Thread: Bamboo Crappie Condos

Sure it's been asked but anyway I have a reservoir were putting several of these in . Where's gonna be the best area? It's about 25 acres completely void of depth changes except for an old slough running across one side. Everything else is gonna be about 8' deep. Is basically round with no points or coves and the banks drop off fairly quick to depth. Thanks.

Originally Posted by dblevens

Sure it's been asked but anyway I have a reservoir were putting several of these in . Where's gonna be the best area? It's about 25 acres completely void of depth changes except for an old slough running across one side. Everything else is gonna be about 8' deep. Is basically round with no points or coves and the banks drop off fairly quick to depth. Thanks.

in resivoirs with no cover, i have found that where ever you drop it, it will hold fish. But some on the old slough will produce a little better if the fish have options.

This thread has given me a lot of ideas, I have 3 species of bamboo growing at my place, and I fish a public lake that has NO structure besides blow downs along the banks, I have been throwing around the idea of sinking some habitat, I have two concerns 1st it seems like a 5 gallon bucket filled with concrete could be top heavy and lay down? would a wider lower container be prefered? I know its been mentioned that the Bamboo should be half the length as the depth it is sunken in, but just how important is that? reason being I have plenty of 5- 6ft bamboo and very little thats 8ft+. Thanks ahead of time

Originally Posted by Tom 513

This thread has given me a lot of ideas, I have 3 species of bamboo growing at my place, and I fish a public lake that has NO structure besides blow downs along the banks, I have been throwing around the idea of sinking some habitat, I have two concerns 1st it seems like a 5 gallon bucket filled with concrete could be top heavy and lay down? would a wider lower container be prefered? I know its been mentioned that the Bamboo should be half the length as the depth it is sunken in, but just how important is that? reason being I have plenty of 5- 6ft bamboo and very little thats 8ft+. Thanks ahead of time

Tom I have not dropped very much bamboo, but what I have sank seemed to stand up pretty good because of the air that is in the boo sections. In fact the first that I tried to sink I had to get back out of the water and take back home and put more concrete in bucket because it floated. Now one trick that I have heard on this forum is to cut a x on 4 corners of the bottom of the bucket and put rebar to widen bottom surface so the bucket won't fall over later. As far as the depth thing I would say just use what you got as long as it does not cause any safety problems for other boaters and skiers. And make sure you put enough concrete for weight so you don't have the problem that I had. Be safe and good luck fishing.

scrat is correct; drill 1" holes every 90 degrees thru the SIDES near the of bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and place rebar or PVC piping sticking out 18"- 24" before adding the cement. This will help keep it upright unless an US Navy "AEGIS" class guided missile cruiser or similar object collides with it. As far as keeping `boo where you drop it use the `secret weapon`: 14" blocks weigh 45 pds EACH and will probably hold down more bamboo that you can safely get over the side of your boat; have a friend help you after snatching the hand held GPS unit away from him and throwing his batteries overboard. Lastly, in bowl shaped lakes and ponds, if I may `suggest`, the shallow to deep lines with "BB"s (brush or bamboo blocks) shallowest and PVC deepest have HAND DOWN and thumbs up been our most productive type of sets we have ever "splashed". And nothing against `boo, but consider adding a few buckets of fruit tree branches, especially mulberry. It lasts for about 10 yrs underwater, is common in many areas and is a fruit tree ie, it has `sweet` sap which means that many lower organisms like to eat it, thus creating a richer and more diverse lower end of your food chain...

I found some nursery pots that are wider and shorter than Your typical 5 gallon bucket, so I think they will work fine, I plan on sinking them in 12 to 15ft of water, I think this depth will keep Summertime crappie a place to hang out!

Originally Posted by Tom 513

This thread has given me a lot of ideas, I have 3 species of bamboo growing at my place, and I fish a public lake that has NO structure besides blow downs along the banks, I have been throwing around the idea of sinking some habitat, I have two concerns 1st it seems like a 5 gallon bucket filled with concrete could be top heavy and lay down? would a wider lower container be prefered? I know its been mentioned that the Bamboo should be half the length as the depth it is sunken in, but just how important is that? reason being I have plenty of 5- 6ft bamboo and very little thats 8ft+. Thanks ahead of time

That bamboo will act like a parachute on the way down, logic would say that a shorter and fatter base would work best but I've used 5 gallon buckets and even thicker cardboard boxes and they all sat upright without any help. Here are the ones I had the best luck with.



We found out that 80lbs of quickcrete is a bit much and 50 lbs will easily do the job with 40 being the least we would do. They are still all sitting upright and are producing fish consistently.

Cheap, easy and the boxes are biodegradable...very nicely done sir !