Thread: Building boo buckets

Well as for the crete it doesnt take much to give enough weight to sink. I've been looking for the bushiest stuff I can find to cover more area. Not all cedars are alike if you plan on sinking them like I have been. As for the icing left in the bucket, it shouldn't matter since your sinking in lake and shouldn't prevent crete from setting up. I've often though about coating the buckets with oil hoping I could pull the crete out and reuse the bucket even?

Originally Posted by Slipcork

Have all the cut boo you want at lake Norrell boat ramp waiting to be sank or pickup

Dang, it don't get much easier than that! Thanks for the heads up.

Originally Posted by Deezer

Dang, it don't get much easier than that! Thanks for the heads up.

Yeah wish I lived near that lake for pickup. I know where I can get some though if I really wanted them and I'm talking big stalks. These are bigger than a coke can. I may have to get a few next time I go to my G.Ma's house.

Originally Posted by Conway

This is how I build mine, they really do good.


Mid South, Ozark Rods and Hi Tek Pro Staff.

Conway, those look like they'd be easy to transport, but how deep will you sink em? I'm looking at a spot thats about 18 to 20 ft deep, and building my buckets about 10 ft tall. But i like the looks of those for transport.

Well I think it was canebreaker that mentioned going to restaurants and asking about used buckets.....thanks for the tip, I got close to 20 buckets now from about 3 different businesses. Course I checked with 5 different places. and only scored on 3 of them so not all places had them. Burger King has pickle buckets and since there's tons of Burger Kings I thought I'd mention them for those wanting to get some. I may do some more than I'd planned on doing now that I've got more buckets. It's really the crete that costs so much at close to $5 a sack but that ain't too bad.

* I use fresh green 'boo as opposed to dried. I've not tried dry 'boo so I don't have first hand experience that it doesn't last as long. Darryl Morris told me fresh lasted much longer than dry and he's sunk a ton and has a lot of experience with it.....so fresh is what I use. That and I've got an acre or more of 'boo in my backyard, so easy access. Any dent I've made in my 'boo forest has grown back in a year.

* Half a bag of quickcrete is a bit light in my opinion. I always use 2 bags for 3 buckets. That works out to 2/3 a bag per bucket....a little over 53 pounds. I've had a few bigger ones FLOAT! It's almost comical to throw one overboard and have 3-4 feet sticking out of the water, bobbing along. I generally only use the top 9-12 feet of 'boo and put 12 to 15 stalks per bucket. But occasionally the students get a little carried away. I would think that half a bag might cause problems if you drop them in an area with much current. Jerry Blake uses 3 bags per 4 buckets.....60 pounds. He's probably built and sunk more 'boo buckets than anyone on C.C

* Adding sand and gravel in the bottom's not a bad idea. Is it harder to get your 'boo in the buckets though? Also, do you have to be more careful with them since you only have a "cap" of concrete holding it together? We can be a bit rough on them during storage and transport.

* The big stuff definitely holds fish. However, this is just my opinion......I think the tops of 'boo with the little limbs provide better habitat, thus improving the fishery...big boo just makes it easier to catch existing fish. Just my opinion, and I've got no evidence to back it up. Just makes sense to me.

* Tying bottles in the tops of 'boo buckets is a waste of time.

* Icing can prevent concrete from setting up. At least I think it would. I mix sugar in with mortar for my students. They get the experience of laying bricks, but then the next day the mortar is brittle and easily breaks up to it's original form. I would expect it to do the same thing with concrete. Btw, it doesn't take much sugar! lol

* I like the idea of pouring buckets with pvc, then screwing 'boo into it. You could sure transport a lot more to the lake that way. They seem to be smaller though. Although, my back might appreciate that!

* Adding sand and gravel in the bottom's not a bad idea. Is it harder to get your 'boo in the buckets though? Also, do you have to be more careful with them since you only have a "cap" of concrete holding it together? We can be a bit rough on them during storage and transport.

Put your boo in the bucket then add sand or gravel, pour the concrere, then put two or three screws or nail thru the bucket into concrete and let it set up.

Deezer I put the short ones in shallow water like the picture, if I make them for deep water I make them about ten foot tall and fewer pieces of boo per bucket.


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