Rip Rap Benefits

The first time I heard the word rip rap, I thought we were going to a night club instead of a fishing tournament. Good thing I had an understanding partner. Rip rap serves many purposes and none of them have to do with a dance floor.

When most people think of rip rap, they think about rocks around bridges. While this is rip rap, it’s not the only kind. It comes in many sizes and can either be man made or natural, from smaller pebbles to cinder blocks.

Applying rip rap is a great conservation project. The main purpose of man-made rip rap is to deter waves or keep water infiltration from eroding the shoreline during or immediately after construction of a home, dock, bridge or yard on the water’s edge. Remember that muddy bank that always gets hammered by waves from boat traffic or from a prevailing wind? This is a perfect place to make a rip rap donation. The rocks keep the soil from eroding into the water which decreases siltation. Make sure you ask the landowner before you up and put a bunch of rocks in front of his lake home though. However, once you explain to a landowner how beneficial rip rap can be, they will probably be more than willing to allow you to place it there. You also need to check with lake officials before you add habitat.

Luckily, rip rap is also great place to catch bass. In the spring, the rocks are warmed quicker especially on north shores and bass are attracted to the warmer water temperature. Another reason a rip rap bank attracts bass is that shad often spawn there after the normal black bass spawn. The presence of baitfish means the presence of bass. And finally and probably most important is the fact that rip rap provides a place for an entire ecosystem to evolve. Tiny stream insects and crustaceans are attracted to the bottom of the rocks which in turn attract salamanders and crawfish which in turn attract bass and on up through the food chain. While you are out on the lake or river this season keep your eyes open for muddy banks that are eroding the shoreline and think about maybe taking up a rip rap conservation project.

Of all the water we have on earth, freshwater makes up only 3% of it. More times than not we seem to take it for granted. Make plans to take part in a conservation project this summer, no matter how big or small.

Tad Phipps, VA Bass Conservation Director
tadphipps@hotmail.com