I am currently collecting supplies to do a big arts-and-crafts fish-structure building session in the next couple of weeks. In the next couple days, I will be posting a diagram of my pond and asking for suggestions on the placement of various spawning & cover structures.
My immediate question is this...how big should SMB spawning beds be?
I started with Brettski's snow-saucer idea, but tried to simplify a little bit. I ended up running across these plastic tubs used to line the inside of whiskey barrel-style planters. They are 26" in diamter, and I would guess about 12" deep. I am thinking about finding some larger tires or hollowing out part of the middle and setting the liners inside. Then, I would create small ledges into my 3-1 slopes to set these on. I'd fill them with appropriate river rock and perhaps install some sort of structure/cover on one side of them.
Do these sound large enough, or should I look for something else? I did actually see a stack of snow saucers being packed away for the summer at my local Tractor Supply last week.
