Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Brettski Cribs

Who here has built and used what I see titled as Brettski cribs? I have almost completed 1 such item with the following description. 10x5x4' using 6 - 3' legs. using deer fence 4 feet wide with 1 square openings. The deer fencing is on the bottom of the cage and around the sides. but I am thinking these 1" square holes may be to small and so I'm thinking I may use plastic lattice on the top surface of the cage and also thinking I might hang some lattice from the bottom of the cage, enclosing the leg area. Making a two story cage. This cage will be put on a steep sloping bank placing shallow to a depth of 12 feet.
Has anyone had success with these cages? Holding an escape area for the smaller fishes, and providing a structure to fish? Thanks for any experiences u might have.

No pics, but plastic snow fencing was used.

I've had mixed results with snow fencing used as cover. The orange fencing degraded in less than 2 years, and it's larger gaped (2-3") fencing caught CNBG by the gills while they were feeding. The smaller gaped green fencing seemed to work better, and last longer.

The algae growing on the fencing did attract and hold fry though.

Thanks for the responses guys. Sorry for no pics, but have not tried post pics yet, when it comes to things like posting pics I am not the sharpest pencil in the box. And I was hoping to get some answers here from you "that have been there done that" been building it in the garage cause its been to bad to get out. Rain and muddy. So I started this project for something to keep me busy. And it sounds like maybe the smaller 1" squares (deer fence) might work here? Does the plastic lattice have holes that are to big?

"The orange fencing degraded in less than two years." Very educational lesson - thanks. Does anyone have results of how long the green snow fence lasts? Brettski have you checked your cribs for durability??

They went the way of the Titanic. I set them on the bank so that the highest point of the crib was about 1' below normal pool. The ice got ahold of them and busted them up pretty good. This included ripping some of the fencing off. Once the ice melted, one crib wound up up about 30 feet away at the bottom in about 9 feet of water and the other crib is sticking 1/2 out of the water. There is no sign of fencing on the crib that is protruding, but I cannot say that the fencing is all gone.

They can be made of other material (wood or rigid plastic netting/fencing) but it requires more work.

They make plastic privacy lattice pieces of 2'x8' and 4'x8' both 1/4" thick, various colors. Two different opening sizes. A section of 4x8 is sort of pricey around $32 (4x8) on sale, but if they do not rot in the water with many years of service providing ice does not drag & rip them apart and drag them onto the bottom, cribs made from this material may be worth the extra cost.
http://www.menards.com/main/search.html?search=Plastic+lattice

I put up several of the traditional 4'x8' white plastic lattice pieces around my trailer porch in In and after 1 summer the crap warped, shrank and split in quite a few places. I see it around everywhere so I could have just lucked into a bad batch. Cecil gave me a cage three yrs ago made out of black plastic mesh and it is still in fine shape. I do however overwinter it in the chicken coop.

Thanks for the update on the cribs guys. Like I said I was putting one together during the bad weather. I bought some of the plastic lattice work from Home Depo for $24 in the green color 4x8 sheets. The plastic deer fencing material I already had from doing some wildlife food plots. I hope the deer fencing will work but the openings looked small (1" squares) so I am adding some of the lattice for a larger opening on the top of the crib. Brettski, we don't get much ice down here, so I am hoping it might hold up. I figure the worst case, might be just some extra structure if nothing else. And just to let everyone know the deer fencing for the wildlife food plots wasn't such a good idea and discovered the elec fencing worked much better.

If you can provide a picture of your style of crib. Others will benefit.

Ok Bill I will try to post a picture on the day I put it in the water. I would rank in the DA group when it comes to such things as posting pics.
Cody Note: You can do what I do and send the pic to someone who frequently posts pictures and they will do it for you. I also have trouble posting pics. Send the pic to ewest since he collects structure pictures.