PVC vs Hardwood

[stoddard73]

What do you prefer for sinking structure

[Boone1]

I think PVC is the easiest to deal with, but I do like hardwood structure too a lot

[sharphook]

Natural will always be a little better. But some of anything is better than a bunch of nothing.

[birddog one]

pvc will be there forever not sure how I feel about that I use mostly hard woods and bamboo

[DENNIS WILLIS]

Ifyou find beaver brush it will hold lots of fish.any docks with the trees tied to the dock also do good.

[INTIMIDATOR]

I have been experimenting with using both in the same 5-gal bucket ($1 from a local bakery) with very nice results.
I have been using a 6" pvc pipe (scraps from Lowes) (cheap), I try to get pieces that can be glued together to make 5-6 foot sections, sometimes they will sell me these sections cheap. I use this as my center pole in the 5 gal bucket....before I place the Center Pole in the concrete, I'll take a 1.5" hole saw and cut 5 holes on each side (for minnows/baitfish) and sand with 80 grit (for algae to attach).
After I place my center pole, I'll add (4-6) UNTREATED 2x4's (same or varing length) also in the concrete, and fan them around the center pole.
If you are persistant, you can get broken bags of concrete for almost nothing, scrap untreated 2x4's, and PVC...these things last and last and house their own underwater ecology...algae, minnows/fry/baitfish, and Slabs!
I also use 1x2's and 1.5" PVC in buckets in the same underwater groupings just for variation.

[TexExp]

I have been experimenting with using both in the same 5-gal bucket ($1 from a local bakery) with very nice results.
I have been using a 6" pvc pipe (scraps from Lowes) (cheap), I try to get pieces that can be glued together to make 5-6 foot sections, sometimes they will sell me these sections cheap. I use this as my center pole in the 5 gal bucket....before I place the Center Pole in the concrete, I'll take a 1.5" hole saw and cut 5 holes on each side (for minnows/baitfish) and sand with 80 grit (for algae to attach).
After I place my center pole, I'll add (4-6) UNTREATED 2x4's (same or varing length) also in the concrete, and fan them around the center pole.
If you are persistant, you can get broken bags of concrete for almost nothing, scrap untreated 2x4's, and PVC...these things last and last and house their own underwater ecology...algae, minnows/fry/baitfish, and Slabs!
I also use 1x2's and 1.5" PVC in buckets in the same underwater groupings just for variation.

Wow!!
I feel like a slacker for just dragging an old willow or dried out cedar into the lake! lol
I was gonna say that natural is better, but anything works. Also, pvc and plastic buckets won't hang your jigs like wood and branches will.
But after reading this, crappie will be fighting each other to live there. Nice stuff!

[Fishorhunt]

I used to use anything that would sink but, have found that I prefer PVC for the simple reason of not getting hung up as much. I have 2 "Charlie Brown Christmas trees" that I'm going to sink this week. I will try to get some pictures of them on here but, will decribe them now. I start with a 6' piece of 4" PVC pipe, 1 60 # bag of quick crete, 1 100' roll of black 1/2 flexable tubing, 1 5 gal bucket and 2 pieces of reb (or anything of equal strength) about 6-8' long each. I drill holes in the bottom of the bucket so that I can run the 2 pieces of rebar threw it creating an X. This keeps the "tree" from falling over. Then I place the 4' PVC pipe (now with several screws drilled in the bottom to keep it from sliding out of the concrete)in the bucket and pour in the concrete, holding the pipe vertical and as centered in the bucket as possible. After the concrete sets up a day or so later (when ever I get spare time) I start at the bottom of the PVC pipe and drill 3/4" holes all the way through the pipe in a spiral. I use the "hole then 1" over and 1" up method and that works great. After I have the holes drilled I use a saw zall and cut the roll of PVC tubing twice (usually just 1/2 of the roll on both sides) and start putting the pieces in the pre drilled holes. They slide in easly enough and have yet to come free on me. A new method that I ended up doing on the last "tree" and one that I will do again is only pushing the tubing through so that there is 8-10" on one side and 2' on the other. This looks really good and gives more area for the fish to "gather" closer to the base of the "tree". Like I said I will try to post some pictures of the two that I have ready to go sometime this week.

Oh, and I have 100's of feet of the 4" PVC pipe and get my buckets for free so that off sets my cost but, I can build a single tree for around $15.

[Danny W]

I used to use anything that would sink but, have found that I prefer PVC for the simple reason of not getting hung up as much. I have 2 "Charlie Brown Christmas trees" that I'm going to sink this week. I will try to get some pictures of them on here but, will decribe them now. I start with a 6' piece of 4" PVC pipe, 1 60 # bag of quick crete, 1 100' roll of black 1/2 flexable tubing, 1 5 gal bucket and 2 pieces of reb (or anything of equal strength) about 6-8' long each. I drill holes in the bottom of the bucket so that I can run the 2 pieces of rebar threw it creating an X. This keeps the "tree" from falling over. Then I place the 4' PVC pipe (now with several screws drilled in the bottom to keep it from sliding out of the concrete)in the bucket and pour in the concrete, holding the pipe vertical and as centered in the bucket as possible. After the concrete sets up a day or so later (when ever I get spare time) I start at the bottom of the PVC pipe and drill 3/4" holes all the way through the pipe in a spiral. I use the "hole then 1" over and 1" up method and that works great. After I have the holes drilled I use a saw zall and cut the roll of PVC tubing twice (usually just 1/2 of the roll on both sides) and start putting the pieces in the pre drilled holes. They slide in easly enough and have yet to come free on me. A new method that I ended up doing on the last "tree" and one that I will do again is only pushing the tubing through so that there is 8-10" on one side and 2' on the other. This looks really good and gives more area for the fish to "gather" closer to the base of the "tree". Like I said I will try to post some pictures of the two that I have ready to go sometime this week.

Oh, and I have 100's of feet of the 4" PVC pipe and get my buckets for free so that off sets my cost but, I can build a single tree for around $15.

I'm trying to follow you here man maybe some pics will help but for some reason I seem a little lost. It seems detailed maybe too detailed for crappie beds for this simple ol country boy Idk. Have you ever used rhino lining to attracted the algea growth faster? I've heard it works and have been wonderin.

[peepaw]

Good info. posted here. I am a strong supporter of pvc for all of the above reasons and more. Natural is just that, the original and best NATURE can offer. When we get involved, that's where the fun begins. We all agree that we want algae to grow and cover the structure. Fish don't know the difference between wood and plastic once this happens...with a few exceptions:
Wood will warm faster and hold sun's warmth longer. So in the spring, fish the wood first if you got it. As summer gets hotter, the fish seem to prefer the cooler PVC. That is when we find the biggest slabs holding in our PVC structures. Give em' some of everything, then just find what they want the day your out.