man made brush piles 2024

chasescott reply :

Unfortuantly the strong storms we had over the past few weeks in Arkansas completely knocked down my privacy fence. But on the plus side i have a whole lot of scrap wood. I have decided to put together some "Bass Boxes" and would like to know what everyone thinks about them. My plans are to attatch some limbs to the top once i get to the lake. I still have not decided how i will sink the boxes to make them stand up straight.

Any ideas or suggestions. I have enought wood to make about 5 or 6 more of these.

Jig Man reply :

Anchor opposing corners with concrete blocks or rocks. Use a bud and 2 long ropes. Put ropes on opposing corners and lower at the same time, preferrably from 2 boats. When they are resting on the bottom upright you can both let go of one end of your ropes and haul them in. Repeat until you are out of boxes.

surfer reply :

Nice boxes. I bet it would work weather it stands straight or not.

ScroGG ToGG reply :

i just wait til right after Christmas, drive around to apartment dumpsters, get 8 or 9 nice, full trees, put em in 5 ga. buckets, with concrete, and find a nice spot to drop em..

slomoe reply :

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Nice boxes. I bet it would work weather it stands straight or not.

Raul reply :

Just be shure before you dump anything in your lake that it 's not illegal. Some lakes or waterways do have restrictions.

HesterIsGod reply :

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i just wait til right after Christmas, drive around to apartment dumpsters, get 8 or 9 nice, full trees, put em in 5 ga. buckets, with concrete, and find a nice spot to drop em..

Nah dont waste nice boxes like those on christmas trees. That would be a lazy way out. Plus christmas trees are not great bass structure and simply will not hold big bass because they cannot fit in it. Search along the bank or in forests along your lake. Look for willow branches or go somewhere else and get branches of fruit trees. They rot slowly and will be their a while.

CJ reply :

I agree with Hester09.

I just let all the local crappie guys do the work.And sometimes they mess up a good spot.

marcoman reply :

When using Christmas trees you need to make "holes" for the big bass to back into. Cut some branches out and it will work.

The homemade boxes work wonderful too. Bass will relate to a twig if that's all that's around.

I agree to check with local authorities before sinking anything.

Bud reply :

Christmas tree don't work good as brushpiles. The sap in then will lower the O2 around then and the needle are to fine.

The best thing is to use a clean 5 gal plastic bucket with the handle removed and a couple inches of sand or gravel in it. Does not matter if it is upright or not. Another advantage is the bucket are hard to see with a DF. So only you know were you drop them.

justbassintime reply :

i found that wood palets work great, i use three and wire them up to look like a triangle. and add 2 foundation block, trust me 1 dosen't work, just makes a nasty floating hazard for boat to run into. i work for the ky. fish and wildlife. and every spring we put out thousands of christmas trees that we get from a local tree farm, we drill 1.5" holes in the base and tie a rope to the tree and concrete block it works well. but this is mainly used for crappie and bait fish, but were there is bait fish there are bass. also water willows work great for bass, they attract bass within days but after about 2 months they sour and the bass will leave for about 3-6 months.

John J. reply :

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i found that wood palets work great, i use three and wire them up to look like a triangle. and add 2 foundation block, trust me 1 dosen't work, just makes a nasty floating hazard for boat to run into. i work for the ky. fish and wildlife. and every spring we put out thousands of christmas trees that we get from a local tree farm, we drill 1.5" holes in the base and tie a rope to the tree and concrete block it works well. but this is mainly used for crappie and bait fish, but were there is bait fish there are bass. also water willows work great for bass, they attract bass within days but after about 2 months they sour and the bass will leave for about 3-6 months.

I agree, wooden pallets are the best! I took three of them and stacked them on top of each other and nailed them in place, then I took a bunch of limbs, brush and pine boughs and tied them on.

The only drawback with the pallets it takes more than 3 concrete cinderblocks to sink them (Believe me I know from experience ;D).

I sunk one in my pond and like two days after I sunk it I was pulling bass off of it!

Another drawback is that when it rots, it takes up the available oxygen in the water. but as long as it is a big lake or a lake with running water to mix in the oxygen it should be fine. My pond is about an acre and a half, but it is fed by a constantly running creek which me and the family stacked stones and blocks to make a waterfall cascade effect which would allow the oxygen to mix well with the water before it fed into the pond, and also it looks nice too!

Tpayneful reply :

I am going to go out and drop some brush to make a couple of brush piles when the wife gets home this afternoon. My lake is clear, has almost no shoreline cover and almost no grass. I have dropped 6 brush piles over the last two years and have caught fish off of each.

I collect branches from downed trees, cut and bend them to a length of about 4 feet. I stack them into bundles and tie them tightly with 1/8" nylon cord. I lined my boat with clear plastic and then placed the cinder blocks, bundles and Christmas tree in the boat.

I drive the boat out to the spot that I want to drop the pile on. I use the trolling motor and depth finder to find the spot that I want to drop the brush on. I drop an ancor off the back and use the trolling motor to fine tune the position and then I drop an ancor off the front. This keeps the boat in position.

I set one or two cinder blocks on a bundle. I carefully toss the bundle over board. Be careful when you do it because you can lose your balance and go overboard. I am going to drop 4 bundles on one spot and two bundles and a Christmas tree on the second. I mark the spot on GPS and write down location notes on the back of my map. Gotta be able to find it after you drop it!

I know that people have mentioned not using Christmas trees but I have caught fish off of them. Heck I look at every downed tree, discarded metal shelving unit and shopping cart and wonder if I could make a brush pile out of it!

Here is a picture of one of the bundles:

Tpayneful reply :

Here is a picture of the boat loaded up and waiting to go:

surfer reply :

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Here is a picture of the boat loaded up and waiting to go:

where do you sit? ;D

Tpayneful reply :

There is exactly 18" x 18" on the other side where I can hop in the driver's seat and drive! The first location that I have chosen is only 1/2 mile away from the launch ramp. The second spot is about a one mile run.

SV1000 reply :

I am new here but I've been reading for a little over a year.

I live on a private 55 acre lake and I've been hustling to drop some crappie condo's made from the top 10 feet of bamboo, 5 gallon buckets and quickcrete. I would rather fish for bass but the crappie will be fun too.

After looking at the leftover pile of bamboo shafts that are 10-15 feet long and up to 2" in diameter in my driveway I decided I will build some bass condos. I plan to build them using the same method as the crappie condos but using bigger boo. I think it will work and it certainly won't hurt, my lake has very few trees, mostly weedbeds around the perimeter.

I am also building some mats using the bamboo and a single concrete block stood on its end, sort of like the spokes in a bike with the block in the center.

My lake is shallow ranging from 2-23 feet but approximately 80% of it is less than 5'. I think the mats will help the bass population.

fishizzle reply :

Great ideas and since you have 5-6 of them do a couple different styles and see which produces the most and biggest.

Like tying a couple branches to one and a bunch on another

Then report back to us in a couple months....We love scientific studies.

Are you gonna put them in deeper water off shore so no one else can find them?

Are you also gonna position them on migration routes and near deep water?

fishizzle reply :

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Here is a picture of the boat loaded up and waiting to go:

Love the duck blind

Tpayneful reply :

SV1000 Welcome to the board!

I think your plan will work. Just make sure that you have enough weight to get your condo to sink and stay on the bottom. Last year I caught fish off of all 6 brush piles at one time or another. Six of my brush piles are on a dropoff to 8 - 12 feet of water.

Good luck and don't forget that you can do a search on brush piles and find other good threads on this topic.

SV1000 reply :

Fishizzle, I am not sure if you are directing your post to me but I think so.

I have dropped one group of 3 crappie condos in 20' of water and will drop several more groups of 3 in the same area. The deep water is accessible from the bank but I am out of casting distance intentionally.

The lake is long and skinny with the deep area in the middle, I will drop some bass structure and mats all over the lake whereas the crappie condos will just be in the deep area.

It's a small community and it won't be long before the homeowners who fish figure out what I've done even though I am dropping the structure late at night without lights on my boat. All are marked with a GPS.

Tpayneful,

I wish this lake had some dropoffs! It has a silty-clay bottom that is basically flat from 2'-23'. I really can't complain about the lake though, I caught my biggest bass of my life last night that weighed 6.75 and was 23". Two nights ago I snagged 5 and 5.5 pounders that went back in the water. A 2.5 pounder went into the pan.

I expect to be in this house for at least the next 6 years while my daughters finish high school and start college. I want to do my part by improving the fishery any way I can. I am on a tight budget but I may stock a few thousand Coppernose Bluegill this spring.

fishizzle reply :

thats awesome SV1000---all of it

I was asking chasescott but I really appreciate your story

Its nice to go out and know where fish are exactly

Even if your secret spots get hammered the fish will always return, they just get smarter

Thanks

chasescott reply :

fishizzle, i am going to put the structures in deep water. the lake i am putting them in is a big, deep, clear, north arkansas lake. i will probably put them in 15-35ft of water next to an 80ft creek channel. I will probably experiement with them and do them all differently. i will also use 5 gallon buckets filled with concrete and willow or oak branches around the "boxes". All will be gps marked and hopefully no one will find them.

fishizzle reply :

That sounds awesome... good luck with that

Lets us know in a couple months how its going

surfer reply :

I didn't see it mentioned and since I see guys putting some time and effort in I thought I would share a tidbit on man made structure. Place it near spots you already know to be productive. I found this out after I had already sunk an orange tree in 20 ft of water. It has been 8 months and no fish hang out there. Just 100 yards away is a 12 ft hump. It is a hot spot. I am not sure how i am going to move the tree now.

Dean reply :

This sounds like a cool idea, just contacted the New Hampshire Fish&Game Department and waiting to hear back. Hopefully it's legal.

GobbleDog reply :

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I didn't see it mentioned and since I see guys putting some time and effort in I thought I would share a tidbit on man made structure. Place it near spots you already know to be productive. I found this out after I had already sunk an orange tree in 20 ft of water. It has been 8 months and no fish hang out there. Just 100 yards away is a 12 ft hump. It is a hot spot. I am not sure how i am going to move the tree now.

Dropped in Lake Conway? I know there are supposedly a bunch of structures in the 3rd lake (southernmost), but I have no idea where they are.

surfer reply :

Yep. Lake Conway. Middle of the Middle lake. I know of one set of Christmas trees in the 3rd lake. And I know about where a spring is in the third lake, but I haven't been able to locate it exactly.

Are you familiar with the helicopter and bus on the first lake? It is in front of the FOP lodge. It's used for rescue dive training. I never thought to fish it though.

Update 3-24. I used my sonar to locate and fished it. Results... one lost jigging spoon due to a hook up with the helicopter or bus. Interesting picture on the sonar, but not distinguishable as a helicopter. FYI it's directly in line with the FOP dock about 120 yards out in 30 ft of water.

GobbleDog reply :

I knew the sheriff department practiced diving on Conway, but I'd never heard about the sunken helicopter and bus. That's pretty cool.

I've seen a lot of people fishing the middle of the 2nd lake and figured they must have sunk (or found) something. During the Wed. night tourneys you could see their luminated boeys which they'd drop on em while fishing.

A few years back, my MONEY spot in Conway was fishing the off-shore hydrilla along the northeast side of the 2nd lake - from the canal entrance on down. But for some reason, that spot isn't nearly as productive as it used to be. Nowdays I generally catch most of my bass in the first lake and work the open water hydrilla in 10 feet or so, around the dropoffs.

I've never had any luck in the 3rd lake. Just dinks along the shoreline.

surfer reply :

I wonder if more than a decade of Wednesday night tournaments has transplanted all the bass to the north lake. No mater what lake the catch them at they are all released at the church ramp. I just don't picture that many fish finding their way 1.5 miles through three right turns on a lake they have never been in to get to the canal and then make the 1/4 mile one boat wide 2 ft deep canal into the middle lake. From there it is another mile along the right shore line if they have to get back to the third lake.

Oops. Thread hijacked. Sorry.

Tpayneful reply :

Surfer,

My lake is only 211 acres so it doesn't take many boats to hit all of the community holes! Not all of mine are near prime hotspots. I saw Rick Clunn mention your suggestion on Bass Pros not too long ago. I have a topo map of the lake and have targeted steep dropoffs. The two that I put on flats were on migration routes devoid of cover. Depending on the time of year I have caught fish off of each one. Some are much better than others but this strategy has worked for me. The only consistant shoreline cover that my lake has is docks. The lake was cleared before it was flooded and it doesn't have much grass so we have to provide cover.

GobbleDog reply :

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I wonder if more than a decade of Wednesday night tournaments has transplanted all the bass to the north lake. No mater what lake the catch them at they are all released at the church ramp. I just don't picture that many fish finding their way 1.5 miles through three right turns on a lake they have never been in to get to the canal and then make the 1/4 mile one boat wide 2 ft deep canal into the middle lake. From there it is another mile along the right shore line if they have to get back to the third lake.
Oops. Thread hijacked. Sorry.

A couple years ago I looked all over the internet to find the answer to that very question - do bass go back home after being released in a tournament?

The scientific study I found showed that something like 10% of the bass went all the way back home (a few miles away), while 30% or so made it half way back, another percentage only went part of the way and the rest stayed near the area where they were released.

Their conclusion was basically that bass will stay in the new location... IF there's enough food, cover, spawning areas, etc. Otherwise they'll start swimming back home until they find what they're looking for. But it's a double edged sword because you end up with more bass competing for food in the same area resulting in smaller bass.

So based on that, there probably are more bass in the first lake of Conway, but there's also less food to go around so they probably don't grow as big compared to the other lakes.

LCpointerKILLA reply :

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I wonder if more than a decade of Wednesday night tournaments has transplanted all the bass to the north lake. No mater what lake the catch them at they are all released at the church ramp. I just don't picture that many fish finding their way 1.5 miles through three right turns on a lake they have never been in to get to the canal and then make the 1/4 mile one boat wide 2 ft deep canal into the middle lake. From there it is another mile along the right shore line if they have to get back to the third lake.
Oops. Thread hijacked. Sorry.

When I saw the title of this thread the first thing I thought about was Conway and the Wednesday night tournaments.

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