Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Cover/Habitat in Ponds

Hey! I just recently purchased some land over in Oklahoma and there are a few nice size tanks on the property. I have ALWAYS grown up fishing and am excited to have my own fishing holes! I would love any suggestions on what kind of structure works best, artificial or real. I have done a little research and am a little torn. There were two differnet fake tree things that I found one by Bill Dance and then one called, I think, a honey hole tree (? I could have that name wrong). Has anyone used either of these products? I would really appreciate any feedback! Thanks!

Good day, your Majesty....and welcome.
I and my associate JeffHasAPond are but mere court jesters, but Merlin is among us and shall be forthright.
In the meantime, dig this

I added 15 of the bill dance fish attractors to my pond in late summer. So far I have yet to catch a fish off of them. But there are some people on this forum that have had great success with them. I really like the way the honey hole shrub looks better than the honey hole tree. I will probabaly give them a try this year. I would mix it up between real and artificial. You could tie some tree limbs together in a pile and place in 4-6 of water or use christmas trees for small fish to hide in and around and use some honey hole shrubs or trees for fishing hot spots since you can't get hung up on them as easy as the tree limbs or christmas trees.

Welcome to PB. See this link from the archives.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

What do you want the structure for?
I place structure in ponds literally year round, for all kinds of reasons: spawning habitat, protect yoy fish, summer fishing reefs, ice fishing reefs, bass fishing reefs, catfish noodling, bluegill condos, feeding areas, etc. There are tons of products on the market and even more stuff readily available on your property or in your neighborhood.

Let me know what you want the structure to do, and I can give you some suggestions. Also a sketch, information and description of your pond(s) would help out greatly.

I can't believe that no one (including Natester) posted a link to this video. By the way Nate owns a pond management company and, talk about hands on, if he can't figure out what is going on with your pond from the surface then he dons scuba gear and "swims with the fishes" (not in some frightening mafia sort of way, he literally swims with the fishes). Check out the video at the top of this link.

Nate's Porcupine fish attractor video

Oh and I apologize for the rude entrance. Welcome to Pond Boss Fishinqueen, I prostrate myself before you (and no TomG that's not something naughty).

I have found there are many simple things that can work well for an existing pond. I have used wood spools the electric company has their line on. My local electric company gave me all I wanted for free and I just picked them up with my trailer.
I read an article in pond boss suggesting pallets, (stacked with cinder blocks between 3-4), as good for cover and a bonus was that fathead minnows lay their eggs on the underside of the wood. I set those up in at several depths and the shallows. Small baitfish seem to like them. THE SPOOLS though are the ticket to me. They are heavier duty and come in many sizes which is great for different depths. The wood is good for fatheads and the bass love them especially in the summer.
They can lay underneath the top and it is cooler.
We have had unbelievable success catching fish on every one!
I found the best way to put them in is just float them out to where you want it--- I buy several different lenghts of steel fence posts (for different depths), and drive it down the middle with a sledge hammer so it is about 4' in the pond bottom and sticking up about 1' above the water (so I know where it is).
I then place cinder blocks around the base and on the top. She sinks right to the bottom. I have also placed 2-3 together and run nice size heavy horizontal logs across the top (secured).
I try and place a long brush pile near them thinking the bass will hang out at the spool nearby and pick off bait fish off the brush pile. Just a thought, it is working well for this guy in Oklahoma! Good Fishing!

OKIE Did you get the spools from OG&E or one of the co-ops, City of Edmond? Was this done when the pond was empty or did you do it from a boat? This sounds like a great idea with the flat surface and the shade.

I was able to get a couple from a place my brother worked but most came from the City of Edmond. They have moved to a new location and it has not been as easy but I also think the REC
type coops would provide. Edmond at some points had them stacked up and was glad to see me move some out. I have put them in new empty ponds (always easier), and in a full lake.
Really simple though in the full lake--we just swam them out to where we wanted them and brought the cinderblocks via boat and worked it over from there. Most of those spools have steel rods and plates holding them together (especially the bigger ones) and the wood material is of higher quality. I think they will last a long time! It is really cool when you can get small ones so you can use them in multiple depths. If you can get many they can be put in pods grouped in triangles, etc. They are a great ambush point for the bass to hang from.
Can't say enough how we have been catching fish off them.
There is something exciting about creating cover and then doing well fishing it that is a turn on! Good Luck!

Thanks everyone for your comments. Sorry I haven't responded in a long time. I thought that I would get an email telling me that someone had responded to my questions, so I just thought no one had. No, I am not blonde
Well, I went for the Honey Hole Trees for cover. On their website they had a price comparision with the Bill Dance one and it was more bang for your buck on the trees. I liked them over the real trees since your line doesnt get snagged in them. So far I have been really happy with them. I started out with a three pack and might add a few more this spring. I was surprised to see algae growing on them within just a few weeks and I have to say that I did have more bites around the grouping.
Anywho, thanks again to everyone who commented.

Awesome idea, I never would have even thought about that!

Thanks for letting me know about your experience with the bill dance attractors. I hadn't gotten any feedback from anyone who actually used them. I am thinking about also trying out the honey hole shrubs in the shallow water. I'll let you know how ith turns out!