New structure! How long before fish get on it?

[Mississippi Slab]

Well let me start off by saying this is my first time putting structure in the lake for crappie. I know some of you guys say old christmas trees aren't the way to go, but I have caught a many of crappie around them. I picked up 7 trees in my neighborhood back the first of January. I thinned them out to where only the many limbs were left and let them sit in the backyard until all the needles fell off. I set them in 5 gallon buckets full of quickcrete. I also added some large limbs from a tree that had been cut down. The structures looked very good. Well I went out and put them in the lake yesterday in about 11 feet of water. The lake I put them in is a very shallow lake. The deepest spot is around 14 feet. This is not my primary fishing lake but our crappie club finals are going to be held there in the middle of July. I put the structures out where I have caught fish before, as a matter of fact, I fished close to where I put them yesterday and caught a few. The water was muddy but will clear up by July. How long does it take for added structure to have fish on it?

[DENNIS BOWERS]

Slab-I"ve had fish on my bamboo condos as quick as 5 days,waited till then to check em,might have moved in before?Been catchin fish off 3 of them real regular.Good Fishin To Ya!!Dennis

[GlenC]

How do you find out if its legal to put man made structures into a lake? I would think someone might get mad at us droping off our home made stuff to help us catch fish...lol.....I am not againts it. I just do not want to get into any trouble if I decide to give it a try.

[kunes]

Rango and I put out brushpiles a while back and they were loaded with fish 2 days later.

[TAE73]

I believe in all corp owned lakes you can but you have to tell them where and what you are placing in the lake. In return they can then produce or place that information on maps for all to know. I know some people that still do it, but I wouldnt want to get caught for littering.

I have heard a brushpile can take anywhere from a day to a year to hold fish, only time will tell.

[Bruce Carp]

TAE is correct about getting approval from Corps of Engineers to install, but you can apply for a permanent permit to install the same approved material as long as it is below navigation depth. I received such about 7 years ago to use only natural materials and wire to hold the materials down. Didn't have to disclose location on the request, since I was using natural materials, less wire. Same day results can happen for the new tenants! Good luck.

[Mississippi Slab]

Well GlenC I was little worried my-self about putting the stuff out for the reasons you mentioned because this isn't my primary fishin hole. As we were motoring out to the spot for the drop who do we see but the game warden. He came over looked at our stuff and said to make sure it wasn't dropped in front of any houses and out of the way of skiers. We assured him we would and went on our way.

[GlenC]

You see I come from the California mind set....Where EVERYTHING is illegal.....lol...Won't be long til you have to pay for the air you breath out there. I just moved out of Calif to Ok and am still amazed every day at the differnt things I can do.