Given that most of the ideas for structure on this board are recycled/throwaways, I was wondering what the resident experts thought of my idea to use the local wine industry byproduct. Specifically, what I am thinking of doing is using 59 gallon oak barrels (retired from wineries and hopefully free) as structure/nest boxes for fish in our neighborhood lakes.

I've got a 30 degree angle concrete apron to contend with out to about 4 feet deep. I am thinking of either knocking the ends out of the barrels and generously coating the inside with rocks/gravel with the bung hole of the barrel being on top to let the air out. If the weight of the rocks / gravel does not sink the barrel, I would anchor it with cement blocks and nylon rope. Either way, I would need to chock the barrel with a block or large rock to keep it from rolling to the deepest part of the lake. To me, it seems like great structure, but I don't know if the bass would nest in it (overhead vision obscured). I also thought of cutting the ends of the barrel off at an angle to approximate the slope of the concrete apron, but then the bedding area would be little larger than a garbage can lid. Maybe a combination of both. Anyway, I hope to try it out and report back. Maybe some of the other California Pond Bosser's could benefit from it, as well.

Other than that, I need to think of a way to compensate for the angle of the concrete if I am just going to spread gravel on the bedding area. Note, the lack of gravel has not been a deterrent to the fish spawing, I would like to encourage more, however, (Bass and Bluegill) for the food chain aspect.

Thoughts gentlemen?