Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Rock piles as structure / cover

On that smaller rock pile, consider lifting it on top of cinder blocks and spread out the size or area that it covers or on top of several pallets. Almost every manufacturer or small company has many pallets for free. Just as for permission for getting them. Tree tops could be laid horizontal on the bottoms of the rocks to hold the brush down to keep the brush in place from floating lose in the pond. IMO you want the rock piles to sort of serve as weed beds or large dense structures as refugia areas and not to serve as small fish attractor structures. Small structures actually concentrate predators who eat many of the fish that come close to it for protection. Refugia are large expansive areas such as lake weed beds that provide protection for thousands & thousands of small fish.

If you are using FHM I would lay those flat pieces of concrete on top of one layer of rocks spread out among 5 -10+ pallets so the concrete pieces have lots of various types of elevated angled pieces; some even vertical. Lots of jagged pieces angling upwards; a city of upward angling irregularities. Be creative.

Search this topic in In-Fisherman website:
Habitat and the Importance of Structure By Dr. Hal Schramm
April 15, 2021

Okay for enlarging your rocky areas. Be creative - the more expansive it is the more habitat that is created that in turn increases productivity.

I like what local municipal water supply reservoirs do by adding city waste concrete from construction projects to line the shorelines. Concrete pieces extend from above the surface down the entire slope to the flat bottom area. This creates lot of habitat. Fish like to patrol the rocky shore areas and where concrete pieces meet the flat bottom. Concrete lined shores also stop wind and wave erosion of the shorelines.

I like rock piles but my primary interest is about 10 ft cedars close to the shorelines. It covers a lot of growing fish and larger fish orient on them.