River 'shaping'

I live near a couple of rivers which I have fished successfully in the past. Identifying good swims is important for success, and I've always managed to locate them fairly easily.

If I have a property with a river in my control, but that doesn't have any 'good' swims in it, is it worth me 'creating' them by digging out and diverting flow etc.

Don't want to mess too much with nature, but wondered if anyone has any experience in what I'm suggesting?

Hi Dave,

I'm afraid that I don't have the experience you're looking for. Is that the H***e and your upcoming purchase you're talking about? If so, before you make any plans to divert the flow, make sure you know what's in your right.

Wikipedia wrote:Les cours d'eau non domaniaux (rivières et ruisseaux) sont les cours d'eau non flottables et non-navigables de l'ancienne réglementation. Ils sont régis par le droit privé. Seuls le fond et les berges appartiennent aux propriétaires qui peuvent en interdire l'accès à autrui, ainsi que la circulation (selon la jurisprudence). L'eau fait toujours partie du domaine permies, les propriétaires ne pouvant pas diminuer le débit de la rivière au-dessous d'un certain seuil. L'accès aux berges clôturées est interdit sans l'autorisation expresse des propriétaires. L'accès à l'eau est autorisée aux endroits où les berges appartiennent au domaine public (ponton, pont, berge appartenant à une collectivité locale…)
[...]
Le barrage/vannage privé est considéré comme propriété privée, mais les nouvelles installations doivent faire l'objet de dispositifs permettant de les traverser ou contourner (idem au moment des renouvellements d'autorisation). En cas de dérivation, le débit restant doit être suffisant pour assurer la conservation et la diversité du milieu aquatique.

And that's assuming your river, like ours, can't be navigated this far from the bay. Otherwise:

Wikipedia wrote:elles qui sont navigables et/ou flottables (domaniales) ; elles appartiennent à l'État

(Source)

As for how much you can alter the water-flow of your river, if private, I'm assuming la mairie can answer questions of that nature. Sorry if I'm just repeating things you've already thought of.

When I was growing up, my great uncle had a log cabin on an island. We'd spend a week or two there every summer, it was a blast.
The way the island was shaped, he was able to build a breakwall with rocks and concrete. Then he spent many a day hauling in gravel (the Maine equivalent to sand). For weeks he hauled it in, dumped it behind the wall, spread it around to make a beach. The whole island was nothing but glacial rocks, so it was nice to have a beach.

Wind, rain, waves, snow...mother nature is going to do her thing. The beach lasted a few years, steadily eroding with each season. When the beach was about half gone, the movement of the water started to carve out the stairs leading up to the camp. The breakwall had altered the normal motion of the waves and water. If left in place, it would have taken out the camp in a few years. The breakwall was removed with more effort than going in. The beached washed away, and the water went back to normal.

We were kids. We'd have swum in a swamp.

i think rivers move down serpentine like at a 11-1 ratio.

if you want to encourage a hole, put in some poles, say for a tie-up, and let the eddy dig most of it for you.

go upstream, and find the meander, and the avg width, then go back down, pacing out a distance.
go just a little long, because the meander actually works its way downstream too....

yeah, i think inducing meander is the thing that will help the most in your goals, and overall it shoulde improve the health of the river system, not decrease it