Aside from trimming trees I wanted to keep, having brush cleared and tank dug, these are my first two tank projects.
The 75 year old original tank dam had huge mesquite trees and many had to go in order for the dozer to do its job. The dam was nearly tripled in thickness so the remaining trees are not a concern. I don't need that much firewood and don't have a splitter. Rather than push them into a burn pile I saved the large logs. Sure could've used some help that day! Once the tank was complete I made a fish crib and packed it with cedar. Each corner of the crib has a T-post and all logs were tied with fence wire. The cedar "furniture" is held in with 8 cinder blocks via fence wire crossing over the top of the crib. The blocks hang outside of the crib. If the tank gets low enough I will be able to raise the blocks to add more cedar. The top of the crib is currently about 5-6ft from the surface.
This area is in oil country not far from where it was discovered a 100 years ago. There are active wells on the property and when we bought the land there was unused oil stuff everywhere. Originally I cut up the PVC lines that had carried salt water and intended to burn them...I believe this is a better use. We have several plastic barrels that had been quail feeders. Rats are determined you know?... I first drilled a 1in hole into a plastic barrel, heated the hole with torch and used a softball bat to expand the hole further. While still warm I shoved a short piece of the PVC in the hole until mostly cool. The 6-8ft limbs all float independently so that during a dreadful drought they will stay in the water. Each limb has a single 4in deck screw about a 8in from the end inside the barrel. The screw acts as the hinge and keeps the limb from pulling out of the barrel. Each limb has a little expanding foam in the outer tips to assist with floating. Probably not necessary. I had a 35lb plate that went in the bottom of the barrel before adding the limbs. It still floated so I filled with 4-5 buckets of dirt and gravel. Using dirt and small gravel allows the limbs to move whereas rock would fix them in place. As the tank filled the limbs appeared to work as designed or at least well enough! The buoy is attached to an old window weight inside a vertical 8ft PVC so that it can also rise and fall with the water level.
Now that the tank is full, I wish I had done more. Habitat is much more difficult to add! Now I need a blow torch to cut holes in old deer feeders.
CB

I like that.

Cleaver ideas. How many cinder blocks did it take to sink the crib?

Nice job!

Bill - Only 8 blocks but the T posts probably have a lot to do with it not floating! I drove them in as far as possible. Still surprised it stayed in place since it went from high and dry to completely submerged in less than 2 months.

I like how you attached buoy marker to structure so you'd know where it is. I have a rock/bucket/dirt hump in 12 feet of water that I haven't located yet because I failed to do what you did!

Nice work and thanks for the pics and description.

I will add to the structure archive as we do not have included a moving spider crib.

As it appears to be the major structure and in the middle/deepest part of the pond consider making a structure highway from it to other structure nearer shore.

It is surprising how poorly I can judge or remember where I put structure, and I placed every bit of it in a dry pond myself.

Later I went through and put some permanent boat moorings with small floats on some of it so I can extrapolate between and kind of remember where some of the other is at. But it is still difficult.

What looked so clear looking out from the edge of a dry pond is completely fuzzy trying to remember it now a few years later with the pond full.

Looks good!

How do you deal with ice. I have 6 to 12 inches of ice each year, when it thaws it can move around. Will it just tear off the structure or pull it around with the wind? How do other people deal with this?
Would a black float be better than a white one? I bought a bunch of white boat bumpers to mark brush piles, they are soft and I hope they would pull threw the ice and stay were they were put. The ice around the dock poles melts first, would it do the same with the white floats?

Use a long rope with the ability of the float to slide.

I was jealous of everyone's structure using cinderblocks and came up with a design using more 2in oilfield saltwater PVC line. The prototype took 4 hours after many design adjustments. The second took 1.5hrs and could be done faster. The nose will stick in the tank bottom to help prevent tipping. May end up connecting two together if tipping is going to be an issue.
I'm calling it the Pond Buck and plan on making at least ten. How should they be placed in the tank? Perhaps groups of 3-5 or in a row, or in a row 5-15ft from dense cover? The guy who checks oil wells is going to find some more line for me. Not much 2in remaining but there is about 1/3mi of 4in I have access to. Debating on using it for a similar project.
I gathered some large logs this weekend. Should they be tied together so that ends stick up or left to lay flat on the bottom? Are they better in shallow or deep water? Considering another smaller traditional crib.

Looks good

Something you might consider is letting the plastic free float. Most plastic will float. If yours does, consider letting the block anchor the plastic to the bottom and use wire or rope to attach it to the block loosely. The block holds it in place, the plastic floats freely above it like a tree. The advantage to this is if you hook it, it will give and sway like a tree top, then when the snag comes loose the plastic will again float upright. You might want to attach a little more flotation to the very top (such as pool noodle or pipe insulation) to make sure there is enough flotation so the "tree" remains upright. If the plastic barely floats a layer of algae might eventually sink it.

I have not done this but am planning on doing it with some plastic poultry drinkers I had surplus. I have them on the bottom of the pond weighted down with rocks, but occasionally the CC will root around on them and they will float to the surface then the wind blows them to the bank. I plan on redeploying the derelict plassons by bunching them together like a tree (or bouquet) and attaching them to one or two concrete blocks with rope so they can float upwards freely. Adjust rope length to water depth.

My idea is that cover floating freely will be less likely to snag hooks as it will "give" as a lure passes over it, then return into position via its floation.

Don't skimp on weight. More is better to keep the structure where you want it to stay. Just barely enough the structure is more prone to be moved off site. This doesn't sound like it would be a problem, but trust me, it can be.

Thanks John. I'm going to link two or more together and add a block between them. I like the idea of an upside down tree. May be good use of the 4in pipeline. Expanding foam can go inside the pipe for added flotation.
Thoughts on groups, or line near dense cover and use of logs?

I took your original pic and added in red areas where structure would help. Those type items work best in groups of 3-4 (triangle/square) with a highway to the next group of 3-4. Vertical structure highways from one structure group to the next are a good idea. I am assuming those marked areas are in water from 3 to 8 ft. deep.

Thank you! Now that I am just 14mi from the land creating structure will be much faster. Time to focus before it heats up too much!

Eric (ewest) has the placement covered. I failed to put any highways between my structure islands. I found PBF after my structure was already placed and water was filling the pond. Providing means for smaller fish to travel around to different structures keeps them from being forced into open water where they are more subject to predation. Of course you want predators to eat your forage fish (so don't want too much cover), but you want the forage fish to reach enough size to provide a good meal. So they need enough cover to keep them alive to proper forage size. Plus attract the larger fish.

I would avoid cover placement anywhere there is large inflows of water as it will tend to get more sediment there.

I should have explained. One of the key concepts in adding fishing structure (as opposed to protective cover) is the concept of vertical relief or change. A small vertical change (cover or bottom couture) on a flat area will hold fish. Highways funnel fish to structure and provide ambush points for predators. The archive has lots of good info and pics.

This link from the archive has a good written description by Paul Crawford on structure and fishing. The terms are a little different but the concepts sound for ponds.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463&page=2

Getting busy placing structure near where it will go! Hopefully this is what you all had in mind. Yes, lot more needed. I cut most of the "good" cedar that can be easily accessed. Going to enlist some help for the next round. Some cedars will be placed as fluffy stuff, others I will wire tight for dense cover.
I experimented with a long wire to drag a cedar tree in place and it worked well using my truck and a quick release loop through a limb. We will need a longer wire or rope for a few spots. None of the trees in the attached pics are where they will remain. One blew off the dam and the big one was my first attempt before the wire.
In the attached you can see the water is really clear and already has fairly significant FA. That is a concern considering the tank is a year old. I am assuming it washed in from the neighbor's tank.
On warm days the BG are really active above the big crib. That is exciting considering the amount of work that went into it. Nothing except my dogs likes the floating fish food I have been throwing out for over a month in the same spot almost daily. I was expecting the CC at minimum to at least try it. Maybe tomorrow after another warm day.

Eric - Would you mind reviewing the soil results and providing your recommendations? The dozer guy wanted to know what he was taking prior to hauling any topsoil away. He has been very pleased and will be taking more very soon. The more topsoil he takes the more water we catch! Should we have the water tested now as a comparison?

I was not able to open my own attachment on my phone. Was anyone else able to?

All your attached photos open great for me on a PC.

Sunday was fun! Decided to use my GoPro! Found a really nice school of FH above the fish crib. Was hoping to see a BG or CC but no luck. The 2" poly line tree has really good algae growth but no fish were observed. Surface temp was 48 and 44 today. More surface activity tonight than I expected. The temp is going to drop more tonight.
Someone suggested using pool test strips for the water. Dave1 I believe. So many good discussions here! About $10 at Wal-Mart. Based on my extremely novice understanding of the results I believe it is pretty good. pH 8ish, alkalinity 60, hardness 400, acid 0. No chlorine! hahaha
Unfortunately my "new" yellow Lab met his first skunk. He was a city dog a few months ago and probably thought it was just another cat. He took the hit right on the nose...foamed at the mouth, eyes watering and just sad. The smell is better but still there and will be for a while. My other Lab already learned, hopefully, to stay away from those cats.

Some dogs never learn. I keep a stock of Hydrogen Peroxide, Baking soda and Dawn on hand