Pond Boss Forums INTRO Common Pond Q&A (archives) Structure , cover, etc types and methods with pics

Cat's root ball structures.

we also put some 6 to to 8-foot lengths of 10-inch PVC pipe between/under some of the stumps for the catfish to have some "spring break" fun.





A friend also brought his excavator over pull out some stumps on the back side of the main pond, and to do a final positioning of the stumps we dumped in earlier as the new hiding places for fish.

For some more detailed, advanced reading about sturcture vs cover plus some water weed information plus general info about pond stratification and turnover see this link. It also has a lot of basic information about angling.

http://www.learninghowtofish.com/pages/the-underwater-world-of-freshwater-fish.php

Poster Peepaw

Posted 14/11/12 09:01 AM
Description Layouts based on a final installation of 20-25% of a body of water's surface area in habitat of various materials.

Spool structure by DiamondDave





http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=317106&#Post317106

Bluegillerkiller's pvc buckets.

Structure pics compliments of the guys from FISHIDING. Take a close look at what is going on in the pics.

From StanV in http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=340759&#Post340759

MIdwest Lake Management crew just completed a huge fish habitat project near Butler, MO. Sixteen units of different configurations were constructed ....

Notes of underwater observations of fish behavior and how they utilize placed structure. Structure color can make a difference as noted in the June 29, 2013 description of Why Fish Cribs Work -
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=342537#Post342537

Direct link to the Crib article on the Photographer's website.
Scroll down to the June 16, 2013 post titled: Why Fish Cribs work, Why they fail.
http://underwaterfishphotos.blogspot.com/

Also in the above link read the section about the benefit of weeds in a pond as cover and how they help in maintaining a diverse fish community dated June 29, 2013 Lake On The Brink.

It is hard to duplicate Mother Nature with artificial structure.

The original 20% suggestion for cover habitat usually applied mainly for the amount of vegetation for best production of pond fisheries. For artificial habitat I suggest 10% - 20% of the total shoreline length have cover materials other than or in combination with plants to provide resting areas, shade, and escape cover for fishes. These materials also serve as fish attractors.
Suitable materials include:
• Brush piles constructed with green cedar trees
• Other trees or brush if cedars are not available
• Clean rubble, cement blocks, and clay tiles or pipe.
All woody material should be weighted individually with rocks and sunk, or several branches or trees may be anchored together with concrete blocks.

Possibly the best attractor is comprised of a combination of several materials which provide both loosely packed and dense cover.
PLACEMENT
The location of the attractor is very important, but water depth is the single most important factor.
Potential Sites:
• Points of land which extend out into the water and then drop off rapidly into deeper water are good sites.
• Coves or other areas sheltered from the wind are also excellent sites.
• In small ponds, the area of deep water near the dam is an excellent spot for fish attractors.
• If your pond has a submerged creek channel a structure placed on the edge of it will usually produce good results.
Attractors should be placed in water so that the top is not more than four to six feet under water. See Fish IDing link below for best depths. The grouping of attractors is important; groups of three arranged in a triangular design seem to attract more fish than three scattered single units.


https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/fish_attractors_Jan2022_1.pdf

Good article from PB Magazine about cover and placement.
https://www.solitudelakemanagement.com/blog/helpful-tips-when-installing-artificial-habitat/

Ideas from Indiana DNR.
https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/files/fw-providing_structure_for_fish.pdf
For panfish utilize:
Pennsylvania Post Clusters Structure
Open Pallet Structures in groups
Hoosier Cubes

Submerged Trees and Brush Piles
Other options for natural structures include brush piles, submerged trees, or other natural debris. Turning these commonly found materials into structures are a great way to utilize otherwise useless scraps. You will want to place trees and brush piles in vertical positions rather than horizontal and at a depth of less than 15 feet (figure 3). This will allow fish to be able to use the structure year-round. When structures are placed too deep, the fish are unable to access them due to the lack of dissolved oxygen. It is often helpful to anchor trees, either with rocks or concrete blocks. It is also more effective to group trees to make a larger brush pile than having individual trees spread out. Submerged trees can provide excellent habitat, although not for an extended period. For example, Christmas trees are often used in ponds and lakes as a habitat option but decompose relatively quickly.

Good lengthy lesson of fish habitat
https://www.fishiding.com/recent-fi...tractors-which-do-the-fish-need-and-why/

The idea is to create as thick and complex a jungle as possible. The final result will resemble a thick mass of long branches extending from the dense pack inside the habitat unit/s. The branches should reach from every depth of every unit in every direction and at every possible angle. If your finished habitat unit looks even vaguely tidy, it needs more work.

Underwater diving studies have shown that artificial habitat of which the fish prefer most, stands a minimum of 1/2 the water depth, with 2/3 or more being much better. Objects standing from bottom to surface were utilized most by the largest number of fish, bugs and creatures.

Thanks Bill !

Wingnuts plan from http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=358050&page=1

Bamboo Condo and Bamboo Laydown from Foodeefish's thread

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=360217#Post360217

More on xmas trees by FireIsHot -- Al

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=367249&page=1


After looking through the archives last year, I decided to try something ewest had posted from a presentation at the PB III conference.
Towards bottom of page

Instead of tying the trees to a post, I looped them around a t post covered by a piece of used oilfield drilling pipe. Because of my water level fluctuations, I wanted something that could rise and fall with the water until the trees ultimately sank. I did this last year, and it took approximately 3 months for the original Christmas trees to sink.

Today, I just boated out to the posts, and it took less than a minute to hang 7 more Christmas trees over the ones from last year.

Oil field pipe is cheap, but any galvanized post would do. I just made sure to have it extend 6" above full pool, so the trees couldn't slide off the top.

My CNBG were back feeding less than an hour after all the commotion.

t post cover by a feeder.


Close up of post and trees.

Barrel-tubing structure by JamieE Indiana.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=368563#Post368563

Hesperus from -- http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=379361&page=1






Plastic tubing price and ideas
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=460487#Post460487

Wingnuts pics

From http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=386398&page=4

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=7012&filename=Piles along Dam (1024x768).jpg

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=7013&filename=Rock-Brush Piles (1024x377).jpg

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=7014&filename=Sculpted Dirt Mounds (1024x768).jpg

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=7015&filename=Submerged Island 1 (1024x768).jpg



http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=7016&filename=Submerged Island 2 (1024x768).jpg

self opening artificial forage/fry habitat

instant habitat video
New shallow habitat coming soon

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showgallery&Number=408810

New pvc structure idea by Hook

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=442791#Post442791

Hope the pics show up. A fun little pvc project I worked on. It's gonna be a fish magnet.
http://s90.photobucket.com/user/probass/slideshow/Pvc%20trees

American Fish Tree video - structure

Video is 3.5 minutes long and it shows how easy the American Fish Tree is to use. All PVC, heavy duty, no glues or fasteners. Assembled the Tree in 7 minutes while in the boat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcSmQExCr3A

Some PVC trees placed by xraytrpper:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=455225#Post455225\

Habitat and structure ideas from Pennsylvania Fish and Game Commission.
http://www.fishandboat.com/Resource/Habitat/Documents/lake_fish_hab.pdf

Plastic tubing price 500-1000ft.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=460487#Post460487

Variation of Ray Scott structure ideas by ewest.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=487146#Post487146

1/6/19
I put one in the upper neck.


1/6/19
One about 30 yards to the east next to the overflow.


1/6/19
And one tied to the fence on the west side. Didn't see any reason to use additional posts here.

Shallow water brush piles by FireIsHot.


The first two pics are of a finished brush pile on a shallow water point. It covers 20'X40' area, and will be adjacent to a patch of hybrid lilies. Cover and summertime shade.




These pics are of 3 brush piles that were placed in a CNBG preferred spawning flat. It was hard to get a pick of all three, but they're in 6" to 3' of water, and abut 15' apart. They were placed adjacent to hybrid lilies, reeds, and water primrose.

ShortCut's structure

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=501217#Post501217

Aside from trimming trees I wanted to keep, having brush cleared and tank dug, these are my first two tank projects.
The 75 year old original tank dam had huge mesquite trees and many had to go in order for the dozer to do its job. The dam was nearly tripled in thickness so the remaining trees are not a concern. I don't need that much firewood and don't have a splitter. Rather than push them into a burn pile I saved the large logs. Sure could've used some help that day! Once the tank was complete I made a fish crib and packed it with cedar. Each corner of the crib has a T-post and all logs were tied with fence wire. The cedar "furniture" is held in with 8 cinder blocks via fence wire crossing over the top of the crib. The blocks hang outside of the crib. If the tank gets low enough I will be able to raise the blocks to add more cedar. The top of the crib is currently about 5-6ft from the surface.
This area is in oil country not far from where it was discovered a 100 years ago. There are active wells on the property and when we bought the land there was unused oil stuff everywhere. Originally I cut up the PVC lines that had carried salt water and intended to burn them...I believe this is a better use. We have several plastic barrels that had been quail feeders. Rats are determined you know?... I first drilled a 1in hole into a plastic barrel, heated the hole with torch and used a softball bat to expand the hole further. While still warm I shoved a short piece of the PVC in the hole until mostly cool. The 6-8ft limbs all float independently so that during a dreadful drought they will stay in the water. Each limb has a single 4in deck screw about a 8in from the end inside the barrel. The screw acts as the hinge and keeps the limb from pulling out of the barrel. Each limb has a little expanding foam in the outer tips to assist with floating. Probably not necessary. I had a 35lb plate that went in the bottom of the barrel before adding the limbs. It still floated so I filled with 4-5 buckets of dirt and gravel. Using dirt and small gravel allows the limbs to move whereas rock would fix them in place. As the tank filled the limbs appeared to work as designed or at least well enough! The buoy is attached to an old window weight inside a vertical 8ft PVC so that it can also rise and fall with the water level.
Now that the tank is full, I wish I had done more. Habitat is much more difficult to add! Now I need a blow torch to cut holes in old deer feeders.
CB

Pics below

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...0317_195536.jpg

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...0318_191415.jpg

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...0703_162757.jpg

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...0707_193432.jpg


http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...0in%20place.jpg

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=14258&filename=Full%20pool.jpg

Pallets with pvc by Lando