A few months ago I posted a reminder that a low lake level is a great time to do some scouting. Jerry and I have been doing just that. We have found lots of cover and even more places we want to put cover. We've even gotten out of the boat and walked the dry banks of shallow spawning coves. It's exciting to walk up on an area that has old crappie beds, a deep bass bed over there by that stump and the honeycomb of bream beds over there by that rise. Then you realize if there was more cover there in the shallows so many more crappie could have favorable spawning real estate.
Another great thing to do when your lake is down is build habitat and place it in the exact places you want ready for the water to rise. Jerry's post on the Crappie Structure Forum entitled "Bamboo Crappie Condos" will soon be updated with all the details of the new "Mega Mat." Crappie love to get under their cover. The vertical rise of these combined with the sheer volume should hold tons of crappie and help increase recruitment and decrease mortality of the fry. Oh yeah, and you'll know where to catch them when they run shallow.
Here's the senario. Presently, Lake Greeson is about 13' low. So, the backs of many of our coves are dry ground. We're building these near the water's edge on relatively level ground. They rise 5-6' off the bottom. So, at full pool (not the norm) they'll be in about 12' of water. Any rise in water greater than 5' will make them perfect for spawning territory.
Use heavyweight blocks 4 high to create the rise. Cross them to create the span. You'll need about 20 pieces of giant bamboo about 20' long. Put 4 bamboo stalks in the bottom blocks.
http://www.familyfishingtrips.com/images/MegaMat001.jpg
Use 4 more blocks (one each on all four corners of the mat) about 3-4 foot from the center tower.
http://www.familyfishingtrips.com/images/MegaMat002.jpg
Push the bamboo (at least 4 for each block, 2 one direction and 2 the opposite direction) through the center tower and insert the butt end into the outlying single block. This helps anchor the bamboo and keeps the head of the boo off the ground.
http://www.familyfishingtrips.com/images/MegaMat003.jpg
As you can see, there's lots of volume and just the right height for relatively shallow water. It's the equivalent to at least four 12' cedar trees that are 5-6' in diameter all pointing in a different direction and without doubt much easier to build and the bamboo should last as long if not longer.
http://www.familyfishingtrips.com/images/MegaMat004.jpg
You can see in this picture one of the former bamboo mats (leaves missing but the small branches still in tact) made with only 2 blocks. I think you can imagine how the mega mat in the background will hold more crappie and give them a great place to spawn and the fry to hide.
http://www.familyfishingtrips.com/images/MegaMat005.jpg
Hope ya'll enjoy the post and get some great ideas from it for your favorite fishing waters.