New to the bed setting field

Ok guys. Here's the deal. I've never before either made, or set a crappie bed before in my life. But now that I have some areas where it is possible, I'm going to start building some and seeing if I can get them set up. And now on to my questions.

1. Is it ok to make some small brush piles from black jack hickory trees? My FIL has 80 acres that have more of these small trees on them that you can shake a stick at, pun completely intended.

2. If I decide to make fully artificial beds, is is cheaper to use rough cut lumber, or PVC?

3. where are the best spots to place these beds? The lake/pond where I've been having the most luck has some pretty deep water (around 30 ft or more in places) and has some shelfs where it drops from around 8 ft to 25-30 ft.

4. how long after I set them will they actually start producing some nice crappie?

Thanks in advance for any and all help. Hope to join the ranks of Master Angler sometime soon.

And just for giggles, here's a picture of our last haul from this last weekend.

oh come on, close to 40 views and nobody has any advice? seriously, I would like some imput and help with this one.

Check out the post on the bamboo condos, alot of folks like them really well, and they do really well in deep water if they are tall enough (15-25' tall in 30-40 fow). As far as the cheaper goes, might try looking for a sawmill, and get some of the sawmill slats, they usually practically give that stuff away around home in NE AR.

SlabSniper,
The things I use are hardwood, cedar tops(as large as I can handle) and beech tops. The hardwood I get at our local lumber yard as culls. I cut them to length(about 36-42 inches) and with the water table at winter pool I put on my waders and drive them in deep enough water that they aren't visible. About 40 stakes to a bed. I'll also have some left over that are only 24" and will go in really shallow. When using a cedar top I want the biggest branches and cut out all the small stuff from around the main stem. I sink them in 5 gallon buckets straight up with concrete. The beech I do the same way.
I always look for the flats next to the creek channel that all the structure has rotted out.
LOL

Cool, thanks for all the great advice. fishordie, I have one question about sinking the cedar tops and other tops though. Do I have to make sure they are standing straight up, or is is okay if they fall over on their sides. I think what I really want to do is sink some of the little hickory tops around end of the dock where the water is around 30 ft deep, but I don't know how hard it would be to keep them upright, or if I even have to worry about keeping them upright. But I know the crappy already have some sort of brush or something around that dock, because they hold there pretty often. I just want to help them out. And I don't want to put in a bunch of stuff that will scare off the ones that ARE there. Thanks again guys for the helpful info. And Barnett, I will check out those bamboo condos, I've been reading some about them on here and I think they would be pretty good.

Happy fishin' everyone.

There's a lot of good readin' on this forum. Query up your subject and get ready to be educated.

Personally, from the looks of your picture, you don't need ANY attractors of ANY kind :D

aj

Slabsniper,
I like to have enough weight in the bucket and let it down slow enough to were the tree does stay up right.I like to use limestone rock added in the bucket before I add my concrete. It really adds weight and makes the concrete go further. If if falls on a large limb then your ok. You don't want it flat on the bottom. Run a rope through the handle or holes drilled in the bucket and let it down standing. Then let go of one end of the rope and bring your rope back up. Just make sure you have over double the length of rope as depth of water.
lol

Fella, if you can catch fish like that why bother with putting out structure??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SlabSniper

Cool, thanks for all the great advice. fishordie, I have one question about sinking the cedar tops and other tops though. Do I have to make sure they are standing straight up, or is is okay if they fall over on their sides. I think what I really want to do is sink some of the little hickory tops around end of the dock where the water is around 30 ft deep, but I don't know how hard it would be to keep them upright, or if I even have to worry about keeping them upright. But I know the crappy already have some sort of brush or something around that dock, because they hold there pretty often. I just want to help them out. And I don't want to put in a bunch of stuff that will scare off the ones that ARE there. Thanks again guys for the helpful info. And Barnett, I will check out those bamboo condos, I've been reading some about them on here and I think they would be pretty good.

Happy fishin' everyone.

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There is a great article in the latest In-Fisherman showing cedars on their sides in LOZ. You might be able to read it online.

if you keep catchin em like that you don't need any brush piles