Artificial Bass Habitat

What would be my best option for sinking fish habitat. I'm thinking bamboo cemented in 5 gallon buckets. Will this cover be good for larger bass? What have you guys had the best luck with producing quality bass and did it last a long time?

bigger bass like large cover (spring is an exception to this). find a thick log with a fork in it and put the fork in the concrete so the larger beam is parallel with the bottom and the larger bass will suspend under it for a quick ambush. or put in a lot of time in and build a large brush pile. The larger the object the more comfortable the bass is with it. Hope this helps

PVC lasts a long time.

Do some research on Lake Havasua . They put a lot of stuff in the water to make habitat . The bigger the better.

Huge piles of bois d'arc are the best I have found. cup hooks cemented into about 2 gals of concrete. chain from the cup hook to the object to sink.

They do like the bois d'arc trees, they last forever. The hard part is cutting one down, I tried to cut one on the lake with my chainsaw, I went at it until the saw got hot and quit, the tree is still there with a burned cut in it.

Buy lots and lots of replacement chains

Is Bois D'arc common to east tx? Do you like it because it last long or just the type of cover it provides?

Or take a cutting torch with you.

This is the best artificial habitat. The state of Florida has spent 7 figures on this stuff over the past few years.

MossBack

Very long lasting and lot's of branches.

Looks awesome. I have about 3 figures and some manpower to spend on this project and that first figure doesn't go very high. Haha

There used to be a group of guys around Palastine that would go collect Christmas trees after the holidays, and sink them all over the lake. I dont know if they still do or not. I believe they just used cinder blocks for weight.

Texas parks & Wildlife must believe that plastic pipe made into 6' by 6' by 4' squares with the 5" elastic tubing wound thru it works and will last.

They gave the LFSA enough of this stuff to build 60 of these artifical reefs that are spread on 12 sites in Lake Fork. You can go to the TPWD website and find the GPS coordinates.

Thanks for the input. I'm going try a few different types of cover and see what I have the best luck with. The pvc cubes with tubing sound like a cool idea. Here is a pic of what I'm going to try first. I plan on putting four of these in one area.

That should work.

Those should hold some fish for you Speck. Give me the coordinates after you set them and I'll help check them

Here in west Texas I use Mesquite after finding out it sinks with out weights green or dry.

Drill holes in the large bamboo or it will just bob next to your boat when you drop it. Don't ask how I know this.

Thanks for confirming that. I was thinking it's going to be a lot of work but I'll drill them all before I cement them. How many holes and how big did you drill them?

Pil, B I wish I could get some good mesquite here in east tx. I've always thought the thicker mesquite would make great cover. As for you Kolby I will get you those coordinates sooner or later! Good chance it will be later though haha

That good thick bamboo will work great, putting "cross bars" will hopefully keep it upright also. I found some stripped copper wire casing near one of my fishing holes last year, took it home and cut it and cemented into cinder blocks. I put 6 out, 2 I am just seeing the tips on as water is getting real low in this particular lake. I caught some nice bass of both of them at times. Friend caught some crappie fishing for bass last weekend off them, plan to take the lights out maybe tomorrow night and see if they are holding any fishes.

I think the others layed over, but I am not sure really. I put some was leaf lugustrum out about a month ago, I can see 3 of them they are holding up real good, sunk with cinderblocks.

I like it.

We've had good success with three types of "artificial structure" among the best for us has been large oak limbs cut then hauled to the lake bed when dry by tractor. Also, just simple two by fours sharpened on one end and driven straight into the bottom on about 18 inch centers in a square.

Another thing that has held bass well is three or more large tractor tires tied together in a pyramid.

Large concrete tiles, really big clay or terra cotta flower pots, piles of riprap, among other stuff works well.

For shallows, I'll fill the big (3' across) terra cotta pots with soil and plant taro (elephant ear), umbrella palm, or thalia for both relief from the bottom as well as a shoreline type island with shade in the shallows or on underwater humps.

I've also seen several commercial types of structures in use and they tend to work very well, especially in the absence of other structure or submerged aquatic plants.

come on speck! Lol
Let's fish soon

Those are all great ideas. If I come across any of these materials or pots I will give them a try. I plan on putting them in the 14-20ft range.

Only area native materials are allowed in most lakes (Rayburn for sure). Single logs with branches or forks are best for bass and brush piles for crappie. The Corps of Engineers may not like bamboo.

Thanks for the heads up. I will take that into consideration.


This is the finished product. I'll just have to sink them in a friends private lake if they don't pass inspection.

That looks good!! Nice to add the pvc pipe to it as they won't be "snaggy" even with a crankbait!! And the best part will be when you Catch something off of em!!

speak for yourself!!! I could lose anything anywhere. Lol.

LOL!! I usually trim all the smaller limbs off my brushpiles as I know I will be likely to snag em with a crankbait. But the bigger pieces he has and the pvc will allow a crank to come thru it easy. Texas rigging/jig is different as it's not as likely to snag in brush so for the piles I sink that I know I won't crank then I leave everything on the tree! But I like his layout and if I can find some bamboo(and I guess permission to cut it??) I may try some of those myself!

I vote for Christmas trees. That's what I always used. Easy to get, free, and they last.

$.02

I will sink Christmas trees also. I'm just seeing if they like this different type of cover. It will have a much larger profile than a Christmas tree. This was also very easy to do. The bamboo was free, you can get the buckets for 2$ a piece, concrete 5$ a bag, and tubbing cost 13$ 100' role. I drilled a 3/4" hole at and angle and slid the 3/4 tubing(OD, 1/2in ID). The tubing holds very snug and will not come out.

It looks great. This may be a stupid question but i'm curious. Are there regulations on artificial structures in lakes? do you have to have them cleared by TP&W?

Every lake is different. Probably be a good idea to check with TP&W if your are in question of a particular lake.