Yes, I don't want to be reading those headlines. A good time to have done that was before the pond filled.
Of course we don't always think of these things in time.
Someone on here, don't remember who, had a pipe driven into the pond bottom. He tied a cable around the base end of the tree then via a boat dropped the cable over the pipe and the tree over the side of the boat. Then just add trees each year. They float to begin with, then sink eventually. Then just add more trees as needed. That looked like a great idea. Would have structure all the way to the bottom of the pond clear to the top. Would not be good if a person wanted the looks of clear open water, but if fish structure was the main goal, great.
I put my structure in before the pond filled. I had a bunch of concrete foundation from some turkey grow out barns we tore down. About 1'x2'x anywhere from 4 to 15' long (however long the chunks stayed together when the dozer pushed them out). I cribbed these up Lincoln Log style a couple layers, then deposited a cedar tree in the midst (vertical), then stacked more foundation blocks around the tree. Have a half dozen of these in the 3 acre pond in the deepest parts. I kept the concrete at least 3' below water full pool so any small boat would never hit it, and the trees tried to get the tips very close to the surface. A couple actually stick above the surface but the small branches will go away in a few years and no longer be visible.
This was before I started reading PBF. If doing it over, would do about the same but put some "fish highways" out to the deep water structure. Did a bunch of other type structure also, but these are the ones associated with Christmas trees. Had one really large Cedar that was way too tall, so sawed all the branches off one side so it would lay flat on the bottom of the pond, then put a couple of the concrete foundation blocks on top so it would not float. Still had to cut a few branches short so they would not be above water at full pool. I kind of went overboard on structure. If you want to loose a fishing lure, my pond is the place to be.
I think the fish like it though. Never heard any complaints yet.
