I took a couple of days off and went trophy striper fishing with some friends. Today I was back on Hamilton. After we did some habitat work we went scouting for a few hours. This is what we caught from 3 to 5 this afternoon.



I have been working on a new condo design that is quick and effective. No doubt there will be some improvements but I think we've got it. The problem is I have the room to build our original condos but don't want any disgruntled neighbors here in the condo complex where I live. So, I wanted to find a way to collect the materials, build and sink all in one day and still be as good and effective as the original.

What we did was take two heavy-weight block and a square of concrete reinforcing wire. Fold the wire into a triangle, attach to the blocks and then stick bamboo in it in all directions.





They turned out to stand only as tall as we wanted them to and they really covered some ground (over 30 foot in diameter). The wire will not be an issue with all that bamboo over it and it should last in the water at least as long as the bamboo will (about 3 years).

Well, at least here in Hamilton. They are lasting much longer on Greeson. Our old waypoints for here on Hamilton from back in 2006 show no condo standing tall ready to be fished. This may be due to a higher oxygen content increasing the decomposition rate and heavier boat traffic causing enough current to knock the bamboo branches down once they get soft. Who knows, all I know is they're not there. So, these new ones with the rusting wire should last long enough and be easy enough to get the job done.

By the way, did I say they were BIG!!! One drop was as least the size of two original condos in buckets and took half a much bamboo.