I've heard and read a lot about the key to productive brush piles is the location. I want to put out my own brush piles so my question is what would you say is the proper places to place them and what places is there no need in putting them? Also, is there a particular depth that you suggest I should target? From my understanding, I should look at points close to old creek or road beds, on the elevated edge of a creek bed (especially at a bend), or at a place where there is a steep drop off. My understanding is that I should target depths of 20-25' where I place my BP. Are my understandings correct or is there other good locations that I'm missing? If putting a BP next to a creek or road bed, is there a target depth change that you look for and a minimum depth of change where you don't put one? Thank you for any insight!

You have it down pretty good it sounds. I have found that on points protected from south winds and piles on large flats are good as well. It really depends on how your lake fishes and when you are wanting those piles to produce. I just put most of mine in 15-25 ft in areas protected from south winds and catch them on them good. Some pile produce better than others and that will always be the case even if they are on similar structure. Just my 2 cents.

Hi,
It sounds like you have some a lot of good info, another good suggestion is to go ahead and fish some spots that look promising Even small natural stumps or brush will hold nice fish. When you find places that produce you can pretty much count on your hard work to brush it out will be worth it. Another goods spot are underwater islands , especially where road beds intersect them or where old river channels pass near . Bridges are usually crappie magnets so baiting there is good, especially in the summer time..Of course you'll probably have company under bridges. I get to fish a lot so I don't mind the sharing lol, sometimes there are people on the spots at the bridges but most people tie up to the pillars .. So what I mostly do is put the structure around spots that are producing, but I place the brush out away from the pillars further than a tied up boat can reach the brush and 97 percent have no idea its even there. I always favor the shady side or the down wind side of any bridge because the wind can cause current. You want to have several places some protected for sure some where water doesn't get to muddy from wind or rain. I also enjoyed fishing the spawn and theirs usually plenty of cover except when your lakes low then its good to have some structure we put in 6-8ft of water. I use coke grates with 3ft pieces of plastic dripline screwed to the sides and a weight wired to hold it down.

I generally don't go pasted 20ft and some as shallow as 10 but that depends on your lake and what time of year you plan to do the most fishing..

I gather all the free pvc I can get from Clist of anywhere I can find it. My friends and I go together and buy some when we have to the gray electrical conduit not to expensive for something that will last a lifetime. Also I like pvc because its not easy to spot with side or bottom imaging sonar.. If you google crappie condos you can get some great ideas..We have even built and sank 4x4 plastic pallets by putting cement in the leg sockets strapped together into a "A" frame, drilling holes to let it sink and letting it down by rope to get proper placement and to be sure its lands standing up. The crappie like these pretty well but so do the bigger catfish which will put your crappie equipment to the test.. Ill post some pics of the pallet we put out. Good luck.

I put out some brush in about 15' of water about 18 months ago and it has been producing nicely after it settled down for a while. I used dry cedar trees and it took a couple of months for the area to produce consistant fish. I'm going to try using some Oak limbs this year. I hear that the fish will start using them much faster than cedar. (chemical make up?). Good luck.

I currently mostly fish bridge columns and it's easier when fishing by myself. I don't tie up and fish the columns fairly fast. My plan was to put out several BPs in wind protected areas so that I can fish out of the wind on windy days (it's rough trying to fish bridge columns on windy days) and also believe that it'd be a lot easier to keep anyone fishing with me closer to the fish. That and just to have other options when the bridge fishing is slow. I plan on fishing year round so I want to have several options on where to catch fish. Thank you all for your insight and helpful information!

I see you are in East Texas too, so maybe this will help you out.

I have put out brushpiles and crappie fished for the last 30 years. I have used most materials that have been a fad over the years. Everything works to some degree.

I usually target 15' water. That depth will usually hold Crappie most of the year. Sometimes just in the middle of a big flat at that depth a brush pile will hold an amazing number of Crappie.

Plastic structure will work but keep in mind algae attaches to decaying structure (wood). The Shad are there to eat the algae and then the crappie appear to feed on the Shad.

Vertical Brush piles from bamboo works good for me but need to be refreshed every 3 years. But I catch allot of Crappie over 3 years so for me it's no big deal to add another top or two.

I fish weedless Jigheads and plastics 100% of the time so hang ups are not an issue for me.

You can send me a PM if you have any specific questions and I'll tell you what I can.