GPS Coordinates for dropped structure - CJ Brown Reserve

From our own Lowell, here are GPS coordinates of structure they've dropped, and a quote from Lowell as well. Thanks Lowell.

"Sir, we would be humbly honored to have you put them up any way you feel is appropriate. We will shortly be commencing the "+" part of the project- we will hopefully add 350 more to the lake by Nov. 31st this year for 1,000+ total. Will send updates as they " take the plunge". We ask only one thing- they will ALL be GPS marked there will be no secret "honey hole hold outs" we simply ask if they produce, PLEASE let us and your readers know; that`s why they were put there. "


http://crappie.com/cjbrown/cjbrown1.jpg
http://crappie.com/cjbrown/cjbrown2.jpg
http://crappie.com/cjbrown/cjbrown3.jpg
http://crappie.com/cjbrown/cjbrown4.jpg
http://crappie.com/cjbrown/cjbrown5.jpg
http://crappie.com/cjbrown/cjbrown6.jpg
http://crappie.com/cjbrown/cjbrown7.jpg

Use at your own risk, no guarantees implied! lol

Thank You, Slab! Spoke to Chris Rappenchuck, US Army Corps of Engineer Project Manager of CJ Brown , upon OFFICIAL permission we are a "go for splash" the last one for the record is Debra Walters ODNR District #5. We are looking for "afew " individuals interested in assisting us gather evergreen shrubs in the Springfield area and moving them into pre approved assembly sites inside the park and moving cement blocks shortly. If interested contact me at [email protected]. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT MONEY, thank you, we WILL accept whole cedar bushes , taccis? shrubs, CLEAN (unpainted) cement blocks and help moving and assembling and placing them. Soon this project will be the stuff of legend, if only in our own minds, none the less, many may claim, only the "few" will know whom was there. After all, when was the last time you helped change the fishing for 10+ yrs in any body of water, let alone an ENTIRE reservoir? Thought so.. Respectfully , The Friends of CJ Brown Reservoir

Where can I find an updated list?

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Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer

Where can I find an updated list?

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There is none....this was a disaster...People don't understand that CJ was a dying lake....THE FRIENDS OF CJ are GREATLY/MOSTLY responsible for it's revival.
After we started the project, the ODNR thought it would be a GREAT IDEA to give out all the GPS locations for that year....
Well, GREEDY, LAZY, IDIOTS, sat on this cover 24/7 and destroyed all the work we put in.
They were pulling up trees with anchors, etc, because they thought they would do better somewhere else, or wanted it out. Some got into fist fights over who was going to fish there, people were arrested, they would not allow handicapped, the elderly, or children to fish the cover and in areas that who it was intended for, people were cussing at kids and others because they were in THEIR "hole", besides "locals" we had "out of town", and "out of State" people coming in JUST TO FISH THE COVER...it was the saddest thing I had seen in a long while....and we lost all the fish that was drawn to and used the cover!

I headed the group the last 3 years....I told the ODNR and COE that the drops would stop if we had to make GPS locations Public...I told them that the cover WAS FOR THE LAKE, NOT FISHERMEN! The only way to improve the entire fishery was to have breeding cover that people could not fish, regular dense cover for small fish to grow in, and Big Cover for all fish. They agreed.....the only people who know where the cover is, are the people who put it in....I am the only person who knows where it all is. We stopped the drops because IDIOTS were complaining that they deserved to know where the cover was, even though they did nothing to help, they complained that this gave locals who gave their own time, money, and hard work, a advantage in Tourneys....even though none of our members fish Tourneys (except Catfish). The same idiots that destroyed the first batch of Christmas wanted access to THE GOOD STUFF....AND NO WAY WAS THAT GONNA HAPPEN!

My best advice to you is to get a map of CJ and take the time to learn the lake and the species you are fishing for, DROP-OFFS and FEEDING FLATS are gonna be your friend!....I bank fish most of the time and I have no problems catching fish...others that have learned, do the same! AND WE DON'T FISH THE COVER, OR TAKE FISH OFF THE COVER....IT WAS PUT IN FOR THE FISH AND THE HEALTH OF THE LAKE, NOT US!
When we do fish cover it is to see what kind of fish are using it so we know what and where to add...Electronics can tell you if it's holding fish, but you also have to know what is using it, so you can make adjustments for different species.
WHAT THE COVER DOES, IS TO INCREASE THE ENTIRE FISH HOLDING CAPABILITY OF THE LAKE...FROM THE SMALLEST CREATURE IN THE FOOD CHAIN, TO THE LARGEST PREDATOR...IT MAKES THE ENTIRE LAKE HEALTHY...IT SPREADS FISH OUT ACROSS THE ENTIRE LAKE, SO EVERYONE HAS A CHANCE TO CATCH FISH...AND IT WARDS OFF DOWN YEARS, KILL OFFS, ETC. This benefits all of us!

Most of the cover from the original drops was Christmas trees and is now gone....all the the new cover is long lasting material or wood, THOUSANDS have the same density/etc as water, so it disappears and cannot be seen with electronics....even then, we put so much in and in many hidden areas, fish are safe from those that did nothing but want the benefits of our work! I'm sorry if anyone is not cool with that...THE COVER WAS TO IMPROVE THE ENTIRE LAKE FOR EVERYONE NOT YOU!

Good Fishing To All
Brent

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Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer

Where can I find an updated list?

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I wouldn't think they would be all that hard to find with any decent electronics. With that being said just because you do find them you don't need to overharvest them.

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Originally Posted by crappiemax

I wouldn't think they would be all that hard to find with any decent electronics. With that being said just because you do find them you don't need to overharvest them.

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They are not hard to find....I find them all the time with my side imagineing. I don't fish them much though. I tend to fish open water following the shad that the crappie are following.

We have members with THE BEST electronics on the market (and they know how to use them)....the Crate stacks, look like rocks....the PVC, if it does show up (MOST doesn't) looks like twigs and rocks, in areas of twigs and rocks....you can find wood, but most is lay downs so it blends in with the surrounding rocks and bottom contours. Stand up wood is in areas you don't want to take your boat and can't easily get to by bank....other people have put stuff in that is in the open, but they put it in BAD areas, it was easy to find!
We are not typical....we planned where stuff was going, looked at the areas with THE BEST electronics, and did our best to hide every piece.
I don't know of any fisherman that is as "anal" as most in the group....and this was not our first rodeo! We made 1 mistake and we learned from it! :):):)
Some people have found a few "Nuggets" we set out as decoys...they are not as good as they think!lol
IT'S SHOW'S THE SAD STATE OF YOUR SOCIETY, WHEN YOU HAVE TO GO TO THESE EXTREMES, TO MAKE YOUR HOME LAKE BETTER FOR ALL!

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Originally Posted by "G"

They are not hard to find....I find them all the time with my side imagineing. I don't fish them much though. I tend to fish open water following the shad that the crappie are following.

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I agree with that, even if the cover is invisible the fish aren't.
I've used electronics of some sort for almost 40 years from the lowly flasher back in the 70's to the HDS units of today. I've found stumps, brush piles, manmade condos of all sorts. Some of the cover gets used by fish all of the year but most often, most it only get used by fish part of the year. Most of the cover I find is more by accident than by trying to map out the bottom.
I generally like to find schools relating to structure (points, drop-offs, humps or channels) as they seem to hold fish consistently in the area over extended periods of time. If you can locate some cover (stumps, rocks, logs) along the structure it's like adding icing to the cake.
I think the beauty of what has happened at CJ is the shear amount of cover they added. No one can find the 1 or 2 sweetened spots some one added and then beat them to death. With 100's of spots out there no one will find it all.

When I first found your posts about your drops, I was excited to think that I might be able to be involved someday. It sounds like you guys really know what you are doing and have a great love for it! It's a shame to hear how things turned out and that some people ruined your hard work. Hopefully someday I might be able to meet some of you, fish a little, and learn a lot.

The good thing about CJ, and the toughest thing for fishermen, is that the cover holds fry, and smaller to medium sized fish only. This frustrates people that do find schools sitting over nothing.
Once fish become large enough to not be eaten by most other fish, they move through out the lake like tuna...they continually follow schools of shad and rest in non typical areas....but they never lose contact with a school of shad. Typically in the main fishing areas you will have the shad with white bass directly under, then BIG SLAB Crappie and Walleye are following or under the White Bass...as you go North, Channel Cats join in also.
For most, it is extremely difficult to find the big fish in CJ....it's Alot easier for me to find Walleye year around, than to locate the 14-17 inch Crappie consistently...but I'm closing the window on them also!:) I pay attention to how the cover is used and how it influences shad patterns and movement. I'm waiting to see if the last placement develops a consistent movement pattern that can be followed by weather patterns.

I spent a week in Canada a couple of months ago fishing for walleye and pike. I can't wait for the chance to try for them at CJ.

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Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer

When I first found your posts about your drops, I was excited to think that I might be able to be involved someday. It sounds like you guys really know what you are doing and have a great love for it! It's a shame to hear how things turned out and that some people ruined your hard work. Hopefully someday I might be able to meet some of you, fish a little, and learn a lot.

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Anytime...I'm free again the first weekend in Oct...the warmer temps will keep the Crappie deep during the day and allow good shallow hunting at night.

Actually thought the thread was deleted several years ago...regardless, as was stated, these original groups are 4-6 years old, very few have been `refreshed`. But because they were posted, they continue drawing dozens and dozens of fishermen who still regularly beat them up leaving the newer drops largely ALONE...if for that reason only they still serve a `useful` purpose. And agreed, if there is a `stealthy` species of fish that modern sonar cannot detect have never personally heard of it. By putting in literally THOUSANDS of attractors of many types we wish you the very best luck even just finding EVERY 1 of them; actually fishing EVERY 1 of the (near as we can figure) approximately 2,700+ attractors in 40+ groups as well as the many hundreds we as a group "splashed" individually ALL over the reservoir would of course take far longer... This DOES NOT count the many hundreds of spectacularly accurate "freelance" drops by the Mystery Fish Attractor Terrorist(s ?) whom produced results the Strategic Air Command would have been proud of...Intimidator saw his (their ?) handy work as did others and myself. And most remarkable as far as am aware NO ONE ever saw or heard a single thing...or at least no one is openly saying anything. He (they ?) liberally hit targets that we just DROOLED to carpet bomb with "C" trees, PVC and osage orange "BB"s at depths where they WILL and HAVE produced decent winter fish thru the ice, but ODNR flat refused our repeated requests, although strangely he (they ?) apparently honored the COE and ODNR `Forbidden Zones` as did we. This guy (or guys ) KNEW exactly what, where, how many, how deep, and THEN made many of them stay in place on STEEP breaks like they had grown there, many in almost perfectly straight lines, shallow into far deeper water, awaiting the late fall turn over and the on set of ice... Absolutely amazing results...

I am pretty sure I know where at least a couple of them are... Not only are they great fish attractors, but are an excellent alternative to a tackle box as I have left a few jigs and hooks stored there for some future date :-).

1 guy would PM me almost weekly and angrily tell me what lures he had lost THAT week fishing near them early on. I finally ask him "WHY do you continue to cast lures and jigs into them when you KNOW EXACTLY where they are ? Why not just completely AVOID them ?" He then admitted that he was doing rather well fishing into them particularly for the crappie. PMed him back that having admitted that he needed to just shut the (deleted) up and that I personally hoped he lost EVERYTHING with even a single hook in his tackle box and his boat too...never heard from him again.

I guess I'm kind of confused...you guys seem mad that someone fished or is fishing the cover.
What did you think would happen? I would be more surprised if no one fished them.

Not me. Sounds like the guy who was mad about loosing lures on structure needs to look up the definition of insanity. Something about doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results?

I saw a guy at the Brookville lake tear up a wonderful natural crappie habitat (collection of submerged limbs and logs) just because he wanted to catfish and got tired of losing his rigs.

Too many so-called "fishermen" really have no clue what goes into a productive fishery....they just show up, catch fish, go home, and they just think it will always be that way....the people that fish the CJ Marina and ruined it for all, are begging for more new cover to be put in, they want easy reward, without having to work or learn. The "old guard" wants all the cover removed because they can no longer sit in one spot and limit Walleye, or catch 40 in a day. They all agree it works but they will not respect the fishery at all.
I just love learning how the fishery works, and together with all the patterns and other influences, it's always changing..I have seen AMAZING things from what the group has done...and it hasn't peaked yet.

Where did you learn about developing habitat?

An older neighbor in South Carolina, who also was a fish biologist for the SCDNR....he took me under his wing and shared his wisdom....the knowledge Jon had was amazing and he loved building fisheries...in SC, the DNR puts cover in ALL lakes...but their lakes are huge compared to CJ.
He also had a business building/improving lakes on the side, and I helped him.

An older neighbor in South Carolina, who also was a fish biologist for the SCDNR....he took me under his wing and shared his wisdom....the knowledge Jon had was amazing and he loved building fisheries...in SC, the DNR puts cover in ALL lakes...but their lakes are huge compared to CJ...the largest is the Santee Cooper system...it is Mainly 2 lakes, that total 170,000+ acres
He also had a business building/improving lakes on the side, and I helped him when he had jobs.
I guess Jon is the reason that I love sharing and helping others to learn about the fisheries...he was the one that told me that if people take time to learn about the fishery, they will be vested in it and help take care of it.

Are we useing the same staging area, and when do we start.... Can't do much anymore but I can still holler.

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Originally Posted by CrappieDreamer

Where did you learn about developing habitat?

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I think he read an article in "MAD" magazine one day, and a big flash happened. Here we are.
CJP

Fritz, PLEASE include a warning to your posts such as "Set down your coffee before reading this !"...ok ?

I can be having the Crappiest day ever...then I allow myself to join Fritz on his planetary plane of existence, and the whole world is groovy again!:)

I vote CJP for President....hey, didn't I see him on Laugh-In!