Can someone explain the term "Fluffy Cover".

My interpretation: Think the opposite of dense. Often recommended for ambush points for apex predators off first depth breaks, points, etc and offers shadows. Dense cover is recommended as cover for forage fish - typically recommended to be placed in 3-5' depth. Dense cover include brush piles, cedars, or dense vegetation.

Weed beds are dense cover. Fluffy cover can be trees without the smaller branches such as those less than 1"-1.5" dia.

Thanks.

Could you give me a couple of examples of fluffy cover, homemade or purchased, you might place on a break, point , etc... for LMB to use as an ambush point?

Stumps, cinder blocks, root ball, PVC globe or tree.

thank you

What is the context of the question? Different names have different meanings depending on the situation. In some contexts fluffy means not hard. Fluffy could mean dense but soft , like soft brush that will decompose quickly.

Eric I'm guessing he's referring to Lusk rules for structure: Dense cover in shallow water 3-5' for forage; fluffy cover in deeper water for predators. I think that's how it goes? At any rate - I've always wondered about the definition of "fluffy" myself - I gave it my best guess/interpretation, although none of my suggestions fit the adjective "fluffy".

I searched for Bob's actual definition of fluffy cover. so far this it the best I found. Fluffy cover - limbs from hardwood trees, especially limbs 3-4" diameter, tied together and anchored with a concrete block. A large pile of haphazardly placed logs be comes fluffy cover. An underwater stump field is fluffy cover. PVC pipe works well, drilled with holes, with smaller pieces of pipe pushed through. Make an artificial "tree" of PVC, and put several trees in each area. Rock, concrete blocks piled like a pyramid work well, too. Basically from discussions with Bob, I interpret fluffy cover similar to that described above where bass can freely swim among the larger openings and hold in the shadows waiting for vulnerable prey opportunities.

More from one of my posts: Usually fish attractors are composed of a loose, open weave or spacious consistency. Bob Lusk calls this fluffy cover. In fluffy cover predators and large panfish locate within and among the cover. Whereas Predators often hunt the edges of dense cover described below.

For REFUGE areas for small fish to be most effective cover should be finely divided surfaces (dense cover) similar to stems and leaves of a submerged weed bed and ideally comprise a significant part of the littoral or shallow areas covering 20%-40% of the shoreline in 6 inches to 3ft deep. Most everyone has fished among rooted underwater weeds to recognize dense cover. It is difficult to fish in this type of dense cover and most anglers avoid it due to lures constantly catching weeds. Lily pad stems underwater IMO are actually in-between dense cover and fluffy cover.

Example a fresh evergreen tree with needles is similar to dense cover whereas that tree with most all branches rotted away to a thin skeleton with just a few large branches left is trending toward fluffy cover.

TJ I agree with your general comment on dense and open (not dense) cover and usage. Not sure where fluffy comes in. Anyway pics do the trick so t watts see the pics in the cover archive

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

I would call this one from Dwight as fluffy even though it is very dense

Quote above was: "I would call this one from Dwight as fluffy even though it is very dense" Technically it depends on how these green evergreen garland strands were placed or arranged.

Spaced out so fish could freely swim among it then it is fluffy. More compact with very little little open space between each strand then it becomes classified as dense. Open is fluffy and dense is close together where a predator quickly looses sight of a smaller prey fish then it is called dense. and it served as a refuge area. A new tree brush pile is basically dense cover and after 10-15 years all the small stuff has rotted away to the largest branches 2"+ remaining and it becomes more like open spaced fluffy cover. You will be surprised how fast tree branches decompose when they are underwater.

Another quote from Bob about cover.
"Another option is PVC pipe "trees", anchored with a concrete block. You can take 1" PVC, cut into six foot lengths. Then, six inches from one end, drill a half inch hole. Spin the pipe 1/4 turn, drill another half inch hole six inches down....do this to the bottom. Then, take six foot lengths of half inch PVC and push them through the holes. That makes one "tree". Then, couple several together and position them to sink into 6-8 foot waters.
Personally, I like hardwood tree limbs, too. Keep this in mind...you are trying to attract fish, both baitfish and game fish. So, you need some cover to be dense, some to be "fluffy". And, for a 3/4 ac pond, three to five "piles" of cover are enough. Your goal? No more than fifteen percent of the pond should have cover. And, stay away from the deepest areas. Put most cover peripherally."

More cover quotes from Bob: "Structure is simply social gathering points for fish. Different fish need different structure. Small fish like dense structure/cover. Structure is considered 'permanent' while cover serves the same purpose, but could be temporary, such as aquatic plants.

Larger fish such as largemouth bass prefer 'fluffy' structure in shallow water with quick access to deep water, off a point. Hybrid striped bass don't want cover, they want open water. Smallmouth bass want deep water with rocky outcroppings or rip-rap. So, based on the types and sizes of fish you have, structure should be thoughtfully designed for fish as well as fishermen. One last point...structure should be placed in shallow water, peripherally for most lakes."


Another example of dense and fluffy.
As Bob noted fathead minnows are very slow swimmers and very easy meals for LMB and trout. The pallets are poor refuge areas for small fish when small bass are present. Pallets are not intended as hiding areas for minnows but they are intended as spawning sites for fatheads. Small bass can easily hunt among and hide and ambush minnows in the coarse structure of pallets. Lusk calls this type of structure "fluffy" as compared to finely divided structure such as tree brush or rooted weed growth. Fluffy structures are hunting areas for predators not refuge areas for small fish.

Now you see why it is often said "it all depends" especially when it comes to cover. See Dwight's video and note that it is fluffy when deployed in a medium density arrangement - IMO.

This is great info. Thank you for all the input! From what I can gather from all this discussion is:
Fluffy is cover that isn't dense. Meaning, cover that gives the predator, LMB, room to move, hover , stalk etc... something for him/her to snuggle up,against or related to while they are in there wait and attack mode, or rest mode.

There probably needs to be some context to why I asked the question in the first place: I am getting ready to build a new pond from scratch. When I look at all the cover options out there, it is easy to see what a dense cover/prey fish hiding place would look like. But, when I see some of these so called "fluffy cover" options, some of them don't look like they would hold much fish. Example, a 6 ft pvc tree with 1 inch pieces of pvc randomly sticking out. They have very little real cover to them, very little shade etc.... Yet, they supposedly hold fish. There are many commercial options out there. Whether it is a mossback Trophy tree or a porcupine fish tractor, it's just hard for me to visualize why a bass would want to hang out by a small 1" pvc branch spaced several feet apart? I can visualize why a bass might hang out by a large tree with descent size branches all around, with some room to move, or tires randomly piled up so,there are plenty of places to hide, with shade, yet room to maneuver. Just trying to figure out what materials to use to make my "fish city" in several areas of my pond?

Could try Fishiding as well.

especially lmb are structurally oriented. They must have something to "relate" to even if is the bottom.It does not have to be a canopy with a bunch of limbs. Just "something". An experiment was done years ago where a large square aquarium was built and completely painted white and nothing in it but a single 25 cent coin sitting in the middle on the bottom. I believe it was a dozen bass that was introduced into the white box. They wandered around awhile and soon EVERY ONE OF THEM positioned themselves over and around that single quarter!! They WILL use whatever cover they can find.

Flame, I missed the story of the coin at the bottom of the pool but I did read the one where they painted a vertical stripe on the side of the pool and the lmb all hung around the stripe.
Tracy

Just trying to help T Watts understand why they would easily relate to a pvc tree. Thanks for following up Tracy.

Cover exists in all sorts of forms from very dense impenetrable to one single log or rock. Diversity or variety I think is main important factor. The fish will tell you which type they prefer. Spending time reading through the Cover Habitat Archives thread is educational.
Read through the concepts of Cover and Structure provided by ewest on Page 2 of the Archives of Cover, Structure, etc,....
A brief portion from pg2 is provided below.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463
Structure Fishing 101
By Paul Crawford
Excerpts- The definition of structure is a change in bottom contour, (I.e. depth), which results in an irregular feature on the bottom of the lake. Now just about any quick change in depth results in some type of structure, a hump, point, ledge, or something. The biggest misunderstanding seems to be the definition of "quick". Quick is a relative term. In a traditional reservoir, this could be anything from a vertical drop to a gentle slope dropping 5 feet over a 30 yard distance. In a natural Florida lake, where it may normally take 1/4 mile to change depth by 1 foot, it may be a 6" deep channel running through a 5 foot deep flat, or a two foot drop over 30 yards. Where ever you find it, structure is another edge in the underwater world, and we all agree that fish just love edges.

Let's spend just a minute talking about what structure isn't. Structure isn't a weed bed on a flat, or on an isolated stump, or a brush pile. All of these things are "cover" on structure. A weed bed may constitute a different type of edge, both of the weeds and of the bottom composition, but not structure. Wood, whether natural or man made, is just someplace to hide. Likewise, a feeding flat is a place, not a structure. We all have seen times when fish are on the flats and relating to cover. Even during those times, there will still be some fish around the surrounding structure. Even on days when the fish are straying away from structure, they generally won't go that far if they don't have to. Learn to recognize structure and it can narrow your search for fish dramatically. Additional discussion is in these headings.
Types of Structure
Cover and Structures
Advanced Structures

All great. Thanks

Is this what your looking for?
fine, dense shallow cover

Fluffy cover?

This floats upright because of the air trapped in the sealed cap, and can be adjusted for any depth via the anchor rope.

So I've started the official transition from aquatic plants to both natural and PVC cover. After 6 weeks of spraying on a 3 day cycle, my 5 acres of coontail infestation is almost controlled also. Not that anyone's interested, but it was a beating to say the least. Esshup was a great help with some tough issues, so props to him.

Since I'll be placing approximately 3 acres of new cover in the big puddle, I needed the pvc cover to be easily movable and removable, and know exactly what depth it's at when placed.

This is what I came up with.


I glued a fitting to the top of the porcupine, and added a 5' piece that is marked every foot. The markings allow me to place the cover at whatever depth I want by just looking at the lines. As I move out deeper, the pvc cover will get bigger, and I'll try to keep as close to the surface as is seasonally practical.


Once the cover is in place, and it's placement documented, I just unscrew the top piece of pvc, and move on. This is the start of the CNBG side, and hopefully my primrose, rush, and American pondweed will handle the shallowest water. The bottom suspended pvc trees in my previous post are going on the LMB side as an ambush point.

Just for reference, this first batch is targeted near the new feeder on the dam, with no cover placed in the feeder throwing lane.

That's similar to what I did with the porcupines, except I didn't go back and unscrew the pipe sticking out of the water. There's about a foot above the surface, and even when frozen with snow cover I can usually shuffle around and find the structure below. Works great.

Six weeks of spraying on a three day schedule? My hat's off to you, Al. A terrible job done well. Very nice!

Looks great, Al! Very cool idea with the PVC. You're doing a great job pursuing your specific goals.

Tony, once I got the mix right (that took 3 weeks before the 6 weeks), it was just work, and I'm ok with that. Scott knows, I marked off 100' X10' areas, and kept trying chemical mixes until I found something that worked, and at the lowest possible dosage. With 11 acres of water, I really have to research herbicides here on my water before I just jump in head first with recommended dosages. Kelly Duffie, if you're out there, I get it now.

Next time we all go fishing, I'll tell you the whole story.

Thanks Josh!

Wow, Al, the pond looks great! Congrats on getting a handle on the Coontail without losing all your vegetation!

And I'm glad to see you're enjoying a relaxing retirement .

Keith

PS - Can I assume the "tank" hasn't been rewired yet?

Keith, the tank looks like a wire spool bomb exploded in it. My little cream puff sadly had to wait.

As a predator, I've been pondering the concepts of structure, cover and edge for a long time. Generally, just pondering. And, most life forms are different. My thoughts, as usual, are both incomplete and always evolving.

Well done, Al. When one can focus entirely on a project undisturbed, the results are evidently robust. I like it a lot.

Those porcupine hubs will crack over time, so moving them often [which I have done to facilitate seining] will render them essentially useless as PVC holders. Strongly advise moving them as little as possible. At 10-bucks a throw for $2 worth of plastic, I was hoping for something more durable.

TJ, I completely agree about the spheres. I really do like them in deeper water though, and the assembly speed advantage is something I really need right now.

I'm thinking that if nothing changes with the weather, I'll get another 1.5' to 2' water drop by the end of October. I hope all the ones set closest to the dam are placed correctly. At 2' deep, I don't want to even think about moving them deeper.

Al consider the advantage of leaving the long pieces on and making a supplemental/add on pvc sphere to fit over the long pvc so you can slide it over the long piece to stack the structures.