Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Using structure to protect from predation?

I think the amount/placement of structure vs. fishing difficulty depends on if you fish your pond from shore or from boat.

I wish they were. Elodea is such a pain. You can't eat it (taste's lousy even covered with ketchup or maple syrup), you can't smoke it (it's soggy and hard to lite, even if you do get it to burn it's real harsh tasting and has a fishy after taste) and you can sit pond side and just about see it growing. It will grow in incredibly deep water - not just along the shoreline. Next year I'm gonna chemically treat it.

Very true. If you always fished from a boat you could place the structure to discourage predators, and or poachers, a lot more efficiently.

Yea, I didn't really consider that Sunil. I fish mostly from my kayak. It's not like my pond is huge or anything I just enjoy paddling around in circles.

At least I'll know where the stump "reefs" are. I will do as Meadowlark suggested and create lanes between the stumps that run perpendicular to the banks. I also have a little boat.

Mr. H's big pond:




Thar be snags.

Great photos GW! What kinda bird and nest are in those trees?

Now that you've had your new boat for a while how do you like it?

You may be on a roll, JHAP, but you didn't read the photo title.
Osprey.

Yes, I know I'll pay for this sooner or later.

That's an osprey JAHP. I watched the two adults raise a chick last year. The nest looks empty for now.

I'm loving the boat but I've only used it a few times so far. Next time I visit my folks I'll try it out on the Indian River. They own a few hundred feet of river front.

My patience wears a little thinner with age. Having untangled line and removed it from snags of my wife's, kids, and now grandkids(never mine), I think I'll go with the low volume, strategically placed structure.
Uh, oh, this looks like a setup for one of Brettski's photos.

burger - look on the positive side. When you are spending QUALITY time untangling line and retying hooks for family members, you are NOT making your fish more hook smart. Maybe it is not as bad as you think.

Thanks, Bill, for the new perspective. I am sooo jellin' now.

Fishing with family members can be some of life's best times and memories. Even the worst days fishing are at least spent creating memories.

Stumps are great especially in water 2 to 6 ft. Even better are the pushed up stumps with big root balls. The exposed roots give fish a place to hide. A row of stumps connecting xmas tree piles is a safe corridor/hwy for moving fish. Very good on top of points extending out into deeper water. Along the stump corridor add an xmas tree or 2 for added protection. Remove about 30 % of the branches to create space for larger fish to hide in (bigger spaces).