Man made structure/cover 2024

airborne_angler reply :

Ive seen where people take Christmas trees after the Holidays,put cinder blocks on them and sink them to create cover/structure.

This being said,what does everyone think about sinking old Automobile tires?

Would this be considered littering the water because its not something that could occur naturally like submerged/sunken trees?

I want to consult everyone and get opinions on the sunken tire idea BEFORE I go and do it and then be frowned upon.

If your going to frown upon the idea,thats ok ,but understand I HAVE NOT done this yet(and might not depending on the responses),and just wanted to get some ideas.

Muddy reply :

Here is what we did last year. We got permission on one pond , privately owned to do so.

I was told that tires can have all kinds of pollutants that can leak into the water.

We got a few pallets(Plain and untreated wood), some chritmas trees and tied them to some cinder blocks with twine. We scooted it out on the ice and when the ice melted;Instant hot spot!

The only thing that hot spot produced was a resting place for 2 Bomber 8a's and a few ***. It has attracted a lot of bluegills, we will have to see how it pays off this year. :-/

Jig Man reply :

If you are talking about on public reservoirs or streams, I don't think it would be legal in lots of areas.

memo43 reply :

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I know here on Base (Quantico x-mas trees are dropped off on the many waters. so I have heard of them. also large PVC pipes standing an configured in spider web style designs an what not. As for the tires think of all the negative impacts they may have in the long run. as far as them eventually breaking down an releaseing toxics/pollutants. that an also if it is a lake somewhere well drinking water has to come from some where. just recycle the tires an dump the trees in the water.

memo

bmadd reply :

I have seen this done on many small rivers as a place for smallmouth to spawn. Not sure if it is legal or not however.

5bass reply :

Its best to check with your local game dept before you do anything like that. Laws are different in every state.

I would stick to trees and brush, maybe some PVC type deals and the pallet thing is popular here in Va. There are a few lakes around that the game dept has sunk a bunch of skids as fish attractors. Only problem is they tell everyone where they dropped 'em and every Tom, Dick and Harry fishes them daily.

When you finally do decide on what to sink, location should be your main priority.

Bassnajr reply :

I have read that larger trees/tree branches are the best. Like Muddy said, the X-Mas trees have been reported to hold only smaller fish. I plan on sinking a few large trees (cut them on the shore and drag them out onto the water) and wait for the melt. We'll see.

ajr

EastTexasBassin reply :

We did this on my friend's pond and it worked very well. We took several christmas trees and large branches and dropped them with cinder blocks in a few spots in 10 to 15 feet of water. The structure itself seems to provide a hiding spot for bluegill and other forage, which keeps the bass nearby. On the sonar I can almost always see some bass either suspended next to the trees or near the bottom next to them. We dropped marker buoys over each pile and we just leave them there. (Its on private property so there's only a few guys that fish the pond)

Grey Wolf reply :

Check with your local DNR but I would say the tires would be a no-no.

fishizzle reply :

personally I don't like seeing tires in ponds but it wouldn't bother me if you sunk trees illegally

there were some great threads here last winter on man made cover

Matt Fly reply :

In Texas, its not up to the the Game Wardens to decide what you can sink.

Its the controlling water authority of said Resovoir or lake that controls that. The very same authority that tells residents on most lakes what kind of docks they can build would be the same agenscy to ask if its legal in your state.

With that being said, the Core of Engs. has been using tires to make reefs in alot of man made lakes.

They are two huge tire reefs towards the dam on Fork

airborne_angler reply :

Now the whole sunken tree thing does sound better to me. When a lake floods,the trees cant pick up and move and can get submerged,so the tree thing is more natural to me.

The reason I was wondering about the tire thing is,other than fishing,I work on older cars as a hobby. I mount and dismount tires(saves money) Figure the cost of gas to drive to the tire shop,the cost of dismounting/mounting and then the additional cost of them disposing of the old tires,it all adds up.So even though its a little labor intensive to do it by hand(read: NO AIR TOOLS),it really does save some cash.

Ive done some tires recently and have them laying around,thats the reason I asked about sinking them.

If everything was going to be legit and positive,it WOULD be a WIN-WIN. I get to dispose of the tires,and the fish and other critters get a habitat,and In a few years it may flourish into a decent fishing hole.

I continue to welcome your thoughts and opinions. With that said Im going to call the Fish and Game here and see what they say.I wont do anything of the sort until I get the okay from Game Management.

Muddy reply :

Quote
personally I don't like seeing tires in ponds but it wouldn't bother me if you sunk trees illegally
there were some great threads here last winter on man made cover

The Industrial park had us contact a PA,DNR guy, he limited us to any tree that grows around the pond, any of the commoly sold christmas and untreated pallets.

SLO_ROLL reply :

Structure not cover. Structure holds fish 365. "PRIME REAL ESTATE" That one spot you can almost, and I said "almost" always catch fish on. I would rather make a rock pile than sink brush for someone to see me fishing it roll over it with their graph, fish it to death, move it, mark it on gps, etc.

Matt 825 reply :

I agree with Slo_Roll rock piles are the way to go especially for smallies. I was ice fishing on a pond about 10 years ago and wasnt catching anything, so I decided to drag out a bunch of rocks that were in a pile on the shorline. I spent all day dragging my sled back and forth to create a rock pile that was about 5' x10'. Marked it with my handheld GPS and every year since then that spot has been the best offshore spot for smallies.

Of course in Massachusetts that was completely illegal just like sling shots, blowguns, fireworks and any other fun activity. lol ;D

simplejoe reply :

The one river I fish up camp there's a pile of tires out in the middle of the river and I always catch a few smb there so they do hold fish. But I also heard it takes 7 quarts of oil to make a single tire, That's alot of oil being thrown in the water. I don't know I'm no expert by no means. I would stick to the wood structure idea.

Bassboss reply :

Automobile tires?

I was swimming in some river and I saw a whole Automobile!

I would not do it! They could rust, and disperse all kinds of bad stuff in the water.

Matt 825 reply :

There is one lake that I fish sometimes that the state actually Installed several tire reefs way back in the 70's for "fish habitat" The tires are still there and I loose a bunch of Blade Baits each year on them.

I dont think that it was the best choice of material for fish habitat and I am sure it would not be the prime choice material today, but the tires do hold fish.

surfer reply :

Quote
When you finally do decide on what to sink, location should be your main priority.

That is some good advice. I sank a half an orange tree in the wrong spot. Took me about 5 hours, 15 cinderblocks and 15ft of chain. Not a d**n thing hangs out there. I later realized that is because it is in the middle of a virtual desert. Sure it's an oasis for passerbys, but its no bass city. Nothing caught yet. Now I gota figure out how to move the thing.

The only good news is I now know where to move it to. From 20 ft deep with no weeds to 15 ft deep on the edge of a forest of weeds. It about a 200 yard move. I am not looking forward to that.

clipper reply :

If you do get permission, tie three of them in a triangle with nylon rope, weight with plenty of concrete blocks, and drill a hole in the top of each tire to let out the air so it will sink. You will find it's an awful lot of work, bass don't hang around them much, but folks seem to catch catfish and crappie around them.

PS If the water goes down they are a terrible eyesore!

simplejoe reply :

check this out

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050903379.html

Omaha reply :

This thread at Pondboss is incredible. http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

Omaha reply :

These were fun and easy to make for my small pond.

crw reply :

Man made structure/cover made from Christmas Trees, old rims and tires, work really well for crappie. Only marginally well for bass, although the rims and tires seem to do much better the Christmas trees. We have pull fallen trees half way into the river and had luck within 2-4 day.

nitro929 reply :

if tires cause a problem the in nevada and az we are screwed as the marinas use tractor tires chained toreather to form wid breaks for them so over 5 hunded yards or so and 4 tires wide

LCpointerKILLA reply :

Quote

Quote
When you finally do decide on what to sink, location should be your main priority.

That is some good advice. I sank a half an orange tree in the wrong spot. Took me about 5 hours, 15 cinderblocks and 15ft of chain. Not a d**n thing hangs out there. I later realized that is because it is in the middle of a virtual desert. Sure it's an oasis for passerbys, but its no bass city. Nothing caught yet. Now I gota figure out how to move the thing.

The only good news is I now know where to move it to. From 20 ft deep with no weeds to 15 ft deep on the edge of a forest of weeds. It about a 200 yard move. I am not looking forward to that.

lake conway?

Dock Master reply :

I have seen a few tires in my small pond. Every year when the spawn comes around there is a bass bed in hole of the tire.

They do attract fish, but I would find something more enviromentally safe.

DINK WHISPERER reply :

So that's why i saw those guys with HUGE trees strapped to the back of their bass boat at 3:30am huh, LOL!

bigtimfish reply :

Quote
I have read that larger trees/tree branches are the best. Like Muddy said, the X-Mas trees have been reported to hold only smaller fish. I plan on sinking a few large trees (cut them on the shore and drag them out onto the water) and wait for the melt. We'll see.
ajr

Do you think it only holds smaller fish because of where it ended up? If you put them in the middle of a sandy bottom flat with no grass anywhere around, why would it hold good fish? If you put christmas trees in a good spot, like say the edge of a creek channel in 15ft of water. Those trees will draw good fish. Just my opinion.

Omaha reply :

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