Fishweirs

Flowing stream fishweirs (fish dam, fish trap) consist of an obstruction across all or part of a river, creek or stream to trap fish in quantities. Weirs are constructed of cobble, rocks and/or small boulders and often use existing or naturally occurring rocks protruding from the river bed.

Fishweirs are generally "V" or "W" shaped, with an apex aligned downstream directing fish towards traps, usually nets or baskets. They also can be a diagonal dam across the stream. The actual width of the wing and dam walls, and the size and V shape can greatly very.

Our board member David White did a great online presentation on the fish weirs from Shoals to Donnaha to make up for our canceled paddle on that section. David has spent years researching and paddling this section, and it is a top-notch introduction to the weirs.

You can see his entire presentation here.
For an infographic on Southeastern Fishweirs, click here.
To view a 10 minute video on the Great Bend Fishweirs, click here.