Reef Ball Foundation Photos and Project Description Database

From the depths, artificial reefs provide concrete results RICHARD EHRENKAUFER, Correspondent BEAUFORT - North Carolina anglers are blessed with an abundance of manmade fishing reefs and accidental artificial reefs (we're not called the Graveyard of the Atlantic for nothing) that complement a multitude of natural rock and ledge formations. Reef locations are marked on charts and with buoys at sea, but identifying what lies beneath can be tough. Line drawings, fuzzy sonar images and GPS locations only hint at the rubble, ships and debris. Good reef anglers know what a reef is made of and what it holds. One angler with an even greater knowledge has taken close looks -- from the bottom up. "I've done a lot of scuba diving in the area, and it's kind of interesting," fishing guide Tom Roller of Beaufort said. "I've dived the wrecks and a lot of the live bottoms. I have a good perspective from the top and bottom, and it's really helped me as an angler. "As a diver, you not only want to learn with your own eyes what structure holds fish, but you start to get a better perspective of what you are seeing on the bottom." Along the N.C. coast, man-made reefs are built and maintained by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and by local fishing clubs. When Roller dives on the reefs, he discovers a variety of materials. "If you look at any of the general artificial reefs, you'll see a lot of concrete rubble, whether it's pipe or reef balls, some aluminum and metal stuff from old aircraft, barges, ships and whatnot," said Roller, who runs Water Dog Guide Service. "Concrete is interesting -- it will hold a lot of life on it; there's a lot of coral on it -- whereas the aluminum degrades very fast, falls apart and disappears." Reef balls also are important parts of reefs. The balls are honeycomb, domed structures that are made on land before being dropped to the ocean floor. Roller finds them "good for fish but very bad for tackle." "They steal tackle," he said. Many of the sites contain sunken ships. The popular sunken ship designated AR (artificial reef) 330 contains reef balls, concrete pipe, aircraft, boxcars and the remains of a 320 -foot landing craft repair ship Indra. "Yes, the Indra," Roller said with a smile. "It's a popular barracuda spot."...