Thread: BRUSH PILE LIFE SPAN

as a cheap entertainment that can supplement food, or just for fun!

anyone that can call fishing a CHEAP FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT isn't a real fisherman LOL

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

For Fishing I Agree....but as a laydown cover for the micro-organisms, minnows, and small baitfish, Christmas Trees are one of the best....because they moss, grow organisms, and decay so fast!

People don't understand that more and more people are fishing....either to put cheap food on the table, as a cheap entertainment that can supplement food, or just for fun!
These people are also figuring out and realizing that by adding cover, they attract fish into one area, and can catch many more fish all at once!
What they DON"T CARE ABOUT, is if you don't spend the time to try and balance the fishery out, by adding cover for forage, fry, small fish, etc., you are not replenishing what is being taken....NO LAKE, can run on a deficit!
I can remember when people would say that there is no way you can strip a BIG Crappie lake of fish....it sure didn't take long for people to realize that that idea was wrong! Now you are seeing fluctuations at the Prized Crappie lakes and they had to make changes also!

Instead of telling people Christmas trees are worthless, we need to them about the benefits....in the long run, IT HELPS THE LAKE AND ALL OF US!

capps and coleman said at a seminiar one time that people use to commerical fish crappie at reelfoot lake and there crappie still in the lake

Originally Posted by blueball

capps and coleman said at a seminiar one time that people use to commerical fish crappie at reelfoot lake and there crappie still in the lake

Reelfoot had a "Small Pond" Crappie Problem...the Crappie dominated the lake due to the Perfect habitat and ate everything up...so you ended up with an OVERPOPULATION of STUNTED Crappie. They allowed commercial fishing to help remove Crappie and bring Balance to the lake....THEY MANAGED IT!
In 2001? the TWRC stopped the commercial fishing because they got a healthy BIG BASS population established, and the number of RECREATIONAL FISHERMEN HAS QUADRUPLED which is keeping the Crappie in Check....if they continued to allow Commercial fishing the lake would have not been able to handle the extra Fishing Pressure and would have TURNED THE WRONG WAY.
The Lake is Balanced...FOR NOW!

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

Reelfoot had a "Small Pond" Crappie Problem...the Crappie dominated the lake due to the Perfect habitat and ate everything up...so you ended up with an OVERPOPULATION of STUNTED Crappie. They allowed commercial fishing to help remove Crappie and bring Balance to the lake....THEY MANAGED IT!
In 2001? the TWRC stopped the commercial fishing because they got a healthy BIG BASS population established, and the number of RECREATIONAL FISHERMEN HAS QUADRUPLED which is keeping the Crappie in Check....if they continued to allow Commercial fishing the lake would have not been able to handle the extra Fishing Pressure and would have TURNED THE WRONG WAY.
The Lake is Balanced...FOR NOW!

yep,capps and coleman said you couldnt strip a big crappie lake of fish,what do they know lol
Commercial Crappie Fishing Stopped
courtesy of TWRA

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission (TWRC) closed Reelfoot lake to commercial crappie fishing during its May meeting held in Nashville, TN. The TWRC voted unanimously to close the commercial taking of crappie, which has been allowed on Reelfoot Lake off and on since the 1940's.

In recent years, the commercial taking of crappie has been by contract only. Reelfoot Lake was the only body of water in the United States where crappie could be harvested commercially and sold.

Tim Broadbent, TWRA Region I reservoir biologist stated, "Several factors have come into play over the last decade which led to the recommendation that the commercial taking of crappie be closed at Reelfoot.

First was the 15 inch minimum length placed on bass in the lake. This allowed the bass in the lake to attain a size to help keep the crappie population under control. The second factor has been that over the last ten years, sport fishing pressure for crappie at Reelfoot has quadrupled."

Broadbent further stated, "the decision made by the TWRC to close commercial crappie fishing at Reelfoot has received nothing but positive support from local restaurants, resort owners and anglers around the lake.

Originally Posted by Matt Lad

I found out that the NJ Fish and Wildlife division put out Christmas tree brush piles in a number of lakes back in 2006. The internet article also listed the GPS coordinates of the brush piles. I was wondering if, after 9 years, these piles would still be attracting fish. Anybody have an opinion on this?

Yes they are still there and their are still no fish on them. I'm not being sarcastic either. They have never been good.

Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

as a cheap entertainment that can supplement food, or just for fun!

anyone that can call fishing a CHEAP FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT isn't a real fisherman LOL

Agreed....

But it's cheap entertainment for kids!

Originally Posted by NJcrappie

Yes they are still there and their are still no fish on them. I'm not being sarcastic either. They have never been good.

What's the story behind that?
Were they put in bad locations?

I've fished some Christmas tree piles in the past. By themselves they are a good food source for forage fish but the branches are too tight for the Crappie to move in and around like they like to. I've heard of some that folks cut out sections of the branches so the fish could move around them better and they were supposed to hold crappie better. I have fished Bamboo sprays, not clumps or laydowns, that held crappie better than anything I know. By a spray I mean take 10 or 12 sticks of 'boo about 10' long and put them into a 5gal bucket and letting them lay to the sides of the bucket. Pour 40lbs of concrete and let it harden for a couple of days and drop it in about 15 fow. I won my first tourney out of this. Having Christmas trees nearby, which I found later, no doubt added to this piles success. The 'boo doesn't last but maybe a couple of years and way less if gets exposed during a drawdown but it's cheap to replace. Couple of boo sprays and a couple of cedars pretty close should be a real good setup.
I saw a pic of a hickory stick that a man had put in a stake bed 12 years or more earlier and there was still half of it there, he just pulled this one to show us. I've fished pallet piles that also held fish well in 20 to 35fow that were best in cooler water temps. Any wood that is used seems to last longer if it is dried for a time before use. I have used pine branches and plastic nearby that also worked but needed to be bigger to be effective. I think a line of brush, whatever you can get, laid down in 5 fow and running a line toward deeper water every few feet to about 20' is going to hold fish better as they can just move shallower or deeper as they need to. Some areas might not ever hold any fish for some reason. That will just tell you which ones to replenish and which to ignore. Find one that works and put another 50' away in similar depth and you just might become a slumlord. Several like this and you can hop from pile to pile and let them calm down some before you return. Trees on a river channel can be like this. Some work and some don't. Those that do have sweet spots. Can't tell you why but I've seen it several times. Maybe shade, current, bait, or maybe just cuz they're fish and don't need a reason. That's what keep me coming back........Skeet