George - Yes by all means wooden pallets attached in a series along a rope should work as a substitute for boards tethered on a rope. Pallets would be heavier and more bulky to work with but each would provide many spawning sites. Male fatheads when spawning will defend a specific area (territory) as a nest site. I am sure there has been research as to what the distance or diameter of this area is. I think it is about 8" to 12". We will see if there are any fathead experts out there who can supply more specific information.

Anyway, then a 4"-6" wide board 10 feet long floated along shore could have about 10 maybe 12 nest sites along the bottom of it. Each nest or size of egg mass is approx 2" to 4" in dia. So the number of nest sites on the slats of a pallet would be high.

I may add some more after I do some reading.


aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine -
America's Journal of Pond Management