Thread: Sinking Cedars

we just got through clearing about an acre of ground for some extra yard for my grandmother. it was covered in cedars and i kept them for structure. any suggestions or ideas.

Either wait until the "green" falls off the trees, or burn them. A lot of people believe that the "green" in cedars actually repels fish, and I think there could be something to this. I know it is shocking how long it will stay on a cedar tree if submerged - you would think the water would make is dissapear quicker, but it seems to have the opposite effect.

Then cut a sprial all the way up the tree to give the bigger fish some room to get in there right next to the tree trunk.

i ve put out green ones and had fish in them the same week

You are right Riverrat - they WILL move into green trees. But I've found that if there is any other cover that they can choose from, they will move to it before choosing the green trees. I usually either scuba dive or snorkle with a mask when I place structure, and I can see what the fish do. For my personal fishing holes, I have a few "reefs" that I've been adding structure to now for several years. I can see how the fish never hang around a new "green" tree versus the other non green structures. I mostly use PVC, but occasionally mix in some natural sturcture mainly just to observe the difference.
One of these days I'm going to set up a video camera and record what the fish do when they have a choice between a green tree and a bare tree. Or compare a fruit tree versus a cedar tree - or PVC versus natural - and on and on.

When you get this research done, please post us a report fishingholebuilder,

Originally Posted by tocoldtorace

we just got through clearing about an acre of ground for some extra yard for my grandmother. it was covered in cedars and i kept them for structure. any suggestions or ideas.

we occassionally sink cedars, here is how we do it

1st step: Cut down cedar with chainsaw
2nd step: find (or buy) cinder blocks (the ones with two holes, no more)
3rd step: (takes muscle) force cedar through one of the holes of the cinder block
4th step: drop cedar in a lake
5th step: cast a slab buster jig and retrieve slowly with a weedless jig head

The cedars we use are usually pretty small, 4in trunks......

you can stack and stack and stack and create quite a mess of structure......

also we usually cut a spiral pattern, or just simply cut out spots of the tree to allow for "holes" for the bigger fish to sit in.

Good advice Pineapple - sounds much easier than mixing up concrete. My PVC trees are even easier!

Also smart advice on cutting out holes and cutting a sprial into the tree. Crappie will get on a christmas tree without you cutting out holes, but you won't get near as many as you will when you do. Cutting out the holes allows many more crappie per tree - I know for a fact that works, when I scuba dive, I can see the difference.

Originally Posted by fishingholebuilder

Good advice Pineapple - sounds much easier than mixing up concrete. My PVC trees are even easier!

Also smart advice on cutting out holes and cutting a sprial into the tree. Crappie will get on a christmas tree without you cutting out holes, but you won't get near as many as you will when you do. Cutting out the holes allows many more crappie per tree - I know for a fact that works, when I scuba dive, I can see the difference.

since helping my in laws at their lake house we have created quite the habitat around their dock.

a pvc palace on one side, sparsly littered with cedars, and on the other side a line of cedars that we keep adding to as the years go by.

next year I will be filling up my 12 foot trailer and the back of my pickup with xmas trees, we are going to follow the natural slope off their dock and completely litter it both vertically and horizontally to creat holding patterns for not only crappie but hopefully some big cats.

if you put in the time and effort you reap the rewards when it comes to structure

Green cedars will produce! I take cedars that are 6' or so, drill a hole in the base, go to the local cable tv place and get their scrap cable leftovers and cut the cable into 4-5' pieces.

I then thread the cable in the hole and back through a hole in a concrete block, put a grannie knot in it and it is ready for delivery.

I put three to a set @ 10' below full pool and go down the point another 10' and drop three more. If the water allows, I go down another 10 feet and drop three more.

I try to find a point that is gently sloping from deep to shallow, having one side feathering into the water with the other side dropping off steeply into deeper water.

Best o' luck to you. Cedars are the way to go and they are FREE! :D

aj