Project AWARE's Trash and Treasure Discoveries on the Iowa River ~ 2012

   This year participants in the Iowa DNR’s 2012 Project A.W.A.R.E. had over 60 tons of fun, nearly twice the amount of fun (32 tons) they hauled out of the Turkey, Little Turkey and Volga Rivers last year!   Yes, from July 7-14th, volunteers and landowners removed over 60 tons of trash from 93.6 miles of the Iowa River.  No one measured the pounds of water in sweat they donated to the river on those 90* days, but the weight of recovered trash is nearly the equivalent of 38.2 new AWD Honda CR-V LX SUV’s.

   There were 1,371 tires and a few tons of scrap metal hauled out of the river, and there were 387 participants with an average of 146 volunteers on the river each day.  Volunteers, aged 3-78, represented 8 states including as far west as Oregon. 

   Happily, 86% of the trash was recycled.

   Brian Soenen, Project AWARE Coordinator, once again kindly responded to my questions about this year’s Project A.W.A.R.E. event.  An excerpt from his response, quoted below, leads one to believe that this year’s project may be talked about for years to come.

   From Brian: 

   There were a couple good stories this year:

•         An old (1800s?) plow, complete with some wood still in place, was pulled from the river and donated to the Steamboat Rock Historical Society.

•         A man upstream of Iowa Falls was planning to go out in the winter to recover the front end of a 1951 Dodge Diplomat (he didn't know how else to get it), so when he saw it floating downriver on a canoe, he asked if he could have it. I told him he owes me two pictures...one with the front end from the river and another of the restored vehicle. When he called me, the first thing he said was, "You have some of the craziest most dedicated volunteers I have ever seen!"

•         When digging out a large metal culvert, volunteers encountered a 30+ lbs. catfish, which freaked out some volunteer bystanders when it swam past them. The culvert was removed, catfish freed, and the frightened volunteers are recovering nicely.

•         It's not trash, but something that surprised volunteers on AWARE were the number of mussels along the route. In at least one area, they noted a mussel bed with mussels "too numerous to count". Jennifer Kurth, who studies mussels for IDNR, also found species that have never been recorded in the Iowa River (i.e., creek heelsplitter).

   For more information about Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition), & methods of participating in the clean-up of Iowa waterways, please visit this link:   http://www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/CanoeingKayaking/ProjectAWARE.aspx

Variation on the Shannon's Fly

On a visit to Lake Carlton, Rockwood-Morrison State Park in IL, I came up empty-handed when fishing... except when using the Shannon's Fly and a varient of this fly (pictured).  Bass love the Shannon's Fly but the bass and panfish were hitting the variation more heavily on this day when the temp was 92* and the water temp a mere 90 degrees.  The variation also sunk more readily than the original, which was a great benefit as the fish were not hanging in the shallows.

   For more information on this easy tie, please see the Fly Tying tab.

July 21. Tying Flies with Music and Coffee to Benefit our Java Friends!

(Update 7/19/12: Joe Nobiling, playing the fiddle, and Howard Hilliard, on the bodhran, will be playing folk and Irish tunes from 9:30-11:00 on Saturday! This will be the last tying session at least until the end of August.  Come on out!....7/21/12: formally, 3 musicians & family members and 5 tiers did their thing and had fun at the shop. Someday I suspect a little dancing will happen there as well. Thanks for coming out, drinking, eating, tying and playing/listening to the folk tunes!) 
We'll be tying flies this Saturday, July 21, 2012, at Java Java, located at 836 E. River Drive, Davenport, IA.  Tying will start at 9:15-ish and last until at least 11 or noon. As many know, part of the road is closed.  A detour is posted and the city has placed signs directing customers to the coffee shop.  The detour route I take adds under 3 minutes to my usual drive.  Directions are posted below as well.  Don't forget that the Farmer's Market is also going on!
   Local musician, Joe Nobiling, was kind enough to approach shop co-owner, Daron, about playing a benefit for them.  As folks can guess, the at least 2 month (so far) road closure has slowed business at the cafe.  I think I'm not the only one who is a repeat customer d/t not only great drinks and food but also because of the very personable folks who create those drinks.  Come on out & learn to tie a fly... &/or listen to music provided by some great local musicians!  But don't forget to at least buy a coffee or a latte!!
   I still need to get confirmations on the music and will post any updates to this very post.  They generally play folk/Irish tunes.  A time that musicians would start arriving will also be posted.  
Thanks! 
~Twitch

My DETOUR DIRECTIONS:  Heading from Bettendorf on East River drive, right on Bridge Ave, continue uphill & follow detour sign, left on East 10th St.  Then, I go left on Oneida down the hill and take a right on the alley behind Wonder Bread just past Charlotte St. At the end of the alley, cross the street and keep going straight into the next alley. Go left on Tremont, go down the hill and just past the light blue house is Java Java.  2 min 30 sec.

Tying Flies at Java Java in Davenport

  Update: Thanks to fellow fly-tier, Bill O, and musicians Joe Nobiling (joenobiling.blogspot.com) and John Kinser, for coming out to a cool place on a hot day!  It was great to have musicians present again! Spoke a little to others about musky and bass flies and the Java owners' son picked out a cool-looking chartreuse and black Guinea Bugger Deluxe to take home.  Maybe he'll tie a fly the next time. 
  Tying at Java Java is often last-minute during this time of year as actual fishing takes precedence and then there are those dang work weekends.  So, I typically post only a few days ahead of time if we'll be tying at the shop.  If you ever want to attend but think you'll miss a blog post, send me your email address and I'll drop you a line for the next date and time. ~Twitch

  I'll be tying flies this Saturday, July 7, 2012, at Java Java, located at 836 E. River Drive, Davenport, IA.  Tying will start at 9:15-ish and last until at least 11 or noon. As many know, part of the road is closed.  A detour is posted and the city has placed signs directing customers to the coffee shop.  The detour route I take probably adds only 3 minutes to my usual drive.  Directions are posted below as well.  Don't forget that the Farmer's Market is also going on, so it's a great morning to head to Davenport.
  Thanks!  Come on out and tie some flies!
~Twitch

My DETOUR DIRECTIONS:  Heading from Bettendorf on East River drive, right on Bridge Ave, continue uphill & follow detour sign, left on East 10th St.  Then, I go left on Oneida down the hill and take tight right on Charlotte St, left on Kary, and then, again, right on Charlotte (brick), left on Tremont. Go down the hill and just past the light blue house is Java Java.  2 min 55 sec.