I live on an 8 acre lake and have permission from the HOA to place Christmas trees in the lake. We have a VERY small budget. One concern from the HOA is during the summer drought the Christmas trees become visible when laid on their side. I need to place the trees in about 4' of water. During the summer the water level goes down 2-3 feet.

So instead of the Christmas trees I'm trying to come up with another idea. If I had a thin rectangular shaped board with 2' long tubes coming up from it to create a dense volume to hold the baitfish it would be better. The tubes could be flexible so they do not get hung on trolling motors and fishing hooks. If the habitat is light enough if could be moved, adjusted or removed if needed.

Would my idea work? Any ideas on what materials could be used?

Thanks!

Lots of ideas on here check the archives there's a thread on just artificial structure tons of pics

You could place the trees in deeper water, and stand them up so the tops are below the surface by 4'. Look in the archives, there's a huge structure thread. Lots of ideas there. Some fish like verticle structure, but more fish like random/horizontal structure.

I've been thinking about something along the same lines like maybe a PVC frame laying on the bottom with some flex tube "grass" or "reeds" growing up out of it. Haven't pulled the trigger on building it yet, but I think it will work well.

-RFL

Be aware that the live/dead evergreens and trees withj fine branching will not last very long underwater. See the ewest's Structure Topic for more info in the Archives about Life Span of X-mas Trees underwater. 3, 5 and 10 yrs.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

Thanks Bill! I did read that. This is why I'm thinking something artificial. I was thinking something 12 feet long by 4 feet wide and thin laying on the bottom with lots of small diameter tubes sticking up from that.

The tubes could be 1/4" in diameter and flexible so trolling motors and fishing hooks would have a harder time getting hung. I imagine them being about 2 ft long.

I'm not sure how far apart such tubes should be. I looked at the other threads but didn't see anything close to this. The habitat will be for bluegill. We have a shortage of 3-5" bluegill in our pond and need habitat before we stock them.

Any ideas or help is appreciated!

Contact peepaw they're ahead of the game on all things structure..

I don't know if we are ahead of anything, but certainly playing....
Yes, the archives speak for themselves with a ton of useful ideas. We offer an array of different sizes, stiffness', widths and lengths of reclaimed PVC for all types of fish from shallow to deep.Siding comes 12' long so maybe you can start with a piece of that?
Guys are starting to mix wood and PVC cemented in containers for an all around structure. Mix and match materials, fish will decide what they want when and where. Let me know if I can help put our heads together for some custom arrangement you come up with.

There has been some published research about stake beds as habitat structure and the spacing of the stakes or 'tubes'. Maybe ewest can locate one of those articles in J.Fisheries Mgmt. As I recall the beds with closer spacing of about 4"-6" was best compared to 1'-2ft for protecting small fish such as BG from bass.

I was thinking about 1/4 very flexible tubes and only like 2 inches apart. This is in an effort to make it as dense as a Christmas tree.

Thoughts? Thanks!