They Turn in the Current and Catch Fish
They're made from river drift logs and pole size trees and sometimes not to much else. Some of the fish friendly wheels used in monitoring are a lot more and at a good expense with special webbing, padding and constuction. Some are made to last a few years and others made to last a good bit more. They all take alot of time to make and set up before the season but they save time when the fish are running thick. They're water soaked and heavy to move, slippery and dangerous to walk on and need constant vigilance or they'll bust apart from drift or hitting bottom. But when that pile of logs, poles, nails, wire, cables, ropes, and all else start turning and catching fish it's a sight to behold.
Click picture to download a 3 minute video of a Rapids subsistence fishwheel during the 2005 record fall chum salmon run. Video is large (about 20MB) so it will take a while to download. Best to start download by - right click on video picture and select save target as

Fishwheel Pictures
General fishwheel pictures from middle and upper Yukon River in Alaska. Wheels are both subsistence only and test fishwheels that are usually used for both purposes.
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