I have dropped fresh cedar in but have never had much luck with them, or seldom pulled fish off of them, in a lot of ponds if there is any algae present they tend to matt completely over and hardly leave room or openings for fish to maneuver around, I have had some better luck with letting them sit for a yr and shake them up a little and all the needles fall off. take a little more to sink them at that stage. just personal experience tho, nothing scientific.

All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.