I just wanted to forward some ideas that i had for cover that you can add to a ponds that is already established. There are many types of cover that you can purchase, but with a little work and some ideas you can do it yourself.
My lake is already established with fish and water, yet there is no cover in the lake. We are adding cattail, and lilies, but we feel that other cover is needed to hide baitfish, and give game fish a place to ambush from.
These pieces of cover are constructed of a bucket, (1 gallon for "shrubs" and 5 gallon for "tree", 18"to 36" of 3" PVC pipe, and poly-ethylene tubing.
As a weight you use quick set concrete.
Simple enough cut a piece of PVC to a size you need. Keep shorter pieces in a small bucket, longer pieces in a large bucket. "shrubs" get weighted with 10# of concrete, larger "trees" 40 #. When setting the "trunks" leave about 1/3 of the bucket from the top empty. This will allow you to float the structure to where you want to sink it. As long as the trunks are not to long, wave action should not be able to tip it over.
If you use 1/2 poly-ethylene tubing, a 9/16 bill bit will allow you to cut holes around the PVC trunk to insert "branches" of the tubing. Add as many as you wish, and as long as you wish.
After construction, the structures can be floated into position and sunk easily.
They wont rot, and will gather algae/moss. Tighter branches holed small fish, longer branches cover more area. Sink the "shrubs" in 1-3 ft water, trees to 5-6 feet.
We caught crappie jigging right in the cover with out hanging up on it within 1 hr of sinking the cover.
Just an Idea!
CAT
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