Chtistmas trees are like corks

[Mitch]

I went out this weekend to sink some Christmas trees that I picked up from along side of the roads. Boy! it takes more weight to sink one of those things than I was counting on. I wound up having to drag them from the middle of the river along side of the boat to the bank and cut them in half in order to get them to the bottom. Im new at this reef build thing, but with the help and info from this great web site I will make it. Had fun anyway. Mitch

[Jerry Blake]

Hey Mitch:

Just wait until you try sinking a pallet!!! I quit using Christmas trees because they don't hold up very long compared to how much trouble they are (I don't use pallets anymore either).

Keep working at it and you'll come up with materials and a system that works for you. I've been putting cover in our lakes for 20 years and just started using bamboo a little over a year ago (although I have been fishing on bamboo that someone else put in for almost 3-years). I have been so impressed with how easy the bamboo is to work with, how easy it is to fish around, how well it attracts and holds crappie and how long it lasts that I don't think I'll be using much of anything else from now on.

Darryl and I put in a couple cedar trees recently because they were right near the water and needed to be cut down anyway. When we got done with the second one we agreed that for the same amount of time and trouble we could have put in 6 or 8 times as much cover using bamboo. I wish I would have thought about or someone would have told me about using bamboo 20-years ago!

I would think bamboo would be plentiful in your area. If it is folks will likely be more than happy to let you have all you want.

[gooch]

Forget the effort to put out the trees or the weight needed to sinkem the thing I hate is the ceadar needles that stay in your boat FOREVER. And you just got to love the super glue like sap that makes the equivenent of pine knots out of the hair on your arms.

I just might give up fishing if I had to sink Christmas trees to catchem. Thank God for Jerry Blake and his crappie condo. Now if he can just tell us a way to get a kitchen pass to go and fish those condos anytime we want, he will officialy be "the man"

[sac-a-lait]

well, fishing trees is even worse...You STAY hung up

[Jerry Blake]

Forget the effort to put out the trees or the weight needed to sinkem the thing I hate is the ceadar needles that stay in your boat FOREVER. And you just got to love the super glue like sap that makes the equivenent of pine knots out of the hair on your arms.

I just might give up fishing if I had to sink Christmas trees to catchem. Thank God for Jerry Blake and his crappie condo. Now if he can just tell us a way to get a kitchen pass to go and fish those condos anytime we want, he will officialy be "the man"

Hey Gooch:

When you come fishing with me or Darryl just bring your handheld GPS along and we'll make sure you get good waypoints for the condos we fish that day.

We could publish a list of about 450 waypoints we have but it wouldn't be much help to anyone. Without knowing what time of year and at what lake level to fish each spot it would be a wild goose chase checking them all out. Some waypoints are on old brushpiles we plan on '"refurbishing", some are out of the water and some are in 40-feet of water.

[Cane Pole]

I agree with Mr. Blake. Nasty mess, don't last long ( couple a years). They get that green slime on them and become a big lump under water. Thugs like em. If u gonna use em, thin their branches out before us sink them. Again another nasty mess....

[slabbatical]

Mitch,
In P-cola I'd bet you could find some bamboo about as easy as trees.

good luck

[Mitch]

Your rite! The bamboo is everywhere. Never payed it any attention until I read about its many uses on this web site. Havent found any growing wild. It all seems to be used alond fence rows for privacy. I guess I will just have to stop by some house and see if anyone is willing to part with some. Mitch. Pensacola

[Jerry Blake]

Hey Mitch:

We have several patches we get it from and the property owners of all but two said, "Take it all!" and the other two were happy to let us trim it back some, which amounted to a LOT of bamboo.

[turkeyfootnc]

I used to put Christmas trees in my ponds and always ended up doing this by myself. That is more of a job that everybody thinks. After this past Christmas, some friends and neighbors asked me if I wanted their trees and I told them to throw them in a brush pile and burn them. They are too aggravating to throw in a pond.