglers are also environmentalists. More and more fishing clubs are becoming active when it comes to preserving the habitat of our waters.

A healthy, natural environment for fish cannot be taken for granted. Structural measures, the entry of pesticides and phosphates from agriculture and, last but not least, waste that is thoughtlessly left behind damage our water bodies.

In order to improve the waters again, the first step is to remove harmful substances. Garbage collection campaigns are not sexy, but they are often essential so that the next step can be renaturation.

The Website Waters Improver supports fishing clubs and presents their projects and campaigns. Since we think this idea is great, we use our reach to encourage and encourage other fishing clubs.

projects and actions

ASV Erprath 1961 registered association

State: North Rhine-Westphalia
Waters: pond at the Hummelsbach Neuss-Weckhoven
Number of participants: 25
Working hours: 600

Our approx. 1 ha large club water in a forest on the Hummelsbach in Neuss-Weckhoven was repeatedly critically affected by a strong algae bloom, especially in summer. After a water analysis by the Rhenish Fishing Association of 1880 eV in the summer of 2019, the body of water was classified in the trophic class between polytropic 1 and 2. Corresponding recommendations to reduce the nutrient content of the water were made by the fishing association and laid down in a three-year plan by our association board. This included that the missing bank vegetation should be rebuilt, deadwood castles should be brought into the water and two floating islands should be anchored in the water.

The entire package of measures has now been implemented. Several dead wood castles offer an excellent habitat for juvenile fish. Two large plant protection zones were created and planted with cattails, pond rushes and hedgehog cobs. Two 30 square meter swimming islands from the Rietmann company were brought in this year and have developed extremely well. The floating islands are classified as a reference project by the Lower Nature Conservation Authority Rhein-Kreis-Neuss.

ASV Harreshausen 1969 registered association

State: Hesse
Bodies of water: club lake
Number of participants: 5
Working hours: 10

Since our club lake is a former quarry pond and had too little structure and shelter for fish and other underwater inhabitants, we screwed ten natural disposable wooden pallets together in 2019, filled them with dead wood and sunk them on a plateau in the lake. Filamentous algae and microorganisms have settled on/in our fish hotel within a very short time.

The area around the Fischhotel is now the most profitable spot in the Vereinssee and a very popular fishing spot. Huge numbers of young and small fish stay in the protection of the fish hotel. Logically, our predatory fish (mainly pike and perch) followed them. The yield in the entire lake could be increased by approx. 45% through this measure.

Fishing club Queichtal Landau

State: Rhineland-Palatinate
Bodies of water: Queich
Number of participants: 6
Working hours: 4

On Saturday we dug up a colmatized spawning bed of about 100 square meters several times from the AV-Queichtal. Since the queich has been degraded by transverse structures and there is no longer any natural rock debris, the existing spawning grounds are colmatated. (This means that the bottom of the water was covered by an impermeable layer that was hostile to life.) By digging it up several times, the mud was removed in order to ensure an unhindered flow of oxygen in the substrate. As a result, the areas processed in this way are successfully spawned again.