Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Christmas Trees

I am thinking about rounding up a few christmas trees after christmas and creating some nice habitat. Any suggestions on where to place these in the pond?

DC, welcome. Right underneath the dock is a good place. Don't remember how long they will last, but should be at least 3-4 years.

Here is the link to the archive thread on structure/cover for ideas (lots of pics). http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

Placement and selection depends on goals , types of fish and your pond topography - so it all depends. The reasons and methods for cover placement are many. For example one reason is for concentration of fish for catching while another is enhanced reproduction/survival of yoy fish.







Here are 2 threads on the subject from the archive.

Xmas trees as stct.

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000083;p=1

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000186;p=1

Look this info over - describe your pond and ask questions and we can provide ideas.

Thanks rmedgar, but the pond I fish does'nt have a dock. On that matter the pond I fish is a 2.5 acre pond with LMB,BG,Bullhead Catfish and unfortunatly crappie. I have no clue when the pond was built but im guessing up to 15 years ago. The land (since i've lived here, 13yrs.)used to be a horse pasture. The owner died about 6 yrs. ago, and with him died the pond management. The owners wife died 2 years later and sold the land to a contacter who is now building houses on the land. Fortunatly they decided to leave the pond. The only work they have done to the pond was to add an emergency spillway (see pic below top right). I started fishing there over the summer around early July. Since then I have caught many fish including a 6.5lb LMB, along with that fish i have caught a few 2-3lb'ers but most 13 inches or less. Back to the X-mas trees.... I asume that the deepest part of the pond is located by the dam, my best guess would start at 8ft. As far as i know the rest of the pond deepens at slow steedy level, it nearly impossible to tell do to the water clarity being stained (not muddy). Also the only spawning beds I have seen have been directly accross from the spillway (in that corner) the beds were small bluegill in about 5 inches of water. I will post an arial view of the pond.



I have a few questions so please bare with me
- Will i need to wait for the neddles to fall off before placing it in the pond?
- The trees will create cover for fingerling LMB & BG while providing ambush points for larger LMB right??
- How many trees should I put in the pond (im sure i could round up a bunch if needed)?
- should I place the trees in groups of 2 or 3; or by themselves?

Thanks for the links ewest, not much info on where to place them, but great info on how to place them and fun new structure/ cover ideas!

Sorry about the long post, I am very new at this stuff, and ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

You do not have to wait to put them in - needles are ok.

Correct on question 2.

If there is nothing but a bare pond bottom you could easily use 25 xmas trees.

Put 2 trees in water 3 ft deep within 20 ft of where you think BG may bed - lay them on their side and stake down with a stick pushed into the bottom. Use the rest in groups of 3 or 4 to a group and depending on the method used place them as follow (5 groups): 1 group in the mouth of each of the 2 major coves , 2 one group off the end of the main point about 1/3 the way across toward the dam , 3 one group out of each corner (50 ft) of the dam where it meets the side of the pond.

Well I really don't have a clue as to what kind of habitat is already in place. Though i did snag a X-mas tree that looked like it was 7-8 yrs. old according to your pics and managed to reel it in.

Im a little confused with the first suggestion... do i put the trees together or seperate? (look at pic)

And for the last one do i put the trees on the dam side 50ft away from the corner?

Please correct me if I have misinterpreted your suggestions


I appreciate your help

Here is the method I use (last para). The links have other methods. Those 2 links have a lot of info on the how to do.

That is a Ray Scott method adaptation. Good job !

Here is a concept to think about. Drive a post ( PVC or metal or hard wood 2in. dia. )into the pond bottom in deep water (12 + feet) so the post extends 2 feet above the full pool level. Make your structure items so they will attach to a 4in. pvc collar or metal ring and balance them side to side. Tie trot line rope to the collar or top of the structure so the rope will run up the post. Put the collar over the post and lower it to the depth you want (seasonal) and tie it off to the post. Raise it up or down as you like and you will always know where it is because the post is there. Later raise the structure to the surface add some fresh wood branches or whatever and lower it back. You can even stack them and have structure at different levels at the same time. Get creative. One of my adaptations of the Ray Scott idea.

Here is another. Same post method but no collar. Take xmas trees and remove from 10 to 50 % of the branches and tie small trot line string to the top or middle or bottom to the tree depending on how you want them to hang from the post. Think about what you want first. Then tie them in sequence to the post so the string runs up the post. Example - in 12 ft of water have the first tree ( 50% branches on a 6 ft tree) tied with the line 12 in down from the top of the tree with a 6 ft string and tie it off to the post 2in below water level. The tree will water log and sink to a standing position 1 ft off the bottom covering the 11 to 6 ft depths. Next take a couple trees ( 6ft 60 % branches) and tie them in the middle by weight with a 5 ft string and tie them to the post 1in underwater. They will sink and hang in a horizontal position at 4 to 6 ft deep. Then take a fat short xmas tree ( 4 ft 70 % branches) and tie the string to the bottom of the tree with a 1 ft string and tie it to the post at water level . It will sink bottom up from 5 to 1 ft . Thinner standing cover from 11 to 6 ft for predators with cover over them ( shade) at 4-6 ft not so thick horizontal cover for intermediate sized bait fish followed by thicker cover near surface for small bait fish. Think it out and design what you think best.

I've never worried about correct placement. I usually just get some Xmas trees or cedars, tie them to a cinder block, and sink them. They last for years.

Wherever you place them, that's where the fish will be. So...make sure that you put at least SOME within casting distance of a good fishing spot.

Past couple of winters, I've driven the county roads with my chainsaw fueled up and cut down a couple dozen cedars each year (county Right of Way). They're cheap (FREE!) and cedar lasts FOREVER. County boys love it...they'd rather not have to do this, and it's always August when they get around to it.

I have put a depth finder on my jonboat and looked for drop-offs and possibly the original stream to look for places to put structure.

I have put a depth finder on my jonboat and looked for drop-offs and possibly the original stream to look for places to put structure.

I bored a couple holes in the ice and put my video camera down there to look around. In this particular hole I ended up in some 3 year old Christmas trees. Boring Video, but here are four snapshots of what they look like under the ice this winter.

I seem to have killed this thread with underwater photos. Was there something bad in them that I didn't notice?

No, they look pretty darn good, actually. In the lower productivity water in gravel pits, you've got to believe that such structures do a lot. Not just fish concentration, but things such as substrate for the periphyton and all the invertebrates that follow.

I love the pictures. Imagine the surface area you've created for invertebrate colonization!

Yes, multiply that by 140 and the 15-20 I add each year and you a veritable plethora of invertebrate colonization opportunities.

The non-organic “trees” look pretty nice under water too:

Thanks Dwight. Ours look like that also. I have long contended and posted a study that shows xmas trees improve productivity as well as concentrate fish.