Thread: Various kinds of cover.

That is a Fantastic work of art...can you bring a couple of those up to Ohio by Saturday??

In all seriousness, we cannot use anything like that in our reservoir...in Ohio, most of our reservoirs are around 2-3000 acres, and most are shallow.
We are lucky that our local res is 2200 acres and is deep....OHIO reservoirs are HEAVILY PRESSURED. When you place cover, you need to try to hide it and put it in areas people hardly go...this enables the lake to support more fish.
We actually have to try and grow an entire fishery and help it sustain the population through any adverse condition, so the lake is stable and does not have population flucuations....we need the overall population to expand so fish can cover the entire lake and be able to continue having healthy spawns.
As beautiful as your cover is, THE SAD THING IS...at our lake something that big would just be a "Killing Field" for fish...idiots at our lake, would sit on it 24/7 until no fish existed.
Please try to get some "Pics" of this in the water to show us how many fish this attracts!

I wish I could see them under water but unfortunately the water in the lake I fish is murky at best, see only a foot or two deep. other than the river channel and a few other places the lake is mainly 13 ft. or less. the flats are generally around 10 ft. the largest one I built is almost 20 years old and EVERYONE I know fishes it. the amount of fish that comes off of it is amazing.. If someone asks me where to fish I always sent them to these. I never try to keep a secret hole. I always want people to catch fish. It sucks to spend money time and effort to go home at the end of the day skunked. it happens to me sometimes but for newbies it could be the difference in coming back or hanging it up.. length limits is the best way to get a healthy population. And you have to remember that 90% OF the fish are in 10% of the lake. There are some places that will not hold fish. the lake is about 2500 acres 50 or so miles of shoreline.

Originally Posted by smokinsti

I wish I could see them under water but unfortunately the water in the lake I fish is murky at best, see only a foot or two deep. other than the river channel and a few other places the lake is mainly 13 ft. or less. the flats are generally around 10 ft. the largest one I built is almost 20 years old and EVERYONE I know fishes it. the amount of fish that comes off of it is amazing.. If someone asks me where to fish I always sent them to these. I never try to keep a secret hole. I always want people to catch fish. It sucks to spend money time and effort to go home at the end of the day skunked. it happens to me sometimes but for newbies it could be the difference in coming back or hanging it up.. length limits is the best way to get a healthy population. And you have to remember that 90% OF the fish are in 10% of the lake. There are some places that will not hold fish. the lake is about 2500 acres 50 or so miles of shoreline.

Electronics will show the cover and fish on it...most have an SD card or you can download snapshots...we have a buddy who has "TOP OF THE LINE" electronics and takes "pictures" for us so we can see how he cover is doing!
We have taken the 90/10 rule and blown it away...we now have fish in 90% of the lake during the Spring, Summer, and Fall...between the Crappie, Walleye, Perch, Smallmouth, Largemouth, Warmouth/RockBass, Bluegill, Channel Cats, Shovelheads, Blues, WB, and the Native baitfish and shad...there is hardly a spot in the lake that your elctronics don't light up!

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

Electronics will show the cover and fish on it...most have an SD card or you can download snapshots...we have a buddy who has "TOP OF THE LINE" electronics and takes "pictures" for us so we can see how he cover is doing!
We have taken the 90/10 rule and blown it away...we now have fish in 90% of the lake during the Spring, Summer, and Fall...between the Crappie, Walleye, Perch, Smallmouth, Largemouth, Warmouth/RockBass, Bluegill, Channel Cats, Shovelheads, Blues, WB, and the Native baitfish and shad...there is hardly a spot in the lake that your elctronics don't light up!

The first pic is cover we added and all the fish around it...the second is where our 2nd "Freshwater Lobster Reef" is going...this is how we can pick our locations so perfectly.

Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

The first pic is cover we added and all the fish around it...the second is where our 2nd "Freshwater Lobster Reef" is going...this is how we can pick our locations so perfectly.

Here are a few other pics of cover etc...we have found this to be a GREAT tool...it allows you to map out your areas and put cover where it will do the best for the lake...you can also check if the cover is being used, at what times of the year, or what patterns...then you can add more, or move on to another area!
Our buddy Doc, has found so many things in our lake we didn't know was there...17' bassboat, 14' jonboat, culverts, springs, posts, etc, etc, etc.

Sir Intimidator is correct; even marginal areas with enough cover of various types added have almost all become fairly good fishing spots; a few have become out standing. Of the 700 we were origionally allowed to place we are close to passing 3,000 by the end of this our 8th and last (`official`) drop...can`t remember whom, but someone once said: "Don`t like the way the fishing is ? Then CHANGE IT more to your LIKING..." Sir Intimidator has gotten his hands `dirty` more than once doing this and not always under the light of day either...

Originally Posted by smokinsti

Attachment 168879

Here is one of my pvc beds that i have put out... as you can see, this one is 2 runs high. i have made singles all the way to 5 high.. i love fishing these..

Can you elaborate on how you made this?

Originally Posted by rexmitchell

Can you elaborate on how you made this?

4 inch schedule 40 pvc. 4 - 10 foot long and 4 - 5 foot long and 8 elbows or 90’s
¾ schedule 40 pvc ( A LOT OF IT) 5 TO 6 FOOT LONG

First take a ¾ inch paddle bit, and file off, just a little, off each side so that the ¾ pvc will fit real snug in the 4 inch. Drill the ¾ inch holes all the way through the 4 inch.
Space the ¾ inch holes out about 10 inches. Insert the ¾ inch pipe into the holes and use a rubber mallet to drive them in. make sure you drive them out the other side a couple few inches. That helps keep them tight so they don’t back out. And helps anchor the bed down. Drill the other set at 90 about degrees from the first and offset the 10 inch measurement. You will basically have a ¾ inch pipe every 5 inches.
You can tell in the picture that all of the ¾ is sticking all the way through the 4 inch..

Glue the 4 inch together. You should not have to glue the 3/4 , it should be tight and won’t come out.

To hold the 2 big sections together I cut spacers and put them at the corners. Drill holes through the 4 inch and use ¾ to go through both section and down through the middle of the spacer. Glue a ‘ T ‘ on each end to hold it all together.. try to get these as tight as you can so it will be more ridged when you try to move it.

Tie a few concrete blocks on it and push it in!!
Hope this helps a little.. good luck and post pics..