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After Christmas, I will have quite a few trees to sink in area lakes. I know points and river ledges are the prime areas but at what depth should I sink them? Two of the lakes are at winter pool level; down about 10' or so. Any advice would be helpful. thanks....
Thanks for the wonderful advice..............
Wherever you think would make good honeyholes. They won't last as long as hardwoods though. Keep in mind that they need to be deep enough under the water, so that they won't cause problems for boats. Here the corp puts them close enough to shore to help bank anglers catch fish. Would suggest that you do a topic search here for xmas trees, and read those posts. Hope this helps you.
I have sunk brushpiles in Sam Rayburn for many years. Christmas trees are not my favorite. It takes a lot of weight to sink them for one thing. Also, it is very hard to get your hook free when you hang up. You will break off 8 times out of 10.
I have used willow trees for years with great success. It is important to tie 4-5 two-litre bottles in the top of the brush piles to keep them standing up straight for a long time.
I put out some bamboo last fall but the jury is still out on them. They should be very productive from the reports I read.
Good Luck !
Throw dem Christmas trees in a grinder and get you some mulch.Then go down to a creek somewhere out in the country and get you some bamboo, or creek cane so you can have a real good crappie condo that wont hang you up.Cane is easy sunk, easy to handle and dont take too much weight to sink.I have my doubts that Crappie like the cedar trees too much for cover anyway. I wont debate it, but have read alot of other posts that said other types of cover was much more favorable to a crappie than cedar trees where.Also, when crappie fishing, I think, you will hang way too much on christmas trees to make you happy.
I'll agree with GCF on them trees. Put in close to 90 trees last winter,lot of hard work,hard to sink,don't hold many fish.Got 9 piles of boo 3 buckets each pile,easy to make,easy to sink,holding lots of fish! Just my 2 cents.
Sounds good guys. I have never sank any structure and was interested in the trees because of easy supply. Guess I need some bamboo now.....
I thought bamboo would be difficult to get, but when I started to look around it is everywhere. One neighbor's mom has a huge stand. I'm digging up some and re-planting it where I deer hunt. Planning ahead to have my own private stand of bamboo in a few years. Plastic buckets are tough to come by. I've resorted to going to the liqour store and getting several of the boxes that they throw out. All but the concrete is free and it keeps me out of my wife's hair.....she appreciates my crappie structure for that reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenntodd
Back when Greers Ferry was filling up and when it was a new lake, we looked for cedars and nearly always caught crappie aroung them. The lake is so old now that the cedars have lost all their limbs and are not nearly as good. I think your Christmas trees will work, but not until the needles fall off which will take a while.
The only negative to sinking trees from what ive found is if you get your line caught in them you will break off over 90% of the time.
i helped the corp. sink 1500 x-mas trees...for 3 small trees we used 60-90lbs of weight...i hear everyone saying "all you will do is hang up in them"....i dont think this is true as i jig right in the middle of them....you just need the right gear...get you some power pro and some stick gaurds and you will be good to go...but i will say i dont think they hold as many fish as hard wood and they only last a few years because they rot out fast
Well For My 2 Cents Worth I Believe The Best Trees To Sink Are Fruit Trees Darn Near Any Kind Will Produce Fish And Most Last A Lot Longer Than Xmas Trees And If You Sink Xmas Trees Burn Them First To Get The Needles Off And Use A Propane Torch To Do It. Just Be Careful As Some Have Oil On Them I'm Going To Cut Some Of Mine Tomorrow Oh Before I Forget Rose Of Sharon Bush Make Good Cover Grow Them Quick In 2 Years And Cut Them Close To The Ground And They Stand Straight Up In The Water. Cutting 6 Tomorrow
I picked up 6 christmas trees this morning. Trying to stay ahead of the trash truck. 1 driver told me he had 8 in the truck already. Will sink them about the middle of January.
I've sank cedars before and they do work, so if that's what you have, it will be better than nothing. I've had much better luck with hardwoods, so that's what I use. In my experience, the cedars don't hold much until all the green is off of them. After a year or so, they work pretty good. The depth depends on water clarity and time of year that you want to fish. The magic depth where I fish seems to be from 15' to 20'. Structure in that depth range will hold fish 10 months out of the year.
Be careful where you plant bamboo. it will spread quickly and is almost impossible to get rid of. Runners have been known to pop up 50 feet after a stalk has been cut. Good luck !!
I've sunk christmas trees before and they last for years!
If your lakes are down 10', drop them in 10-15 fow.
If your boat has carpet, have fun vacuuming those needles out!!!
Boxes instead of buckets. I like that idea.
I think that you should put them on the bank in Riley creek now and tie them down. They make great cover for the spring fish. Just remember how you place them so that you are pulling your jigs with the limbs and not against them and you will hang up less. Very important. Some of my best fish have come off of old cedars but you do have to replace about every 3 or so years. Sink some in about 10' of water now and they will be in 20' in the summer and will make great cover then also.
Most store bought Christmas trees are not Red Cedar but Spruce or Pine which rot quickly . They are a poor choice in my experience. I would try to find Hardwood or better yet Persimmon Trees in some old fields to use. Lots of farmers here glad to see them cut around their hay meadows.;)
my .02 (like it matters)
We sink cedars, xmas trees, and pvc. And I have lost a total of maybe 5 jigs off all three of those types combined.
Like some have mentioned before, you need the right gear, it does not matter which species you are fishing.....POWER PRO BRAID is a must....yeah, it is expensive, but it saves your butt in jigs bc you will hardly lose them! Yeah it takes a little bit of getting used to bc it is braid, has no stretch, and everything feels like a bite sometimes.....its worth it!
I am starting to plan my xmas tree sinking excursion as we speak....going to head to the local park here in Shawnee Kansas and gather up as many as I can fit into my truck and maybe my 12' trailer.....By now most of the needles have fallen off which makes it much easier to mess with, and less of a mess at that.
This time, instead of shallow water we are going to sink them in the natural ravine that was formed by runoff, before they filled the lake. It is here that crappie migrate back and forth....basically a gradually rising/sinking creek bed in hopes that these spots will hold crappie during the tough months of December, January, February, July and August.
Water depth is approx 20 feet where we will start and drops to 30-60ft where we will finish.....
any structure, whether it be xmas trees, cedar trees, pvc, or bamboo will work.....bamboo is hard to come by up here in the midwest so we make do.....there is always xmas 365 days a year on my lake.....just underwater xmas!!!! =)