Kansas club helps assemble habitat structures

Members of the Hays Bass Anglers Association assembled hundreds of wire handles and added them to habitat that was being placed in Sheridan Lake.

HAYS, Kan. — The Hays Bass Anglers Association of Kansas participated in a two-part habitat project in 2012.

First, nine members of the club assembled more than 450 handles to be used for habitat weights.

"This consisted of cutting heavy-gauge wire to length, spinning the wire to double-reinforce the strength of the handle and bending them into shape so that they may be used in a concrete form later," explained member Nate Brown.

Then, 10 club members drove from Hays, Kan., to Sheridan Lake (Sheridan County) where they helped Dave Spaulsbury, Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks fisheries biologist, pour more than 300 concrete anchor weights using the wire handles for shallow-water bass habitat structure/cedar tree piles.

The volunteers contributed 77 man-hours for the two-part project.