Brush Piles

Quick question. What is everybodies opion on puttng in brush What type of wood is best? With the leaves or without? How much brush at each new pile?

one tree, no leaves, size depends on depth

Crappie10 Been putting them in 11 to 13 ft of water and using probably about a 6 inch diamater limb about 13 to 15 ft long.

I get two (old) concrete blocks and some scrounged cable coax. (3' X 2)

I cut a 15 ' red cedar tree, cut it in two, drill the base of each (now) 7 or 8' "tree" and then run one of the cables through the base and out the other side. Now run the cable through one of the ends of one of the concrete blocks and tie it or wire it sos it will not come undone. I find some 15' water off a point or some other place I want it and give it a shove, marking it on the GPS as the air bubbles come to the surface. I put two or three of these to a set; one on either side of my marker or if three, in a triangle shape 4' or 5' feet apart. Wa La! That's it!

I just KISS. No money invested. I get my cable from the local cable tv place. (They always have a bunch of it out back) And farmers will gladly allow you to clear out a fence row or two if you do him right.

One block will sink one of those (half) trees with no problem. I sink them green or dry; no matter. Crappie don't care. They like 'em either way. KISS

aj

Hey Arkie John,
I'm confused as to the cutting in half part of this. Are you splitting the tree length-ways? Why 2 half's instead of whole? Is it so you have a flat open half to fish down beside?

boatstall

a cordless drill with a hammerdrill setting will go right through sandstone and you won't have to spend any money on blocks, use free rocks on the bank.

I just posted much of the following to another thread in this forum, but I've added a bit here...

Hickory (Carya sp.) is my favorite crappie tree because it's twigs terminate at 1/2", it lasts 3-6 years as a brushpile, and best of all, a healthy live-cut hickory doesn't need weight to sink--just drag and drop!

Oak (Quercus sp.) is nice, but it takes weight to sink it and more processing than Carya.

Another self-sinking green-cut tree is the shorter lived but more renewable Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). It will only last a couple years as a brush pile, but it will produce stump sprouts that can be re-cut every 7-10 years (or forgotten to become the native beauty nature intended it to become). Count the rings on a fresh-cut hickory and contrast that to a sycamore!

In many midwestern impounds, Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) is present as standing timber, washed up on banks (petrified roots and all), or as living shore trees. This tree will last indefinately--at least 30 years--in the water. It is common to find the thorns still present on Maclura pomifera that has been flooded and dead for 30+ years. After having used these trees as brushpiles, I would best describe them as investment structure. It is one of the most difficult (and and painful) species to process; and you may find your saw a bit duller after cutting it. But remove the twigs and find the "right spot" for it--it could potentially remain the "right spot" for the remainder of your fishing days. A live-cut Maclura won't take too much effort to sink, but a dead and/or washed up tree will take an exorbitant amount of weight to secure to the lake floor.

When I and my father sink brush, we weight it down with a "half" foundation block. It is half the size of a full block and has only one hole. We target trees with butt ends fitting the hole. All we do is slide the block over the butt end, tie a slip knot to the tree, drag and drop. We've never lost a block this way. We've never needed more than one block to take down a 20'+ live cut tree.

Generally trees with compound leaves have a coarser structure (fewer and thicker twigs)than simple leafed trees. This is convenient for me because I prefer to remove all the twigs less than 3/4" dia. before I haul it into the lake. This reduces the amount of snags and frustration--as well as the leverage that a snagged hook has to break off a branch entirely. I also feel that coarser brush piles hold larger fish (can't really prove it though).

Great idea for the free sinkin' weights, coyote!

boatstall i think arkie john is reffering to the size of the tree.

If you guys are having problems with where to put out stuff, load it up and bring it to my place. I will be glad to give you some "on the water" training.:)