Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Rip-rap

We just got done with constructing a 5 acre lake. We have plans for structure and in fact the lake was constructed with many drop-offs, ledges and shelfs. We are planning on putting in 6-12 inch rock for the rip-rap and what I am asking is what would be the best width and depth of the rock that we put down? I have heard that it can be one layer of 6-12 inches and I have heard that it can be a couple feet deep. Obviously, the thinner the layer the less rock we need and, of course, lower cost. However, we don't want to skimp on the rock if it will make a big difference in the long run. Also, how wide of a swath do we need (4,6,8 ft). We do not expect there to be too much fluctuation in water levels.
I just subscribed to Pondboss and I have been very impressed with the amount of knowledge that is shared on this site and I hope someone will give me some good advice.

Doc

Doc, if riprap is for erosion prevention, it only need be as deep as the water level may drop. If you want it for structure for smallmouth bass or walleye, take it deeper, one layer thick, as deep as 8 feet, at least 6 feet deep.

It is strictly for structure. Thank you for your advice.

Doc, 6"-12" rock makes a great structure. I considered rip-rap in my lake but decided the cost was more than I wanted to spend. However, I have created several rock piles going from shallow to deeper water and marked them accordingly on shore above the water line. I am not so sure this might not work just as well as having the entire dam rocked for this reason, I have fished alot of lakes with rip-rap and you can go for great distances sometime between fish. When you do find them they are usually concentrated around some unique feature, such as a sudden change in depth, a patch of grass, an area of larger or smaller rocks or even rocks making a very subtle point within the other rocks. My point is fish like something about the piece of structure to be different than just a solid shore of evenly spaced rocks.

IMO isolated rock piles work better as per fishinglth's comment. I would put piles along the dam going from 8 ft. deep to 4 ft. deep about 3 ft. wide and about 18 in. high. Put them about 30-40 ft. apart.

Thanks for all the good advice. Our dam is 680 ft long so covering the whole thing would not be cost effective. We were thinking about 4 or 5 different sections that are 50 ft wide and piled at differest heights with humps but the idea Ewest suggested with the smaller humps seems very feasible and more practical.
Again, thanks for the advice.