Small Scale Bamboo Condo

[Tugaloo]

In the Jan-Feb issue of Crappie Magazine, there is a picture of a guy who makes crappie condos by putting some pieces of PVC in a gallon milk jug filled with cement.

I have access to some bamboo or cane or whatever it is, but it's all pretty small. Most of the pieces aren't a lot bigger than that those pieces of PVC. Probably 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in diameter and 6 to 8 feet tall. How would it be to put 4 or 5 pieces of bamboo in a gallon milk jug and fill it up with concrete. If I put several of these in one spot, or fairly near each other, how do you guys think that would work.

In a related question, if I have a 5 gallon bucket of concrete and bamboo in my 14 foot jonboat and throw that thing over the side, is it going to swamp the boat? I mean, when I stick that bucket over the side, what's going to happen to the boat? And when I turn it loose & the boat rocks back the other way, what's going to happen?

TIA

Tugaloo

[fatboy]

I don't see any reason why they wouldn't work. Have seen many fish hang on stuff not much bigger than a twig.

[Missed Again]

Now we're hitting on something cheap and easy. Take a milk jug or 2 liter drink bottle, stick one, or two if they are skinny, shafts of Bamboo in the neck, hold them in place with drywall screws drilled through the bottle neck, fill the jug with sand and pitch overboard. One place I fish is at a gun club where I can scoop up gobs of spent shot and we have a Bamboo grove next to the pond. If it's a small lake like ours with no current this should work, and the only cost is the screws. It would take a bunch of them to make a brush pile, but they should work and would be easy to handle.

[FalconSmitty]

it should work fine. I picked up 4 donut icing buckets today that I plan to use to make some long stretches of the little bamboo pods one after another. I figure I can get 10 on my boat.

[fiddlefarter]

For the sake of our waterfowl and birds of prey do not use lead shot to weight the stuff down. Sand or rock would be a much more environmentally sound choice.

[papasage]

drop it off the frunt or back

[kunes]

Now we're hitting on something cheap and easy. Take a milk jug or 2 liter drink bottle, stick one, or two if they are skinny, shafts of Bamboo in the neck, hold them in place with drywall screws drilled through the bottle neck, fill the jug with sand and pitch overboard. One place I fish is at a gun club where I can scoop up gobs of spent shot and we have a Bamboo grove next to the pond. If it's a small lake like ours with no current this should work, and the only cost is the screws. It would take a bunch of them to make a brush pile, but they should work and would be easy to handle.

How you gonna fill the jug with sand if there's bamboo filling the space in the neck?

[Darryl Morris]

Cut the top off the gallon jug, fill with cement, insert 6-8 pieces of 4-6ft. bamboo, let set over night, sink in 10-15ft. of water, should be perfect for smaller reservoirs and much lighter to handle. If you're sinking in 25+ft. of water you'd probably want to make the 5-gallon size.

Jerry, you're the man - a real trend setter. But then again, I'm biased because I've seen firsthand the results of a bamboo crappie condo. It's a good thing bamboo grows so fast, otherwise there won't be a stick of it left in the U.S., LOL.

[Tugaloo]

Darryl, I would be interested to know why you think a smaller crappie condo should be put in water no more than about 15 feet. I'm not arguing with you. You're probably right, but since I am new at this, I'd like to know your reasons.

Thanks

Tugaloo

[Darryl Morris]

Darryl, I would be interested to know why you think a smaller crappie condo should be put in water no more than about 15 feet. I'm not arguing with you. You're probably right, but since I am new at this, I'd like to know your reasons.

Thanks

Tugaloo

Probably more preference than anything, really. Certainly, you can put any size, big or small, in any depth, deep or shallow. But there is a method to my madness. Filling half the water column to me seems to be a good size and serves multiple purposes. If you build one that is 12-15ft. tall, putting it in 25-35ft. of water will fill half the water column. The same with, say, a 6ft. tall condo would almost fill half the water column in about 15ft. of water.

Doing so will provide ample cover for the crappie to move up and down upon as conditions and pressure changes in that depth of water. One day you may be catching crappie suspended over your condo, whereas on another day they may be halfway or on the bottom of it. If the condo is to big or too small for the spot, you're limiting the condo's effectiveness and versatility to the crappie hanging out around it. Plus, that is a perfect size to be seen on your graph too.

Lastly, this concept is not unique with me. I am not the experienced expert when it comes to making artifiical cover. Jerry Blake is the one that has taught me what I know, and I'm certain he could give more details about size and placement that are most effective. Hope this answers your question.