Has anyone tried using bamboo as structure? I read in a crappie magazine that they are using bamboo as structure.

Easy to do. Cut the bamboo into 10' lengths or so and load 20 - 30 stalks into a 5 gallon bucket so they look like toothpicks sticking out of a cup/ Then fill the bucket and bottom of the stalks with concrete. I wonder how long bamboo will last underwater? Bamboo is easy to cut, light to haul and easy to work with. I am looking for something other than Christmas trees. I would think that the bamboo would be more lure friendly than Christmas tress and hopefully last longer. Thanks!

Dave

I have had bamboo in my pond for about a year. So far it is holding up well, it's also holding the fish well. I used bamboo that I had cut so it was not easy to work with, like barbed wire, deadly on fishing rigs. However, it does provide dense cover. I am assuming that you will be using bamboo that has already been trimmed, which should reduce the tackle loss. I also tried live bamboo and until the water level exceeded 3 feet is was fine.

Making several of the set-ups that DaveB described is on my to-do list for this spring.

First I have to cut it down at my residence which is not where my pond is located.

So Rad, please clarify about the "like barbed wire" comment, and about what you mean when you say trimmed.

Thanks.

Dave, I used some bamboo in my pond however I no longer place it in the water. As Rad has said it is tough on tackle. There are a lot of variations in bamboo as far as the type and additionally how old the bamboo is before going in the water. Newer green bamboo will probably not last much longer than a year, two year old bamboo may last up to three years. Bamboo also floats so after the bamboo gets old and breaks off from the bucket you will find it all around your place. Personally I would go with PVC since it would be almost forever.

Sunil,
As Don said there are many types of bamboo, mine is a very common variety that grows wild here. When bamboo is harvested it is usually trimmed of all of its branches at the time of harvesting. If you wait the bamboo hardens, a lot, and trimming becomes difficult. I had a poacher with a cast net so I decided on the untrimmed style, I tied concrete blocks to the shaft and saturated about 20% of my pond where I feed the fish. That stopped the castnet guy,
All of the joints seemed to have spurs that were very sharp. Green was easier to work with, but as Don said doesn't last as long. I wore gloves and long sleeves but it is tough stuff. I will eventually replace it with pvc.

Thanks Rad.

Here is where I saw this -

http://www.crappie.com/condo

Dave

Kind of on the same note but different (if that makes any sense). We have an errosion problem at one end of our pond and were thinking about planting bamboo to help hold the soil in place. Thoughts and ideas from anyone is truly appreciated

Heybud, not sure if you have seen this thread on the net, but talking about bamboo and erosion control from some Texas folk.
Bamboo erosion control

Lance,
The bamboo factor is, indeed, an interesting twist for vegetation. I know that you have noted starting boo groves on your farm. Knowing your love for tree stuff, you no doubt have done the bamboo research, also. Being in pretty much a midwest climate, what do you know now and what do you expect? Isn't it invasive? How fast does it grow? How big will it get (height/caliper)? Canopy size?
...just curious about another natural facet I'm unfamiliar with. thx.

I know a couple of guys with bamboo and it can get invasive. When they cut if back, it left some sharp stuff behind.

One guy I know killed it out by spraying. He found a pretty good size rattlesnake in there. That wouldn't worry me. The darn things, some years, are not too unusual in shady places.

I once got some roots from the Phillipines. This is the stuff they build houses out of. It didn't work in the Texas heat. They lived a couple of years and then died out.

Were they trying to make booby traps

A webpage packed with general info regarding running bamboo is Bamboo growing habits

Needmorebamboo,inc has alot of info for us northern folk who want to grow bamboo. There are some varieties that clump, rather than run(such as fargesia robusta, fargesia rufa). Also, there is a native bamboo that many like to plant in the landscape(Arundinaria gigantea; including cold-hardy cultivars 'macon' \'hoosier\' )
.

Bamboo, such as a genus as phyllostachys, are quite vigorous. So the right location plays a very important role. A common name given to bamboo is damnboo. What happens is a person plants running bamboo in their backyard and the rhizomes run into the neighbor's lawn. If one knows the behavior of the running boo, then they can manage its vigor to their tastes. There are some people who are known to have 20+ bamboo in their not so big yards. They simply dig a shallow trench around the grove and rhizome prune it once or twice a year.

The vigorous behavior is what attracted me to this great plant. On the farm, its vigorous behavior is more of an asset, rather than liability. What I would love is to find some bamboo that could remain evergreen in the iowa winters here. I hope to find a bamboo species that can attain 30+ feet x 2" diameter culms. The one that is most likely to be the greatest height in my climate is phyllostachys rubromarginata
Growing bamboo in northern climates is still somewhat unexplored. I've just started to try many species in hopes to find the best for my area.

Some of the most cold-hardy ones are alot of times the most vigorous, also. Regarding invasiveness, it is only locally invasive where one plants it. Bamboo seeds only once every few decades to even longer than a century, depending on what species it is.

Lance,
You might try a little research into panda diets. Some of the bears live in climates where it snows, so maybe their food might work for you, from the pictures I have seen the bamboo is very tall.