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Hey ya'll my father is thinkin about putting out some condos pretty soon. I've done quite a bit of reading on them here on this site thanks to you guys. We were thinking that 20 feet of water is a year round good depth. Anybody have any success/failure stories on placing condos and what the results were? In regard to locations you put them. General...i.e.....mouth of a cove/near rip rap...etc. Failure is just as important as success, so we don't make the same mistake. Thanks.
Failure is part of the game. Not all condos hold fish for some reason. I perfer stake beds either driven or made. Most of everything we put out is on or close to a creek channel. Pay close attention to the bends of the creeks. Out side bends seem to work the best. I drive stake in shallow water 7-12 ft. and make condos for the deeper water. 18 ft. seems to be a good depth on Pickwick. We make stake beds with 1x1 oak strips. Put them in a dish pan of concrete. After the concrete sets up remove the pan to be used again.
http://images.snapfish.com/343676272...C3927%3Bot1lsi
I would check out Jerry Blakes article on this website. You dont have to use the size cane that he has as he is using his brush piles in deeper water. Also the 10 to 12 foot switch cane is easy to find. Plus the best thing about the cane is that it is round and apparently is tough to hang on.
Good luck.
So far none of my condos have failed. All produced within days. I can't wait for the hot weather to see if they use the deeper condos. This year they are all bamboo with leaves on. I have them in 16' to 35' of water. I put most of them at the mouths of creeks and coves right on the sharpest breakline. Say you are following a sloping bottom into deep water. It drops about the same slope but at some point it will have a faster steeper drop. Put the condo on this drop off. I have some on the edge of channels. I try to put them at a slight curve of the channel. Some type of irregular bend or depth change. I have them on the inside bend and the outside bend of creeks. The most productive condo I have is in 24' in the center of a cove between where a small creek channel runs into the main creek channel.
CRAPPSTER, MAKE SURE AN FILL YOUR BUCKETS CLEAR FULL OF CRETE WHEN MAKING THEM!!HAD A FEW 2/3 FULL-DROPPED THEM ALONG CHANNEL WITH CURRENT.LOL--CANT FIND THEM NOW!!SUPPOSE THE BUOYANCY OF THE BAMBOO[12-15 ft high]AND NOT ENOUGH WEIGHT WAS THE PROBLEM!!MY OTHERS ARE IN PLACE THOUGH AN HOLDIN FISH. GOOD FISHIN TO YA!!!DENNIS
Folks,
Many thanks for the feedback. I'll now try and find some free bamboo and start trying to make some condos. Placement will be the key, so that should be fun to set up. I've just registered and this is the first time to this site. Great info and appreciate all the sharing of expertise. Now if I can just out fish little crappster!
BigCrappster
Thanks a bunch for the responses so far. As you can see, my father joined the site, and he is the reason I posted the question in the first place. You see.....he's not very good at catching crappie, and takes a looooooong time to learn a lake, so he thinks some condos might help him catch some fish. Poor guy, I feel bad about telling him my fishing reports, and then I get his reports about how he found a new crappie "honey hole." And that he caught 5 in his new honey hole. Poor guy. Anyhow, any sympathy you post on here....I mean advice you post on here would be greatly appreciated by him.
Bigcrappster--alot Of It For Me Has Been Trial An Error!!started Out Makin Pallet Condos...lol!!like Trying To Sink A Pontoon,the Bamboo/buckets Are For Sure The Way To Go!!plenty Of Help On The Board If You Need It.good Fishin To Both Of Ya!!!dennis
Dennis, Moose,
Thanks very much for the feedback. I'll have to put a fish whupping on the Crappster when he comes up again for all that abuse! And by the way Crappster that was six fish yesterday and not five!
Looks like I've got to find some legal bamboo and start to make them.
Got to see a brawl at the boat dock coming out yesterday on West Point. Damn shame people can't get along, but it only takes a couple of hot heads to get it going. Just glad no guns or knives came out.
Bigcrappster