Thread: making a pvc shade structure

I built a shade canopy out of 6 inch pvc pipe and vinyl lattice board. I made a 4x8 frame with 3 ft long legs on the corners to give plenty of space under structure. After frame I laid 4x8 lattice flat on top of frame and attached with a dozen medium size zip ties. To add weight I took the legs and filled the bottom ft of each leg w qiuckcrete. (add concrete before attaching legs) And when it was built I drilled 2in holes every 8in in the frame. This allows minnows to hide inside the frame itself. And they do! Hundreds of them swim in and out of the holes darting around from hole to hole. I dropped this shade canopy in a 15 acre private lake that has really clear water. I set it in 8 ft of water in an area that gets a lot of afternoon sun. It works great and holds a lot of fish when the sun drives fish to deeper water. The fish seem to feel very secure under the canopy even in 8 ft of gin clear water I have fished right. over the top of structure and caught fish. This design is great for creating permanent shade for fish. This is easy to build and works great. The best way to fish this is to swim a jig down the length of structure. I usually use a rapala dt 6 in a bluegill color on this spot. Swim it right down edge of structure and hold on! The crappie explode from under canopy and inhale your lure. Anyway just thought I would share this design if anyone else tries it let me know how it works for ya. GOOD FISHING!

Crappie especially, prefer vertical, open and somewhat scant cover to suspend in. In a large open and vast body of water, Different varieties and densities of cover are used by fish from just chilling out to hunting around. Not all fish bury themselves in shade and dense cover like a bass to ambush their prey. Variety is the key, they need all types from dense shallow cover for the new fry, to open structure to hunt and hide in or around. Make any sense?