Good idea and tweaking. To benefit more towards habitat for small forage, placement is best in water deep enough to just cover the entire height of the structure. Structures serve forage fish best when it grows or is placed in water less than 1ft-5ft. The deeper the structures are placed the less the minnow sized fish will use it because shallow water with denser amounts of branching is the safest place for living and growing of the minnow sized forage species. Their predators are usually in deeper water that pushes the small foods shallower for more security. It is harder for larger sizes fish to manuver well in the shallowest water. Structures for best usage by forage species should be in large groupings referred to as Fish Cities. Listen to the whole very educational podcast about better structure and fish habitat.
Dr Brian Graeb- ""So when we talk about habitat and the science we've done and the questions we're asking, we're trying to get to the point where, we put in enough habitat, we get some sort of increase in total production. So in this case, we put in multiple groups of trees we call FISH CITIES and then we go out and measure the results now we find we have more fish or we have bigger fish or we have, the same age fish but now they're growing like crazy, some sort of increase in the productivity of that system. And that could be through increased recruitment, it can be through increased growth, or in a case of a small fish, increased survival, through reduced predation risks.""
Last edited by Bill Cody; 09/01/2509:35 AM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
It looks like the Daleks are ready to attack your pond.
Do you live on a community pond?
Not only do structures help your fish populations, they also serve as "fish concentrators". If you are the only person with structures in the pond, I predict the fishing from your dock and your bank will be some of the best fishing in the whole pond.
I hope you and your family enjoy lots of good fishing in the future!
The setup is it’s about a 26 acre lake with about 20 other lot owners who collectively own the lake. Most have piers, and we really use those as a main way to provide fry/small forage habitat. We do that by brushing them with bamboo stalks, running from the shore, allong the walkways, to the platform at the end of the piers. This gives them cover from very shallow out to 5’ deep or so, giving them cover as they grow and venture out.
Yes, it would be ideal to have some of the man made stuff shallower, but given how the lake can draw down, I just can’t take the heat from pvc sticking up everywhere.
The clusters are in that 5-7’ of water near dropoffs, where our big fish tend to loiter.
Our forage fish count (measured by catch rate) is very robust, 150% of target, but we just have too many 15” fish so we have to harvest aggressively. Next year we will start annual tilapia stocking.
.gif)
