If you look back to the 12 January '24 posting 'The Old Dredge Hole Ain't What It Used To Be - II' you can see a small turbulence at the end of the docking on the right. This is an aerator churning bubbles and water which keeps the water from freezing solid around the docks and being lifted and cast asunder by the ice. For a good number of years now the river has not frozen as solid as it did in my growing up and early adult-hood days when fishermen would come in droves to cut holes through the ice and wait patiently in the cold open-air while flashy copper ice-minnows would be jigged expectantly. When I find some of my mom's old photos from the late 50's I'll post a couple of my father doing this along with some of his happy catches. The aerators keep enough open water for local water fowl, ducks, gulls, geese, etc, which no longer seem to migrate south. These in turn add to the churning of the water so that nice large open areas remain for their feeding and ablutions.
