I live in Iowa and have seen many types of pallet structures sunk in my local lakes. I am amazed by how many are over 20 years old and still hold together and attract fish. But there does seem to be one layout that seems to work the best in my area. (more on that later)
I do alot of ice fishing and have an underwater camera to see what is actually down there. The pallet structures sunk in 8 to 12 feet of water hold fish at all times of the year in my area. I have caught bluegill, bass, crappie, walleye, yellow perch, and northern pike from these pallet structures.
Most people can make a 4'x4'x4' pallet structure for less than $10. They are most easily constructed on the ice or on the bottom of a new filling pond.
Materials needed.
4 - 4'x4' pallets (spaces between boards no less than 4")
8 - 2x4"s cut into 4' pieces
4 - cinderblocks (8x8" for new ponds that are filling and 8x16" for sinking in existing ponds)
16 - 2.5" stainless or galvanized wood screws
Here's a rough sketch of what it looks like.
http://img91.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scanzv5.jpg I have found that these work best in groups of four placed about 4 feet apart. A new method which I will try when I build my pond will be to create a 4'x4' large rock or rubble pile about 2 feet tall and put 4 of these pallet structures on each corner of the pile. Similar to the overhead view below.
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