Thread: 8 buckets, any suggestions

I'll post a couple pics when I get home....but if you want Larger fish, you need to use Big PVC, big limbs, 2x4's/2x6's, or dense long lasting limbs.
I would use wood in 4 and PVC in 4, or in combination, and drop them together...8 buckets will make a nice honey hole in the right location.

The orange branches are Osage Orange (hedgeapple), they will last for a lifetime or more.
Gray branches are oak.
2x4's are untreated oak...always use untreated lumber...most contains arsenic.
You can use a 6 inch or larger middle pvc pole and put branches around it...or 2x4's, or more pictures.

Andrews (Josh) has a great post of a recent drop in the Louisiana State forum "St Johns"....they used BIG wood in buckets.

You can run rebar, or pvc, in the bottom of the bucket to form a X , then seal, and fill with concrete, to keep the buckets from falling over when they are dropped in the lake.

Intimidator, thanks for the info and pics. How far apart would you put these sets and is there any certain pattern you would suggest?

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If you're wanting to go the PVC route


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Sharpshooter
The mistake many people make is leaving too much space between cover or in the cover....Crappie need shade, ambush points, and protection...if the cover can also provide a feeding station for plankton, baitfish, and other forage, then it covers all the bases!

Look at some of the natural things that hold Alot of Crappie, or places where you would find a lot of Crappie....there are not a lot of spaces between the cover they like, I try to give then 6-12 inch gaps...they also like big stumps, posts, or BIG areas that provide shade and big things they can back up into for protection and ambush areas.

If you build something that is too spaced out it may only hold 1 or 2 fish....8 buckets like what you have, should be close, they should be almost touching at the top of the cover...we have many areas in our lake with up to 20 of the ones I made all together....this will yield the best Honey Hole....then you can work on other areas or adding to this one!

RK1, good looking trees!

Intimidator, thanks for the great info, I now look forward to cooler days ahead so I can get to work on my cover.

I wouldn't mix pvc and wood myself. I always thought the idea of using the pvc was that it was harder to see with sonar. Granted better technology may have rendered that idea moot, I still see no real value in mixing the two.

Cedar lasts a long time in water. I made these from cedar limbs that I had cut while making barn beams.





They were a pain in the rump to load in the boat.

These that I made were much easier to handle.

Originally Posted by smashdn

I wouldn't mix pvc and wood myself. I always thought the idea of using the pvc was that it was harder to see with sonar. Granted better technology may have rendered that idea moot, I still see no real value in mixing the two.

Cedar lasts a long time in water. I made these from cedar limbs that I had cut while making barn beams.





They were a pain in the rump to load in the boat.

These that I made were much easier to handle.

Agreed, if you are trying to hide everything, then pvc is the way to go, it is close to the density of water and being hollow will allow beams to be partially absorbed and pass through...if you have trenches/hiding places, other wood in the water, or don't care about stealth, wood is the ticket.
To hide things and still have the benefits of zooplankton, microorganisms, baitfish, etc., you can use wood lay-downs, close to your pvc.

Using both pvc and wood together allows for bigger beams, lighter weight, and a natural substance to feed organisms that fish feed on.

When I used Osage Orange, the doggone limbs were heavy from being do dense. There was no way to use alot of BIG LIMBS without having an army to drop them. Using a mix allowed me to really fill the bases with all BIG Materials and to sink them with 2 guys.

In all our SPECIAL areas, we only used plastic...and our members with top of the line electronics can't see it!
Water conditions, bottom content, transitions, vegetation, structure, etc., all help hide cover.


Very nice branch cover...perfect density, IMHO.