Thread: Artificial structure legal in Indiana?

Have a question I would like to ask before I even think about doing it or planning to do it. Are we allowed to place artificial structure in Indiana
rerservoirs? I am talking about the kinds you see southern crappie fishermen
place in their southern reservoirs such as PVC pipes stuck together and anchored by a cement base. I seen such a thing done on one of my Jim
Duckworth DVDs and was wondering if that is legal in Indiana.

I am pretty sure it is not allowed. I would suggest you call the closest DNR region office and check for sure. I know they do it in the southern reservoirs and even some of the Wisconsin lakes have cribs built in them in strategic places for the crappie. I think it would be a great idea to have some brushpiles placed in some of our older reservoirs that are starting to get the wood rotted away. They would have to be deep enough so as not to create a hazard for boats etc.

The last I knew you had to have a permit to put structure in a public lake in Indiana. I would call your local DNR office and ask. I searched the DNR web site but couldn't find anything.

-Jeff

I may call and check that out. Better to be safe and ask now than to be sorry later by putting some out and later on finding out that you can't do so!
But you have a point,though. Some of the wood you see exposed during the
winter pool time of year is rotting away in our older reservoirs and some kind
of artificial structure such as brush piles would help them out. I wonder about old christmas trees,though! Would those be legal,I wonder?

I believe that fish attracting structures would be something the DNR would like to be able to provide to our fisheries. I doubt that the funding is there to undertake this sort of project, especially during this time of economic downturn and budget shortfalls. I wonder if various clubs or organizations would be allowed to develop these with permits and directions from the state. I think that is what SkeeterJeff is talking about. With the GPS technology available, they should be able to be found. I personally would like my brush piles to be a little more private. (until someone sees me wailing on em there). Good luck with your project.

Our local Isaac Walton used to have a drop off place for Christmas trees and then they put them in the Salamonie Resevoir, but that was a few years back.
I think I saw on here or another site back in the spring someone posted they had checked and was told a DNR officer had to see the structure and where it was being placed, but don't take my word for that.

Originally Posted by old newbie

Our local Isaac Walton used to have a drop off place for Christmas trees and then they put them in the Salamonie Resevoir, but that was a few years back.
I think I saw on here or another site back in the spring someone posted they had checked and was told a DNR officer had to see the structure and where it was being placed, but don't take my word for that.

Well,...you may never know until you check for sure. As I said,...I'd rather be safe asking first than be sorry later for doing something I should not be doing on any public body of water. I have never made any such things before,
but the way I seen Jim Duckworth's brush piles look,it can't be that hard to
make one up.

I beleive it is legal , but you must post the gps coordinates here within 24hrs after sinking them........

I don't know for sure if they are legal or not but I ran into a pretty good size PVC one at Racoon as the water level was dropping.

Bamboo makes nice crappie condos. It's easy to pull your hook out of bamboo, and the crappie love it. I fished a lake in Arkansas a couple of years back where two guides (from this site) sank over 300 bamboo condos and waypointed them. They also were nice enough to send me the file of waypoints before my trip down.

Check this out:

FISH HABITAT

Family Fishing Trips

-Jeff