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hello to all
well after a long wait to hear back the local biologist I'm done waiting .....its been 6 months and no word back
I'm going to basically break the law, I dont want to but I'm left with no choice
so my question is this
is there a fish cover that I can put together in my boat at night that is easy enough to assembly and sink
I dont condon breaking any laws but my lake is in bad need of fish cover
any ideas for some simple yet effective cover options
thank you all
Use the cover of darkness between 3 and 4AM moonless night PREFERABLY with light rain or snow or fog. These all help reduce the effectiveness of low light gathering and infrared night vision devices, use NO lights, have the "cargo" PRELOADED before launch and DO NOT throw them over the side; QUIETLY lower them over the side with as VERY LITTLE noise as humanly possible. Put them where they are as unlikely to be a "problem" as possible ie, away from outlets, beaches, boatramps, ect. Lastly since will "assume' you don`t want to "share them" stick entirely with flooding PVC with 1/2 bucket tall anchors. LASTLY, admit to nothing if any "Imperial entanglements" ensue...and we didn`t have this chat.
PS- REMEMBER to GPS them while releasing them or YOU won`t ever find them again either...
PVC trees can easily be assembled in the boat. Use some 4" stuff for a trunk and drill holes through to fit whatever size pipe you want to use as limbs. You can do all the cutting and drilling at home and assemble at the water. If you cap the top of the trunk to where you have a few inches of air and weight the base, they won't turn over. Even if the do, they'll still make good cover. We suspended several of these under my buddy's dock 10 or 12 years ago and can pretty well always catch some fish of of them. Unless you have really good landmarks, you had better GPS them because they'll be hard to find.
thanks guys ......... some real good ideas and words of wisdom
again thank you all
Apparently capping them to provide some floatation actually makes them EASIER to "see' with sonar. To keep them upright use straight stiff 1/2" PVC about 3` long.
GPS it! Pain to find PVC. I'm done dropping for a while, my gps took a leap out of the boat!
I use PVC as a Horizonal Structure. I use a 2-Liter bottle of cement to hold down each end. Just drill aa small hole at each end of structure, wire them on to each end. These stack great, I can get 6 on my boat at a time, and put 3 down at each location. Here is what they look like. It is important to get a good GPS Mark on the PVC Structures, as when the get alge growing, they turn stealth very quickly.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...tures/PVC1.png
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...Structure1.png
keith
Nice!!!!
short grub, doing whatever you want is one thing, posting it on a public forum is another.
Sporting websites are viewed by many others besides those who enjoy the particular sport. Some of them look for such posts as propaganda to use against us, and probably others to prosecute.
Openly admitting intent to break laws is something you might want to think about, not only for yourself, but for others.
thank you neon, I had not thought of it havin any bad effects on others
I'm just tryin to help my lake and my state boys keep up with things
I'm sorry If my actions in any way reflect a negative attitude or influence on my fishing brothers and sisters
Excellent advice. If you are going to break the law, do not publicly advocate that are describe how to do it. In some places even that is also illegal. Both many states and a lot of local fishermen in many places do not approve of artificial habitat, especially something that does not deteriorate naturally. If some of those private vigilantes can find your permanent habitat upgrades they will often move or remove them as secretly as you try to place them. If you are a successful local fisherman you will be watched by lurkers both on line and on the water. Going to the same spots regularly will enable some of them to locate what you put down for their own purposes no matter how carefully you sneak out your placements; so you may find your artificial honey holes either overfished or removed and your efforts wasted either way.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeonMoon
It really does pay to develop the skills necessary not to feel the need to cut either legal or social corners.
Wasn't trying to "point fingers", or be harsh in any way. Was just sayin' how others may perceive it. I have no doubt that it would be beneficial to the lake, but like it or not, we still gotta play by the rules. What you choose to do on your own is up to you :ThumbsUpQuote:
Originally Posted by short grub
sound like youve been there before!lol!me toQuote:
Originally Posted by Lowellhturner
Thanks guys ........ after much thought I've decided to let this idea of mine pass by the wayside
thank you all
Not sure where you are in Illinois, however I know several of the IDNR Biologists and have had some conversations about man-made habitat. Basically it comes down to the body of water and what they are trying to achieve.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanr3
Hi,
We have done three major habitat projects on three local lakes.....We will be doing another local lake probably in late January/ early February....I really enjoy doing the habitat projects....
My best advice is...To get a hold of whoever runs the lake..Ask them if they are interested in doing a habitat drop....I haven't any of them say no yet....
Jeremy
Just so you know what we have to do in OHIO!
First you have to get the OK through the ODNR fish Management, then the COE of the lake, and finally the Park Management!
ALL 3 of our agencies WATCH THE POSTS on Ohio Game Fishing Community
And YES, many Christmas trees, Regular Trees, PVC, and Plastic Crates, have somehow materialized in the lake during times when yearly APPROVED drops have long been over! :)
In OHIO, illegal drops CAN BE A FELONY and if it has a COE dam, you may face other FEDERAL Charges if caught!
As far as the "wee hours" route, allow me to make a short story long: once upon a fuel pier REALLY near me, I happened to find myself getting drawn upon by a Sherriff`s Deputy whom unbeknownst to me was 1 of many attempting to apprehend a certain "kill`m cutt`m up" psycho murderer person who apparently then wrapped up the various pieces of his victim and was in the process of littering the State Park lakes in my area. Just as the last 1 "C" tree quietly goes under the fuel pier what should I hear but "FREEZE ! DO NOT turn around! I have my weapon drawn and I WILL KILL YOU!" He called for back up, the local Park Ranger whom upon seeing my truck bursts out in hysterical fits of genuinely heartfelt robust laughter, actually rolling on the ground in all but almost unnerving hilarity. This puzzled the Deputy, who STILL had his weapon cocked. I, being handcuffed and laying in a puddle of freezing cold water, told the Deputy "that Ranger Wilson knew me, and this was ALL a BIG misunderstanding" to which Ranger Wilson about choked up, just unable to fully let go of what I`m sure he saw as Divine "pay back'...when he finally regained some composure and agreed I was not likely the "kill`m cutt`m up" killer person in question I quickly added that I was in fact the local fish attractor terrorist...the nice Deputy went OFF his rocker INFURIATEDLY POed, and was cursing and screaming waving his cocked weapon and likely was not a fisherman. Ranger Wilson on the otherhand found this FUNNIER yet...the Deputy stomped to his cruiser, put his hopefully UNcocked weapon in his holster and actually peeled out, probably still mad. I asked Ranger Wilson if he had handcuff keys for the Deputy`s set I was still wearing and God Bless the long suffering dude he flat said "No I do not". But the if possible even MORE bent out of shape Deputy did, and upon returning proceeded to berate me telling me what a "LOW LIFE sneaking, disrespectful underhanded scum of the Earth type of criminal, ect, ect, ECT, ad nausium" I was...basically was banished from CJ for "life" or 2 weeks which ever came 1st...
Mr. Lowellturner, I see Barney Fife is alive and well in your area!! ha That tale is probably still making the rounds with his fellow officers.
I`m CERTAIN he bought coffee AND the Donuts for his fellow Park Rangers and was just HAPPY as (deleted) to tell `em ALL about the "BIG" bust the night before...
Lowell, Here in Minnesota the Park Ranger would not have found it so funny. He would almost certainly have left you in handcuffs and called in a game warden who would very likely have taken you away in them and possibly not only confiscated your equipment, possibly including your vehicle but would then have had your artificial habitat removed and charged you retail for the process.
Attitudes toward privately installed artificial habitats vary dramatically between states. I personally approve of the Minnesota policy, at least for here, and would likely have turned you in myself had I witnessed your "wee hours" attempt to get around our state restrictions, not just on legal grounds, but anybody planting artificial habitat around the docks I fish and use increases the difficulty of my fishing dramatically as well as potentially interfering with the natural fish movement necessary for our Minnesota fish to overwinter.
For what its worth, in Minnesota during ice fishing season any shack left on the ice after a certain time or during forbidden times of thin ice or any vehicle that goes through the ice must be removed at the owner's expense. That can be a real bite out of one's budget, but no excuse is acceptable.
Like it was said before, if legal do not drop your habitats where it will interfere with others' fishing, be considerate. And do not publicly advocate breaking the law; that by itself can land you in court in a whole lot of places. Even if you end up beating the wrap, there will be expense and possibly missed work involved., and you may well have to jump through expensive hoops to get confiscated equipment and/or vehicles back.
Our result is healthy fish populations with trophy quality catches possible in easily half a dozen species out of multiple waters just inside the city limits of Minneapolis alone, with much of the rest of the state even richer in potential.
sounds like your dock has the only cover under it in the whole marina. what you have no clue about, is that most lakes don't have vegetation in them and the only cover for the fish is what the dnr and approved fisherman place in them. I think the deputy did the right thing by stopping a potential murderer, but I doubt if he would get arrested for dropping a piece of pvc off a dock. I got pulled over one time,,,small town felony stop and when he figured out he had the wrong guy, was as nice as he could be. but I wasn't committing a capital crime like trying to catch a fish.
Let me just say that I applaud your efforts in Minnesota and I'm sure that your projects were difficult and well worth the time spent!Quote:
Originally Posted by no1son
I have know Lowell since before Hurricane Ike hit Ohio in 2008, I know the story he told and it is truthful. Our local 2200 acre reservoir was built for water retention and flood prevention for the Buck Creek and Mad River watershed that flows through Springfield OH...when it was built in the early 70's, it was bulldozed clean. It does not have the benefits of the natural lakes in Minny or other places.
Fishing at CJ Brown was an after-thought. When the ODNR realized that Walleye flourished in it's deep fertile water (depths up to 45') they began a stocking program which soon provided them eggs for the OHIO hatcheries, these fish have been stocked across the State AND Lake Erie to combat VHS disease.
It took a group of up to 50 fishermen to get together after hurricane Ike provided us with free hardwood to turn this lake into a proper fishing lake. We received all the proper paperwork to procede and the results have been dramatic...the vegetation is returning after extreme draw-downs for the Marina and Boat ramps and with thousands of areas of cover, we have a huge Walleye population, the perch are coming back with several Jumbos now being caught, the Smallmouth are huge with many 20+ inchers being taken along with Largemouth Bass, the WB are growing with 16-17 inchers common, Bluegill are everywhere, Channel Cats are a thriving population, Flatheads and Blues have been caught, Crappies have grown from a stunted 7 inches to a thriving population of 12-17+ inches....CJ has a Massive population of shad, minnows, and natural baitfish like shiners, logperch, and darters to feed this massive population of fish.
This is all due to a group of fishermen who got together to make things better....and yes for this work, we do get "Breaks" afforded to us by the local wardens, COE, and ODNR because of our work and thats OK.
The one thing in your statement that I CAN NOT STAND is when you say "Do not drop your habitat where it will interfere with others fishing"! Habitat, if done correctly, should be placed where it will do best "FOR THE LAKE AND THE FISH" the fisherman in our opinion is an after-thought!
Quote:
Originally Posted by skunked again
Sweet Zeus!!! Where did you get all that pvc pipe???? That stuff is no longer inexpensive.
I've been relegated to using bamboo and hardwood limbs.
Forgive telling another short story and making it longer...once upon a time (winter of 2000/ 2001) at a reservoir real near me there was a old main boat ramp. Off to the right of it was a group of 20 cedar posts put there 20 yrs prior. ODNR doing there annual walleye netting program would put their shock boat in, turn the "field " on and putter around the posts, bringing up small bluegill and perch then head elsewhere to shock for walleyes gathering to spawn. Under the cover of snow and howling winds 3 months prior 68 weighted "C" trees were dumped between the posts onto the ice rapidly to become buried by snow. By the time anyone became aware they were there they had asorbed the warmth of the sun and plunged thru the softened ice. 3 months later the shock boat scores a very heavy find of walleye in this spot that they had never been before along with huge numbers of perch. They net the area, finishing in 3 days rather than 3 wks allotted. The ODNR crew leader REMEMBERS this: hence when some crazy idea is later submitted to put 700 attractors into CJ Brown she adds 1 + 1 and comes up with JACKPOT !
We got alot of our PVC from Plumbers, Contractors, and Lowes...Most of it was odd lengths, had some damage, or the job was done and the extra could not be used!Quote:
Originally Posted by Hepotter
Like others, our local Lowes and Home Depot, would give us or sell broken bags of Concrete. Our local Bakery would give us 5 gallon buckets (that sugar or flour can in) for Free and another would charge a dollar!
Our local State and Government has saved ALOT of money since Ike hit and our group of fishermen has "reforested" the reservoir! :):):)
Mr. No1son,
I respect your position on the matter. And I do encourage people to abide by the local laws. I on the other hand am greatful not to live in Minnesota. Fish adapt and move accordingly to any change in their waterway, be it man-made or natural. You placing a piece of structure out for fish habitat, does not hurt or change the movement of fish no more than a drop in a bucket adds level. Here in the south fish are drawn to cover. Natural or man made. in fact, it has helped some of the species make a drastic comeback. It gives cover for smaller fish to hide from bigger fish. A task that might be hard if no cover exist. Again, I'm for abiding by all game laws, but to turn someone in for placing out some fish cover??? If it does not interfere with boating or swimming, or cause some hazard to the public... then let them take their chances.
Swampthing,
I was apparently not clear that what I would do would be here in Minnesota, not elsewhere where laws differ and they do dramatically about artificial habitats.
well in mississippi we build them and they come
I respect your opinion No1son, and am now well beyond my more youthful "improve my own fishing success REGARDLESS" days. Would STRONGLY ENCOURAGE EVERYONE who`s thinking about the "0 dark 30" approach to reconsider; many law enforcement depts now use "Star Light" night vision and/ or infrared vision devices; the supposed "cover' of darkness ain`t what it used to be...as far as the episode with the Sherrif`s Deputy who drew his weapon on me thinking I was the "kill`m cutt`m up murderer" looking back, realise NOW that the area Law Enforcement was under TREMENDOUS public pressure to GET the guy like yesterday and obviously they were going ALL OUT to DO so. He didn`t KNOW what I was doing, and he WAS NOT taking any chances. Simply put, if you CHOOSE to take the risk...1 last thing, if you DO get caught, COMPLY with them FULLY. Take your lumps and get it over with...
The only thing I can add is sometimes when you are allowed only 1 Drop per year, you need to maximize the time and areas that you feel are best for the lake. You do not want to waste other fishermen's time and money and put habitat is areas that will not benefit the lake.
There have been times when "Spirits Of The Dark" have tested waters to determine their potential before they are fully "Re-forested"! :):):)
I consider this a benefit to all involved and would hope the Local Authorities would too!:):):)LOL
can you show one with the cement bottles in place? How you afford all that pvc, it aint cheap. looks like you have enough to last a while.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Creamlevel Kennels
It will be this weekend, before I can get PICS of one built and ready for sinking. But I just cut the pouring end off of a 2-liter bottle, I use a Tea Pitcher for pouring the cement into the bottle. This way I don't waste any or pour the cement all over everything. When the bottle is full of cement, I twist a wire making a loop in the end of it, bend the legs a couple times, so the wire won't side straight out of the cement. Then let it harden.
For attaching the Cement Bottle to the PVC Structure, I use Electric Fence Wire (Mainly due to having a source of getting it free) and cut off a piece about 24" inches long, run the wire through each end of the structure (the last PVC leg on each end), then run it through the loop in the cement. Just make sure that the cement is tied off to the same side of PVC structure.
My brother helps me set them out. He works the trolling motor, and I drop the structures. We drop a bouy at the location we want the structure, and work the boat around so we drop them on ALL 4 sides of the bouy. We drop them as close to the bouy as we can, not wanting a lot of space between the PVC Structure. This will create about a 15' diameter PVC Structure. We drop 3-4 PVC Structures at each location.
Before you remove your bouy, my brother trolls right up to the bouy and SETS A WAYPOINT. Very important to get a EXACT waypoint. for us they are VERY hard to find within 2-3 months, and I have a Lowrance HDS-10 w/SI & DI. You can feel them while fishing, but seeing the is a different story. Once you know what you are looking for, you can stay over the structure, but it does not show up like any other Brush Pile, Just a little blue streak every so often, but enough to stay over with your boat. But others looking for it, no a chance. We have been catching fish off of these piles, move off to fish a different pile, and notice someone was watching us, and they would ask where the structure you were fishing. We'd tell them, your right in the area. Not Lying, but not going to point it out either. They would never find it, get mad, and leave cussing at us. May not be as stealth up North, don't know. But when it gets a good growth of alge grown on it, it works just like the stuff on the Stealth fighters, almost invisable to radar and sonar.
I'll take some PICS of one this weekend and post back, maybe Monday or Tuesday.
PS- Oh Yeah. I keep a watch on Craigs List for materials I can build Structure from. Usually not large amounts, or either scrap, but it is free, and works. I got looking looking on Craigs List and found a lady, who's husband had just died (Plumber) He had a whole 18 Wheeler Load of 3/4" and 1", and she was trying to clear out the stuff just taking up room. Told me I could come get ALL I wanted. I got 3 - 16' Trailers of PVC for the cost of hauling it off. Then I called a couple of friends and they made a trip. It was free to all of us. Just lucky on that deal, but still have 2 1/2 trailers of it left.
I get Buckets Free, Busted Bags Of Cement for $.50-$1.00 per bag, PVS is free, Bamboo grows in 3 different locations on my property, more cedar than I can cut on my neighbors property. But just being presistant is the key. I can't get the structures build that I have the stuff for. We only build and put out structures during the winter, NO FISHING. December, Janaury, Febuaury, maybe some of March. We get a lot built, and then we can take it out when the fishing crank back up. Once we have it all out (That we Have Built In Those 3 Months) we are done till next winter. Enjoying what we worked for.
keith
Wow, then they would take your birthday and middle name lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by no1son