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??

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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

We use pvc.

after sinking trees we just got tired of losing jig after jig after jig after jig after jig etc etc.

we started out using pvc aparatuses. First we bought the Bill Dance fish atractor balls. They have 28 1/2" holes where you can insert any length of 1/2" pvc. We laid about 5 of these and they started producing literally the next day. This was before joining this site. Now I have all the ingredients to make some of those pvc things. So instead of throwing away 40 bucks for three Bill Dance balls, I am going to spend a saturday making those things. http://www.crappie.com/crappie/crapp...ole-build.html

the nice thing is there are plenty of resources out there to get this stuff for next to nothing. I have read on here people calling underground sprinkler companies, plumbing supply companies, etc and asking for their trash pvc. Those places are more than happy to get rid of their trash pvc for free!!!!!! Me, I work in HVAC so we have plenty of scrap laying around here. Also Finding bags of concrete is really easy. For some reason, people will open up bags, use a little then think the whole bag is ruined. And the dishpans, those are the only things i have to buy.

I am going to start dropping these around our dock, further out from the pvc balls we have already set and see what kind of crappie field i can set up! Our lake here in the ozarks is tricky though, some severe drop offs, 15 feet to 70 in some places.

like i said earlier the pvc beds we have already set are doing GREAT and will be for years to come!

Thanks for the tips guys, much appreciated. I think I'll check around some places and see what kind of scrap pvc I can find. I'll get back to you guys about that. Thanks a million guys.

SS

Hey there SlabSniper, I think that your pic of your successful catch probably intimidated a lot of guys. It made me feel like you probably knew more than you were letting on.
However we all can learn from each other and I feel that your request was serious. I learn every time that I place a fish bed and some never really produce and the ones that I don't think will do anything consistantly produce 2 lber's.
I enjoy most of all talking about building fish structures and this site is an awesome place to learn about the different types. Guys like KrappieKrazy, NIMROD, and Sacalait are in my mind experts in this field. I almost forgot the master himself Earnest Paty of Texas!:)

i will say pineapple is right losing jigs and hooks over and over sucks but imo pvc dont hold fish the way wood does i have droped many of both and wood has allways out fished pvc
btw bambo is great and if you let the leaves fall off befor droping you dont hang as bad in it

Thanks for the advice slabbandit and gabulldog. I really appreciate all the input. And I hope the picture didn't upset too many people. To be honest with you. That day of fishing was just one of those days where all the stars line up just right and you just have an awesome day. We can usually catch the bluegill out at this lake pretty regularly, but this is actually the first time I've caught crappie like this out there, or EVER actually. I thought the guy was just pulling my leg about there even being crappie IN this lake. (small private lake btw) But on one of our fishing trips out there, I happened to catch a crappie while using worm looking for bluegill, and since then, I've been trying to find them again. The day that picture was taken, I just happened to get into a school of them sitting about 9 ft down below the dock. They it was just a matter of getting my line back in the water fast enough. Trust me, total fluke thing for me to catch crappie like that. But now that I've had a day like that, and now that I know that the crappie are out in this lake in that kind of number, I'm just trying to find out the best way to get some beds in the water to hold them where I want them so I dont' have to depend on another fluke day to catch them. Every time I go fishing, I learn a little more about the sport, and I've learned a LOT from just being a member here and reading all the old topics and atricles and such. You all are really helping me to become a better fisherman, and for that I'm thankful. I'll try to not sound pompous or arrogant from now on and just sit back and take any and all suggestions to heart. Thanks again to all who posted to help me, I truly appreciate it.

SS

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gabulldog

i will say pineapple is right losing jigs and hooks over and over sucks but imo pvc dont hold fish the way wood does i have droped many of both and wood has allways out fished pvc
btw bambo is great and if you let the leaves fall off befor droping you dont hang as bad in it

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we fish the lake of the ozarks here in missouri, all the timber that once was in the lake is now gone. So virtually any type of structure works where we fish. We have both REAL trees and pvc type around our dock and it doesnt matter. That is just our experience however!

i want to sink all sorts of stuff in and around our dock!!!!!!!!!!

We made the mistake of sinking cedar trees one year, you want to talk about a jig losing festival!!!!!

but thanks to gabulldog I think we are going to be alright fishing those cedar trees again!

Hey guy, we are going to be on at KY on Tenn river in the morning driving 2000 sticks if you want some on the job training but no GPS

Be nice to see some structure building pics!:)

Hard to take pics, we drove them in 8 to 10 foot of water, 2175 sticks, 75 sticks to a bed. Took 3 of us 10 hrs.

What kind of driver do you use to get them that deep? Can you post a pic of that?

The Hound

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Originally Posted by loweboy

Hard to take pics, we drove them in 8 to 10 foot of water, 2175 sticks, 75 sticks to a bed. Took 3 of us 10 hrs.

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Hope you had the Advil and Ben Gay ready after all those sticks. Are you crazy?
LOL:D