Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat DIY "Sputnik" Fish Attractors from Bowling Balls & PVC

PFF,
I am honored, but must give credit where it is due. The ability to expound 10 lbs of BS (Bluegill Snow-fish) within a 5 lb forum is the result of numerous years of diligent study beneath the likes of Prof. Cliff Clavin and my current grad-school mentor, Theo. (the stuff that isn't true I just made up)

That's great! I haven't tried to launch a Sputnik just yet. I'm still in the R & D phase.

I made two this weekend with a slightly different approach than Chip. I used a 7/8" "slugger" bit to drill the holes. It machines out a hole similar to a hole saw with about a 1/4" kerf leaving an inner dowel to slip the PVC over and drills very fast with little heat and no smoke. The first hole was drilled and the ball was left on the bit. I turned the drill on, allowing the ball to spin while a friend marked three horizontal lines, turned the ball 90 deg. and repeated. This created a grid to layout the remaining 24 holes. The holes were a little loose so I misted them with water and applied Gorilla glue to the 1/2" PVC. The glue expanded, filling the holes and locking the pipe in tightly. I used 2' pieces of PVC(5 ea. from a 10' length) which resulted in about 5' overall. They look pretty funny sitting in my front yard right now, I wonder what the neighbors think.

Good work Ryan,
I thought about the Slugger as I was filling up at the gas station one of their mobile showrooms pulled in for fuel.I used the older balls which drill really easy but you have a harder time with the newer'rubber feel' balls.
Congratulations,
Chip

Here they are, thanks for the inspiration Chip! We were trying to figure out to light all the bottle rockets at the same time

I just got finished with mine. How does it look?

It looks like the DEA will soon be knocking on your door.

Nice! Very nice! Bruce's condo looks great too.

I've been trying to figure out how to build something similar using slats from plastic venetian blinds. I'll either build something that looks like palm trees or simply nail them in interesting patterns across the end of oak blocks. I mainly want them to breed fathead minners.

I think they look great Ryan!

Chip

I sent the pics to my brother-in-law. He asked "how do they work" here was my response...
A 30,000 mhz transducer manufactured by Applied Ultrasonics has been set into the bowling ball with thermal-epoxy. The black ball collects solar energy which powers the transducer which sends out ultrasonic frequencies through the outreaching arms. The ultrasonic waves travel through the water column, up to 30 miles, replicating the sound of a school of injured baitfish. Predator fish such as bass and walleye pick up these sound waves on their lateral lines and are attracted by the sounds of an easy meal. The high frequency sound waves also break up low end aquatic plants such as filamentous algae keeping the arms of the device and the entire lake free of algae.

:D

And they even make Julian Fries!

You can adjust the ultrasonic frequencies and it will send you a digital pic of your BG ( up to 5 per min.) and tell you if they are male, female or alternative life style (sneaker , cuckholder or even satellite ). They are still working on the program to add the ability to tell maturity but it can't grasp the concept of "I know it when I see it" . :p

It sounded better than...Some guy named Chip on the internet thought it would work.

You all have been watching too much MST3K! :p

Ryan,
I really like your explanation of the Sputnik's inner workings. My next project is a "AquaDozer" for piling up floating debris and FA since I couldn't talk the CFO into letting me stock Tilapia. We rounded up some pvc pipe and snow fence for the dozer arms and blade and I'll see how it works.

I have to get all the work out of the twins that I can since they'll be starting their new jobs as Combat Engineers with the Marines come September.
Chip

Bruce contracts Bobad:
...strategic placement of the venetian palm trees adjacent to the Epcot orb structure for Bruce's condos will attract busloads of migrating BG.

Chip.....great idea. I love stuff like this. After putting out 5 "store bought" Sputniks this summer, I made some of my own this past spring. I used 10'irrigation (rubber lined) pipe and 1/2 inch pvc.......If you can imagine a 10' long Sputnick that is what they looked like. I am sorry I did not take pictures to show. I made one big mistake however I wish I could get a "do over" on. I did not weight them down thinking that the "arms" would bury in the mud and that they were heavy enough not to move.....WRONG. I can't find a one of the 8 I put out. I am sure they are housing fish however so in someways it worked real well......Again, great idea......thanks for the details

[/QUOTE]...strategic placement of the venetian palm trees adjacent to the Epcot orb structure for Bruce's condos will attract busloads of migrating BG. [/QB][/QUOTE]

The inventor didn't say, but I assume the spikes on the orb entity are flashing, multi-colored neon tubes, right?

Bobad,
Bright, flashing lights will often be found near mature BG condos, particularly near warmer waters. It is an effective visual enhancement used to lure younger BG to area presumed to provide excitement and stimuli. The origin of this practice goes back to the mid '70's when it was discovered that items like mirrored balls and multi-lighted bottoms (or floors) initiated a strange syncopated gyration of the immature BG. It was likened to dancing, the first official reports coming from a fish squeezer who had lowered his secchi disc into the depths. As he rotated the disc, he reported scores of immature BG pairing off and executing this "gyrating dance" about the disc. Subsequent sampling revealed that most pairing was M/F, some F/F, and, in later years, an unexpected abundance of M/M. This disc dance, later dubbed "disco", seemingly faded only to be replaced by the likes of similar reactive effects found in polluted waters. The first of these "lesser quality water" encounters was descriptively spun off as "grunge". There are others, all strangely correlating back to the known concept of providing bright flashing lights. It should also be noted that these visual enhancement discoveries supported the design of many new fishing lures, though spandex proved to be flimsy and unappealing past the early '80's.

That disc dancing sounds rather distasteful, Brettski. I'm gonna stick to putting ethanol in the pond to encourage RNS spawning. RNS may not always be pretty, but they don't wear polyester.

For the life of me, I can't figure out what RNS stands for?

Red Nosed speckled?
Red Neck Sports?
Randy necked steelhead?

I give up!

PFF:

Sorry for the confusion. See here.

Oh now I remember! What a brain fart! How could I forget the Redneck Sunfish! :rolleyes: :p

The real inspiration for the orb comes from Brisco County, JR.



Chip