Thread: How tall should cover be?

Input appreciated. I am heading to a lake we fish and have planted some structure in the past. We do not have much bamboo so the structure has been PVC. The lake is old farmland that was flooded, flat as a pancake and no structure except for the weedline maximum depth is 17'. I am going to be putting structure in some of the 17 foot water this year and was wondering how tall do you think it should be? The weedline is about 12' deep. When you add cover to this lake the crappie love it as there is no submerged structure anywhere in the lake.

Thanks for your help,

Oly1

About 50 % of depth would be good. Here we seldom put it over 10' of water and build it that way or less. We put most in 4 to 8' and keep it down to 3' most of the time.:D

Originally Posted by NIMROD

About 50 % of depth would be good. Here we seldom put it over 10' of water and build it that way or less. We put most in 4 to 8' and keep it down to 3' most of the time.:D

I second this.CF

50% of water depth is my rule of thumb also. I might go taller in coves where boats are not going to be driving/flying over.

Another thing to consider: If there's any pleasure boating in that lake I'd keep it atleast 8' from the surface in the deeper water.

Originally Posted by Oly1

Input appreciated. I am heading to a lake we fish and have planted some structure in the past. We do not have much bamboo so the structure has been PVC. The lake is old farmland that was flooded, flat as a pancake and no structure except for the weedline maximum depth is 17'. I am going to be putting structure in some of the 17 foot water this year and was wondering how tall do you think it should be? The weedline is about 12' deep. When you add cover to this lake the crappie love it as there is no submerged structure anywhere in the lake.
Thanks for your help,
Oly1

I'll also add these thoughts :

If there's a thermocline in the lake ... you'll want the cover to rise above it (for those times when the thermocline is present).

If the lake is drawn down during the year ... you'll want the cover to still have several feet of water over it, during the drawdown.

You'll also want to figure in the water clarity ... and make sure that the top of the cover is a couple of feet below the maximum depth that you can see a bright colored bait on a sunny day.

There may be some factors that cause a conflict in determining the height your cover should be. In those cases, and considering the 17' maximum depth of the lake, I think I'd err on the side of caution .... and make my PVC cover devices no taller than 3ft, and place them out away from the deepest weedline.

You may even consider placing them in a row, extending from just outside the weedline to the deepest point of that area of the lake. This gives the fish a "highway" to follow to the weedline, as well as giving them a choice of depth (considering the prevailing conditions/season) with a structure to orient to, at whatever depth they prefer to hold. It also provides you with a line of sight path to follow, until you can determine at what depth they're currently holding. And, by "row" .... I'm referring to "like a fence post row", with around a 10' gap between PVC devices .... NOT a "row" like "side by side" or a continuous string of PVC devices

You may also consider placing plastic buckets, filled with rock/dirt/sand, as makeshift "stumps". These can be placed with the PVC devices, in the general area of the PVC devices, or in place of them (in your highway row).

.... cp

Crappiepappy,
I was thinking the row of structure might be like a reef that they would follow as well. I placed my first batch a few years ago about 30 yards from the weedline hoping that no one else would discover the honey hole. There was a submerged log that we used to fish and you could fish it all day long and catch nice crappie. Unfortunitly 1) it sunk 2) everybody could find it and pounded the crappie. I am planning on a couple of large structures in 17 feet of water that are going to be about 7-10' tall X 4' square. Out west one thing they do is create pvc boxes about the size of a car and sink them in the lake to create additional habitat (go to Untitled

) Do you think that 3 ft stumps between the large struture and the weedline would be enough to attract crappie? I have created submerged trees by taking 3" black pvc drain pipe and putting weights in the bottom and a pop bottle at the top and then taken 1/2 black pvc pipe and inserting it thru the pipe so it sticks out both sides. I have a new depthsounder so should be able to really check it out this year. Keep the input coming and thanks for the help.

Oly1

Igrorant question - I have a pile of concrete blocks. Will I have any luck if I just drop them in a pile? Seems to me the Crappies will hide in them, but I'd appreciate your thoughts...

Originally Posted by pgottshall

Igrorant question - I have a pile of concrete blocks. Will I have any luck if I just drop them in a pile? Seems to me the Crappies will hide in them, but I'd appreciate your thoughts...

You should stick PVC or branches in the voids and fill them with concrete and let them setup, then drop them in a good spot.

Just dumping the blocks will be minimal cover and will attract minimal fish.

I've never dropped a bucket without some sort of branches or pvc in them, doesn't have to be a lot . I use rocks that I get off the side of the highway to sink the buckets drill holes in the side and stick some thing in it. 5-8 buckets at each set. get buckets at construction dumpsters... wash out the plaster and you're good to go