Still looking for my condo

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09-29-2007, 05:06 AM
jmack

Still looking for my condo

I'm still looking for the condos i sank over 20 days ago :( it still does not show up on my graph, Now, i'm gonna go and take some 10' joints of pvc, screw them together and try to locate them the old gps i have gets me within maybe 18-20 feet on a good day, but thats 18-20 feet in any direction, so i'm guessing it should be within a 40' circle. thats a lot of error to be off if you can't see the darn thang to start with. its sitting in 30' of water, about 9' tall and 8' wide, with a length of about 18'. I didn't think of putting anything in there for a positive sonar reflection, but when i do find it, if i do :D there will be something added for sure, like a willow tree about 20' tall. boy this is a lot of fun, scubas next.
09-29-2007, 07:52 AM
EDDY CREEK BANDIT

Give it a little time, Algae will grow and it will be easier to find. That is one of the advantages of PVC. Hard to find for you and everyone else. At least you know it is there. I have one that is just about invisable, the only way I see it is if there are fish on it and they show up.
THE BANDIT
09-29-2007, 09:09 AM
CrappiePappy

I don't know, Bandit/Jmack ....

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDDY CREEK BANDIT

Give it a little time, Algae will grow and it will be easier to find. That is one of the advantages of PVC. Hard to find for you and everyone else. At least you know it is there. I have one that is just about invisable, the only way I see it is if there are fish on it and they show up.
THE BANDIT

will algae actually grow on PVC in 30ft of water ??

I don't know if adding "wood" or a Willow tree is the answer either ... esp. if you're going to be using jigs around it. Isn't one of the main ideas of using PVC, NOT getting hung up in it ??

A 40' circle isn't all that big an area ... that's only three boat lengths +/- .... and a 20deg cone angle shows a 10ft diameter circle of bottom, in 30ft of water ... so why not make 4 passes over the area, and look for the bucket (or concrete base), dropping markers during each pass (so you don't pass over the same area twice) ??

I'm interested in placing some PVC condos, myself ... so I'm just playing "devil's advocate" here, with these questions/statements. I keep "hearing" about all these latest and greatest depth finders, GPS enabled units, and such .... but, I've yet to see a picture of a depth finder screen display showing a PVC condo. If my old $100 Eagle's can pick up a single small fish's air bladder ... then why can't these multi-thousand dollar systems find a piece of PVC ?? Isn't PVC a denser material than wood ?? Or is it because the PVC is arrayed in a "standing" position ?? And, if that's the case ... why not put some smaller cross members thru the upward pointing pipes, and cap them (leaving air inside, to return the signal) or fill them with concrete (to show a signal above bottom) ??

Just curious. ... cp :cool:
09-29-2007, 10:27 AM
EDDY CREEK BANDIT

Algae will grow in 18 foot or so. I know it will on Barkley Lake where my PVC is located. Mud will also coat the stuff. The way I understand it the PVC does not return the signals as well as wood or other solid materials. If you cap the ends and trap air it should show up just like air bubbles show up. I lost a bucket a couple of years ago in twelve foot water only to find it last year, I assume due to the mud or algae building up. I would have missed the bucket unless I had been looking for it specificaly. I really found it by fish signals and then concentrating real hard to find it. Catching fish nearly every time I fish it now. It is worth the effort.
THE BANDIT
09-29-2007, 10:49 AM
gone fission

Another reason pvc might not show up well on standard (down looking) sonar is simply the angle of the pvc sticks in the bucket of concrete. There has to be some horizontal type of structure to reflect the sound waves back to the transducer to read & show on your display. I have pvc in less than 8 feet of water that is hard to find.
09-29-2007, 02:36 PM
blairarnold

I've read where some of the members would stuff aluminum foil or pour gravel or jam a stick down the pvc where it would show up.
09-29-2007, 05:09 PM
john h

i used to fill mine with gravel and dog food mix ..attracts fish instanstly and shows up great.. i always drilled bunch ofholes in my pvc so it helped sink also..i seen alot of people just put plaine pvc with no holes..dont know whatis actually better just know what works for me
09-30-2007, 05:01 AM
jmack

Quote:

Originally Posted by john h

i used to fill mine with gravel and dog food mix ..attracts fish instanstly and shows up great.. i always drilled bunch ofholes in my pvc so it helped sink also..i seen alot of people just put plaine pvc with no holes..dont know whatis actually better just know what works for me

john, i drilled holes in the verticle poles as well, all thirty of them. it sank really easy, just dissapeared, lol. i'm gonna do the blind man trick today, with a 30' pole and tap, tap, tap. I'm putting some suspended condos on top of these that are 10' tall also, thats why its important for me to exactly locate the bottom condo. i'll then have structure from 10' down to the 30' bottom.
10-09-2007, 09:20 PM
John Brower

as long as you dont have air trapped in the pipe by capping it, pvc will sink easily, it's a good idea to have a concrete block attached to keep it from drifting. i tie a small weight to a large float, throw it over the side, leave and then come back and try to find the float through triangulation, depth finder and landmarks on the bank. even though it is visible, i try to find it other ways. if i can find the float, i know i can find the pvc when i put it down in the same place, beats putting the pvc down and then not being able to find it. i dont know why pvc does not show up, but i dont think it does, at least on my depth finders, which is one of the reasons i use it.

regards
john b.