will brush piles hold fish all the time?

I put 6 or 7 brush piles of willow trees out on one of my favorite lakes 3 years ago, I sunk them with cinder blocks and bailing wire. They do attract bait fish, they do sometimes hold bass, crappie, and other species, but it's a seasonal thing for the species. I will also say once you put them out, you can catch fish off of them in less than one week, but you are simply not guaranteed to hold fish all of the time.

Yes, best tree to use is a sweet gum. Wish me had them around the metroplex.

It depends on the lake. The less cover the lake has, the better your brush will attract fish. Putting the pile in the right spot assures that the Bass will be there most of the time. It will work every time in 12 to 15 ft. of water right on the edge of a ledge. I spent 10 years putting out huge piles on the Tenn. River back in the day. One pile was all the Christmas trees banded together with a banding machine that we could get on the deck of a 30 ft. pontoon boat.

The only ones that consistently produced were the ones on the ledges.

Brush piles will hold hold them all thru the year but not the same one unless it's just that perfect location. I would suggest putting them thru out the travel path from deep to shallow. Also, there are no guarantees one will ever hold any fish, some do,some dont

Bodark.... those brush piles will still be there 15 years from now!

No. Some have them a good percentage of the time in a good percentage of the year. Some rarely to never hold fish. Location has a lot to do with it. Also water depth and season plays a big part .

What if you come across a large brush pile that has a ton of crappie on it. Will the bass be there also? Will they be below them if there is any?

I catch both bass and crappie off of mine. More crappie than bass.

Sweet Gum trees are the best. Willows attract more Crappie. Especially if you float the tops up. For Bass lay your brush piles flat. Christmas trees/evergreen trees release tannic acid and are very "tight" and hard for the fish to move in. They are also very very hard to sink. They take lots of weight for their size. Switch Cane/Bamboo or regular cane brush piles are very easy to make up and sink but they are not very productive since they loose their leaves very very quickly and then there is no significant wood structure left. (Been there done that!" The BIGGER your brush pile the more places there are for the fish to spread out and scatter on. Don't make them excessively big. It is better to place 2 or 3 separately on a point or ledge and let the fish pick which ones they prefer for that season. Location location location! And Seasonal aspects also should be considered. In the Spring the fish will use them as staging locations if you have them on a travel path to the spawning areas. You might get 1/3 of your brush piles that ever produce if you do "blind" brush piles. BUT, if you have a spot that is good then you can "sweeten" a spot with a brush pile to concentrate those fish. Crappie and Kentucky Spotted Bass WILL provide forage for BIG Bass so don't "Hate" them! Often times the Crappie will suspend and the larger bass will be underneath. If you float up your brush pile tops then your bass will also suspend up sometimes and they are harder to present your baits to. Especially if they are DEEP and you can't get a crankbait that deep.