Our ponds draw down in the summer. smaller ponds (1/4 and 1/2 acre draw down 2', 2.5 acre pond 4'. How much structure do I need per acre? How deep should it be? On the pond that draws down 4', should we have cover at multiple depths? Smaller ponds will be managed for BG. 2.5 acre pond managed for LMB.

I have read several threads on cover but I haven't found a recommendation on how much. They say you need cover for LMB that is different from that of BG. Is there a recommendation on each? Is it equal or not? or do ya just drag and dump till your hang up on ever cast?

Thanks in advance.
Greg

I don't really know the solid answer to this, Greg, but from my reading here, the suggestions are pretty consistent with NOT going hog-wild on cover (unlike what your prize pig did to that rattler!), but instead focusing on maybe 3 or 4 areas (I think - someone please correct me if I'm way off base on that number). Probably more importantly is the creation of "highways" that allow the fish to travel from one area of cover to another, in progressively deeper water, with relative ease. In other words, keep your structure items within striking distance of one another, starting shallow and working deeper, perhaps down to 8-10 feet or so. Since you have that much water loss, you may want to use something in the shallower levels that doesn't look ugly sitting there on the dried up part of the pond, but also may want to consider one additional level of depth for adding structure so that you still have the same basic setup in place once the water drops. There are some pretty good threads on this on the site, so you may want to search for them or someone may post some links. I'll see if I can find any and post them for you as well.

Here are some links that might give you a better idea, Greg:

Structure 1

Structure 2

Structure 3

Greg

Go to the homepage and read some of the free articles. They are an incredible resource and are written by the best minds in fishery and pond management. I know a few of Bob's articles discusses cover for BG and LMB. BG like dense cover, LMB like fluffy cover. An passage from an article from Bob Lusk:

"As you focus on the lake bottom, keep in mind no more than 20 percent of your lake should have cover. A 10-acre lake needs two acres of cover, no more. Too much cover will affect population dynamics of fish. And, remember this, you need dense cover for baitfish, and "fluffy" cover for bass. Biologists tell me bass like areas near points, shallow water, quick access to deep water, with a defining structure nearby, like a tree trunk, a sharp drop, or big rock."

One thing that I did which is kind of a mistake for LMB is I put several trees together and put a cinder block on the end of them and sunk them in the water off shore and the tree extends out about 20 feet. Which is ok, but if I did it again I would have delimbed the tree and just used the trunks of the trees. The limbs make it very bushy and hard to fish. Now I am sure the BG will like all bushy trunk but I believe that bass like more solid structure. For example.

Rocks, Floating tree trunks so they can hide under them. Trees with one end sunk with a brick or block to hold it down and the rest of it coming up on an angle. Bass love that. And the thing about this type of habitat is it's not so hard to fish and you don't get hung up in as easy as you do with all the branches everywhere on the tree. If you have no cover now and you give them floating logs for cover trust me they will be there by them. They love to ambush there prey next to the log. It's just a matter of where you need to place them adjacent to where your forage fish hand out.

Good point RC. When placing structure one should definitely consider the effect on other uses of the pond including fishing and swimming. When we had tons of Elodea the GSF loved it. They would hang out just at the edges of the Elodea beds. But fishing the pond was a complete PITA, just about every cast you would snag some Elodea. And forget about fishing deep. Now that we've reduced the Elodea significantly we don't have that issue but the fish have less places to hide. Everything is a trade off I guess.

Hey JHAP,

Your right it is a trade off. Those weeds though is where your going to find a lot of your forage so you don't want them all gone that's for sure, but put a few floating logs about a foot or so away from that weed line and anchor them down so they will stay put and see the bass come rolling in. It's the perfect setup. Weedline with forage fish, logs to hide under to ambush and deepr water near by. It's not a matter of if the fish will be there it's when. A LMB will not be able to control himself He will take refuge under them logs. So 8fisherman has a 2.5 acre pond. He could have several log combinations. I have even put some logs togetehr and put eye bolts in the end of each one and zip strips and zipped them together to make one long log. If you can though your better off in some spots to just have your log come straight out from shore. That way you don't have a log with water on the backside of it where it's hard to get to the fish. Some spots this is unavoidable so just be careful when you cast. Cause I can gaurantee this one thing. You will get more strikes from LMB on that backside of the log than on the front side everytime!! I believe the reason for that is because the bass like to try and pin there food up against the log if they can't get it in there mouth right away plus this could also temporarly stun it's prey and then they can eat it. I don't know but if I had a 2.5 acre pond and if you can use up to 20 percent or so for habitat thats about a half acre for habitat give or take a little. So start out slow and easy and just see how it goes. You have plenty of room to work with I wouldn't worry at this point about over doing it. (Unless you already have habitat in the pond?) Just remember if you use the right type of habitat you won't get hung up so much when fishing.

Good Luck

That is some great info! I am going down tomorrow for some R and R and to take some pics. I will post them to see if someone has Ideas on where to place cover. All three ponds are very low right now as we have had very little rain since we stopped leaks and started repairing spillways. I look forward to hearing from y'all again.

That is some great info! I am going down tomorrow for some R and R and to take some pics. I will post them to see if someone has Ideas on where to place cover. All three ponds are very low right now as we have had very little rain since we stopped leaks and started repairing spillways. I look forward to hearing from y'all again.

Old saying is that 90% of the fish will be in 10% of the water. I believe that you can change that by building underwater highways to the structure areas. Underwater humps, trenches and ridges leading to brush piles are quite effective. Most life forms will orient on cover, relief and edges. Deep water escape routes next to shallow water cover is fairly important.

If you drop a tree into the water, think about which direction you will be fishing from. If from the bank, put the trunk toward the water. If from a boat, put the trunk toward land. You will get hung up less often.

Bass seem to me to prefer fluffy cover.

I have often thought when trying to figure out where predators will hang out, first figure out where the prey will go for protection. If you build with forage in mind, you will generally find the predators hanging around and waiting.

Great info Dave and explained in such a way that even a bean counter can understand.