Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Perch spawning habitat

just p[icked up another 5, 10' cedars to add to the pond to increase Perch spawning and for baitfish habitat. This will be the ponds 4th year and I have 5 smaller cedars and 2 good stumps in now and want to add to the mix. Lot so f faheads in the pond as well as GS and ths fall I actually caught my very first 4" YP so I do know they are at least trying to spawn and predation is fairly high with 5 lb channels and 2-3 lb HSB now.
I guess I want to know at what depth ( 4-6 fow I am thinking) I should put them in and if there is a better direction to place them?? perpendicular to the bank or as I have the others with butt end in deeper water so when fishing, there is a chance lures and stuff will roll off branches. I have the ones now in 3-5 FOW but wanted to ask the "experts" what the ideal spawning habitat would be and how to place it. FWIW, Im in West Central Ohio and still have 7" of ice but with temps in the 50;s this week, I need to get them out and placed in the next 48 hrs. I want to have them ready for the spawning YP in the next month, most of my initial YP are in the 9-10" range

Many thanks,
Salmonid

I don't think it makes a lot of difference weather you place them perpendicular or horizontal to the shoreline - pros and cons each way. I would put them in so the upper most branches are underwater 12"-16" at full pool. Your YP should do well with CC and HSB as the main predators. It will be interesting to me to see if the BG and BC become overly abundant in 3-6 yrs.

Hi Mark

Nice score and you'd better get out there before those temps rise!

I don't have much experience with the direction to place cedars, but I think your idea of having branches facing you makes sense - might result in fewer hangups as you are shore fishing.

Lusk says the best depths for structure are 3-6' deep. A 10' Cedar might be breaching the water at 3' but probably decomposes pretty quickly. If you ice fish might want to take a few xtras and make a triangle in the deepest hole on the pond as it will be the warmest water during ice and may congregate fish. I did that with PVC globes this fall and tied duck decoys so I could identify the triangle shape. Drilled right in the middle all Winter and found SMB, HSB, RES, BG and YP there almost every time waiting for me. Should work for you, too!

Great information for all of us on this subject. I agree with Lusk regarding more shallow cover. The most dense products work best for fry like your cedar trees. They will need to be replenished over time. If you begin to add some artificial habitat, over time you will be all set and not have to keep adding. I'm so glad that a specific structure pattern is holding fish well.By creating a triangle you have made a spot on the spot to hold fish. We preach to guys how important it is to be accurate when placing structure. A pile of stuff randomly dropped in an area will not create habitat and fishing oppourtunities as well. Structurespot is a line of products designed to spot each crib as you sink it. Create the shape and density you want and pull free for re-use.

Xmas trees work well for cover from predation. I put them with their long side facing the bedding area. If it�s a BG colony then the trees form an arc about ten feet out from the deep end of the colonial nests.