info about crappie beds

Its about time for me to put in some crappie beds, last year whiskers and a lot of the western ky fishermen were putting out bamboo beds, my question is, do you think they work as well as wood stakebeds? When I'm fishin ky lake in the spring i've been fishing near some brush but haven't had much success with large brushpiles. Infact there were some large brushpiles placed were I always catch some large crappie and all I could catch were small under 11 inch crappie. I do fish large brush piles but not in the spring. With the price of fuel like it is now I won't be able to come down to put in beds at Ky lake this winter but I plan to place some beds in taylorsville lake this winter. The crappie at T-ville are very brush oriented, the size has been very good this winter with me keeping 11 in to 14 in crappie. There are some friends that have some bamboo growing on there farms and I can get it,just wondering if it works as good as wood. When I get back to Ky lake in March I do place some 3 to 4 inch branches about 4 foot long around bedding areas in 5 to six foot of water. This is the pattern that works for me. Now if ifish and whiskers dont catch all the crappie this winter I might have chance next spring. Have a nice Christmas Dave

Hey Dave ,
I think you are right about the size of the beds. Over the years I have put out a lot of different types of beds and my best spots the last few years have been the small beds with the wide boards that I have driven in the bottom with a driver. I find the bigger piles like you said hold a lot of the schoolers. I am gearing up for some more beds soon and let the fish off the hook. Been catching some nice fish lately in 7 fow. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy Crappie New Year.

Dave I put out 17 Big Bamboo beds. I have caught 1 keeper off of them. I've caught a ton of shorties & yella bellies but only 1 keep off of 17 beds! Lotta work for little return.