BATH COUNTY, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — Reef balls weighing hundreds of pounds are being dropped to the bottom of Cave Run Lake on the Bath County side as part of a Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife effort to improve underwater habitat that has deteriorated over decades.
Tom Timmermann, a fisheries program coordinator with KDFW, said the lake has lost the trees and vegetation that once gave fish places to hide and feed.
"We know now that a lot of our lakes are like bathtubs — just structure holding water," Timmermann said.
The reef balls are designed to replace that lost structure. Once they settle on the lake floor, Timmermann said they begin functioning as part of the underwater landscape.
"It could at one point give it a place to find food. Algae will grow on this and fish will eat, help establish the shoreline, and provide an ambush point," Timmermann said.
Timmermann and his crew loaded the reef balls onto a boat before deploying them into the lake. Once they go under, the concrete structures are built to last.
The project is funded with federal dollars. It's a public investment Timmermann said goes directly back into the lake.
"Everything we do is designed to protect the resource," Timmermann said.
For anglers like Daniel Hook, the work has been making a difference.
"There is a noticeable difference in the quantity and quality of fish that we have here," Hook said.
Hook has watched the department's habitat restoration efforts at Cave Run Lake for years. For him, the lake is more than a recreational destination.
"Cave Run Lake is my whole life," Hook said.
Timmermann said Cave Run is already a healthy lake, but the reef balls give it something extra.
Hook said he hopes stronger habitat will bring more people to the lake.
"People need to take the time to go fishing. They need to slow down and fish," Hook said.
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