Different Depths , Different Types of Structure

First let me say that this is just my personal ideas on this and I certainly don't knock anybody's proven methods.
I find that in water shallower than 8 feet short stake beds seem to produce the best. As I get into the 10 to 12 feet range PVC beds or small brushpiles seem to produce well. 13 feet or deeper I prefer as large of a persimmon tree as I can handle.
On my deepest beds I prefer to position the butt of the tree on the uphill side of the dropoff so as the limbs will fill out the side of the dropoff better. This way as the crappie approach the brushpile from the deeper water they can move right into the open limbs.
I, like my buddy NIMROD, prefer persimmons because they have fairly open limb structure and they are very dense requiring very little weight to sink. I have had one out now for about 5 years that has produced some awesome stringers including a 5 lb bass and several slabs up to 2 1/2 lbs!

Do you not use any Bamboo? I am thinking of sinking some stuff in the AR river backwaters around LR this fall for the early spring. Probably going to try out several types of cover, but not any persimon trees, too big and in too conspicous of an area (boat traffic)

slabbandit,
Thanks for your knowledge. I do agree with what you say about what to use in different depths but in my area I don't have water over 13 feet without a huge amount of current.
During the coldest weather of winter it's tough to find fish on built structure because of the current. If you have some ideas you could share with us to secure structure in deep water with lots of current that would be great.
Thanks

LM, I do use Bamboo but I only find it to be attractive to the crappie while it retains it's green leaves. I do know a guy that lays his horizontally over a drop-off edge and the stalks seem to produce fish every year. The problem with bamboo or cedar trees in the river is during flood season they will wash down river in the current created in the backwater areas. I would probably just use an oak tree about 16 feet in length with about 50 to 60 lbs of concrete on each end. Do this in a 5 gallon bucket but I would also drill some holes in the bottom 2" of the bucket and run maybe 2- 4 or 5 feet pieces of conduit thru it in a cross pattern before you fill them with concrete. This should stop the buckets from rolling during flood season.
I have weighed cedar trees down with 90 lb buckets only to find them a 1/4 mile down river on dry ground after a flood! This is why I suggest using the cross pieces.

Fish, I would suggest that you use something with some large trunk or limbs. Say 4" or bigger. This will give the crappie somewhat of a current break to hide behind. But you too will need a good anchor system to hold it in place.

Good Luck,
Slabbandit