Welcome

This is the place to post directions, photos, and gather ideas for building structure so we can all maybe catch more fish. I truly believe that building places for the fish is a great practice especially within aging lakes. It not only gives you a good place to catch them, it is also good for the fish by providing them good cover to hide from predators and grow.

In the near future I plan to email some state fishery departments and try to uncover some of the rules regarding placing your own cover.

In the mean time build stuff and sink it. Just don't use tires or cedar trees. I don't think its a good idea to throw a bunch of tires in our waters and I have always had the opinion that cedar trees were about the worst type of tree you could use.

Great idea FF. Don't forget some of us fish in relatively shallow rivers. It would be nice to have some advice as to where to put them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fiddlefarter

This is the place to post directions, photos, and gather ideas for building structure so we can all maybe catch more fish. I truly believe that building places for the fish is a great practice especially within aging lakes. It not only gives you a good place to catch them, it is also good for the fish by providing them good cover to hide from predators and grow.

In the near future I plan to email some state fishery departments and try to uncover some of the rules regarding placing your own cover.

In the mean time build stuff and sink it. Just don't use tires or cedar trees. I don't think its a good idea to throw a bunch of tires in our waters and I have always had the opinion that cedar trees were about the worst type of tree you could use.

---

but I just don't like them. I don't think I ever caught a crappie out of one. But a lot of people put them out so I guess someone catches fish out of them. I just thought that was a good time to voice my opinion and I figured it would invite people to reply.

But if you've never noticed, algae doesn't ever really grow on them until they are about rotted away. Thats the reason most people say you should burn them before you put them out. You also get hung up in them a lot.

Well I’m embarrassed now; I thought I had written in a reason why I was asking, so I will try again.


I’ve never tried to put out any kind of structures before, but the lake we fish has a lot of standing timber and we catch more on cedar and hedge than any of the other trees put together. Yes you will have a hell of a time getting hung up in both of these. I’ve always been told that if you don’t get hung up every now and then your not fishing in heavy enough cover (may be they met hung up in a fish, oh well??). I believe that the hedge is better than cedar, but those two are the ones that we prefer (we still fish all the trees in the area though). I guess I should say we pretty much only use the vertical casting method also, I would hate to think about trolling over a cedar bed.

The algae problem I don’t know that I’ve notice, but will take your word for it.

Cedar is not near as bad as pine. Cedar will last. X-mas trees of various pine are the ones you want to avoid. Sometimes we "thin out" the cedar branches a little to give some room and avoid a few hang ups. Try to place them as vertical as possible. I agree on the hedge and locust. Cherry works great.. sinks on its own but has a short life span in the water.

Take the time... take a kid.

Wardy

I have had very little luck with Pine and Cedar trees and after several years have found that Willow, bambo, Gum, and Pear are the best with hardwoods not as good but much better than soft woods. I believe the cedar and pines have an odor that keeps fish away. I live on a small clear private lake and have spent time snorkeling and looking at all the junk I have sunk. My sugestion is don't waste your time and effort. Sink something good. I always tie a two liter cola bottle in the top to keep things standing up too. Much less hang ups and more effective when fish prefer different depths. Seeya, Don

Over the last couple of weeks I have been constructing what I call "Super-logs"
I took 4" Cor-pipe (4" thin wall corruagated drain pipe) along with 1/2" Sch. 40 PVC pipe and made logs to sink as structure.
I tied three 8' lengths of the pipe together in a pyramid configuration and then
stuck the 1/2" PVC pipe through the 4" to make branches all along the length.
I stuck several pieces of thick styrofoam in the 4" pipes to make it want to float. Then anchored it all to cinder blocks to hold it to the bottom. The result was a log that keeps a constant 4 feet elevation off the bottom in a horizontal position. I hope to be able to fish it without getting hung up.

I then took the same configuration and put it in a vertical position, which allows for a log that rises from the bottom toward the surface. This will give the fish more structure to hold to in any condition.

4" Cor-pipe = $2.98 for 8' length
1/2" PVC pipe = $1.02 each
Stainless Steel wire = Free
Cinder blocks = $1.98 each
Crappie fishing = Priceless

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stray

Well I’m embarrassed now; I thought I had written in a reason why I was asking, so I will try again.


I’ve never tried to put out any kind of structures before, but the lake we fish has a lot of standing timber and we catch more on cedar and hedge than any of the other trees put together. Yes you will have a hell of a time getting hung up in both of these. I’ve always been told that if you don’t get hung up every now and then your not fishing in heavy enough cover (may be they met hung up in a fish, oh well??). I believe that the hedge is better than cedar, but those two are the ones that we prefer (we still fish all the trees in the area though). I guess I should say we pretty much only use the vertical casting method also, I would hate to think about trolling over a cedar bed.

The algae problem I don’t know that I’ve notice, but will take your word for it.

---

One of the best crappie fisherman I know fishes a lake with a lot of standing timber and I know he will add to it by attaching limbs etc to slick trees. I think he just uses about a 10' wire or cord and ties it as far down the tree as he can reach and attaches the attractor with a weight to it and lets it go. While most of the timber looks the same he knows which one to fish.

Around here we use willows, canes, pecan limbs, sweet gums, and alot of others. One of the favorites is sycamores. They sink without weights, but we put weights on them to stop drift. They are usually right around the waterways and are easily accessible, plus their limbs leave big enough openings for the crappie to get into and ambush baitfish but still provide plenty of cover. Don't hang up in them quite as much as some of the other trees that are used around here. Hope this helps.

Can I ask why cedar trees are the worst, in your opinion? I have been told by nearly everyone around here that was what to use, so I did. I did anchor the tree to my dock so that it could be retrieved and removed if ever needed.

I would appreciate hearing your opinion. I'm here to learn.

I see everyone say pine is no good but I used to collect Xmas trees curbside after Xmas and sink em couple mos. later and it was good to the point of being almost too
automatic. I will say that some tree limbs mixed in made it better. I don't claim to be
a guru on it, pine was what most folks used and was readily available so that's why I
used it I guess. Take a double thickness of burlap sacking or several old pillowcases
and send some cottonseed meal down with the wood & see what happens!
Jeff