Forums36
Topics40,964
Posts558,005
Members18,506
|
Most Online3,612 Jan 10th, 2023
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 390
Hall of Fame
|
OP
Hall of Fame
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 390 |
Are you actually attaching the 1/2 PVC to the 3 inch? Or just sticking it through and glueing? I like this idea.
Last edited by spinnerbait; 07/01/12 11:57 AM.
"I have not failed, I have only found 10,000 ways that won't work" Thomas Edison
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 42
Member
|
Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 42 |
Not through. Just into app. 1/2" or so and gluing.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
|
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3 |
These are some really great projects. I was going to do something similar this season, but other projects and opportunities got in the way. My PVC won't go to waste. It will be used for garden "hoop houses" later this fall -- unless some other opportunity comes along. Actually, I did add some structure with some left over PVC and some plastic "chicken fencing." That was back in March. It didn't take long for them to become fish magnets. We put in some new ponds this spring, which with left us with some big stumps. I added about a dozen big stumps to the main pond right after the bluegill and bass spawned. Within minutes of dropping these things in the water, they were saturated with with fish of all sizes and denominations. Typically, we placed three side-by-side, with a few feet of distance between each stump. They were placed in water, at full pool, that is about 4-foot deep, and real close to spawning grounds. I don't have a pictures, but we also put some 6 to to 8-foot lengths of 10-inch PVC pipe between/under some of the stumps for the catfish to have some "spring break" fun. A friend also brought his excavator over pull out some stumps on the back side of the main pond, and to do a final positioning of the stumps we dumped in earlier as the new hiding places for fish. So far, so good. The main pond is producing extremely well this season. We lost a lot of fish and had a completely unbalanced pond as of about 14 months ago. This spring, we had a gazillion YOY bluegill and bass. Through fertilizing and daily feeding to satiation, we now have a gazillion 6-8 inch bluegill, and not quite as many 6-10 inch bass. I don't know whether it was due to unauthorized poaching of big bass, too many big winter trout, a chemical imbalance due to some pond cleanup during the previous late summer, or a winter die-off. But last season was dismal. We are still catching a number of trophy size bluegill in the 10-12 inch range. Most go right back in. Tonight, while feeding, I saw at least a dozen channel cats that need to come out, as they are all at least 24 inches, and a couple may be over 30 inches. Last week I took out several LMBs in the 17-21 inch category. I've never added feed trained bass, but each of these were full of pellets. Structure may make it a little more difficult to fish, but it sure improves the fishery. As I've recently posted elsewhere, I've been using a fly rod a lot recently, because it lets me get into the structure where a spinning or bait-casting setup never would. Good Fish'n Ken
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,499 Likes: 267
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
|
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,499 Likes: 267 |
Nice root balls (fish attractors). Good thinking on the placement. Did they all stay put or float around.
6-10 inch LMB are now 12-14s. Time to eat a few 6 in BG and 12 in LMB plus the CC.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,795 Likes: 14
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
|
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,795 Likes: 14 |
My own root ball. Got the best of me.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
|
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3 |
Ooops!
I had the backhoe on the tractor, and the rear tires are loaded. So, that makes it fairly stable.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,795 Likes: 14
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
|
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,795 Likes: 14 |
For the record, there's a truck not pictured to the left of the photo. I just happened to mistime it and tipped forward.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,499 Likes: 267
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
|
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,499 Likes: 267 |
That is good as I first thought from the pic that you were attempting to become a groundhog or prairie dog.
Last edited by ewest; 07/27/12 01:10 PM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,795 Likes: 14
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
|
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,795 Likes: 14 |
Haha! Funniest thing, my dad's the one who took the photo, unconcerned about my safety and laughing hysterically.
This root ball was eventually loaded onto the truck bed and will be placed into the pond when finished.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 389
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 389 |
Great post and habitat work. Love to hear all the positive results when giving our fish more habitat of any type. Careful there killer, maybe a little more firewood off that one before playing hoops with it!
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
|
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3 |
Nice root balls (fish attractors). Good thinking on the placement. Did they all stay put or float around.
6-10 inch LMB are now 12-14s. Time to eat a few 6 in BG and 12 in LMB plus the CC. We cut the stumps pretty close to the ground, so the majority of the root balls were just that, root balls. They came from a pretty wet area, so they were probably already waterlogged. There was a little rolling around the first day or two, but nothing moved more than a few inches. For the most part, they are out just deep enough, and my general visibility during the warmer months is only about 15 inches, so they can't be seen. They may discourage the poachers we've dealt with in previous times. The friends who I allow to fish the pond know where not to put a hook or lure. (We still lose lunkers to the stumps now and then, but that is OK.) We are culling regularly. This evening I've got several jug lines out with 3-4 inch bluegill, hooked near the tail, on #4 circle hooks. The big fish I'm most currently concerned about are the HSB. I see them at the feeders every night. I haven't hooked one in over a year. I think they are now well in excess of 24 inches. I'm afraid that if I don't get some of them out of there, they will be slurping up the snapping turtles like oysters on the half-shell.
|
|
|
Moderated by Bill Cody, Bruce Condello, catmandoo, Chris Steelman, Dave Davidson1, esshup, ewest, FireIsHot, Omaha, Sunil, teehjaeh57
|
|