I've put out 20+ condos, and made 2 natural cedar brush piles in the last 3 weeks. I'm catching alot more fish off of the cedar brush, than the condos. Do crappie like the smell of cedar brush or something? I've probably spent the same amount of time fishing condos,and brush. The brush is producing 3 x's the amount of fish than the condos. Either way, I'm out of fiber-optic conduit, but still have plenty of cedar brush, so I'm going to continue using cedar. I lose more tackle in the cedar, but the action is non-stop when I get on top of it, as opposed to a fish here and there, off of condos. It's worth it, I think. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed brush being more productive than plastics, or if maybe it's just the type of structure the crappie prefer at this point. I know I put off building brush piles for the longest because I just wasn't sure if it'd be worth the effort. I know now that it's definately worth the effort. Thanks, in advance for your' opinions/advice.

-Al

Brush seems to hold more numbers than plastic. There are things about plastic that I really like but brush is quicker and cheaper for me to put out.

Good question, I always heard that it just takes a while for the resin off the cedar to disipate..but the pvc condos last longer....and of course the losing jigs thing....

It takes a little while for the condos to start holding fish. Give them time for algea to grow on them to attract the baitfish and then you should have more success on the condos.

Okay, that makes sense. I guess the cedar brush is attracting baitfish so quick, because it's tighter cover ? I keep hoping this wind will lay so I can get out there and fish some tonight. I sank 2 - brand new piles this morning, and these are twice the size of the 2 that I've had out for a week or so. I'm anxious to see if it draws in a few BARNDOORS! Thanks again for ya'lls feedback. Got all six of these off of cedar brush less than 48 hours wet...

The one on the far right should've been about an inch longer than it was, broke it's tail sometime or another.It sure didn't affect the flavor!
-Al

Nice slabs, how much weight you using for your cedar trees??

if you stand your cedar up you will lose less jigs. i like to leave the tip of the tree out of the water. a cinder block for an anchor and a black antifreeze bottle at the top will stand one upright. but the easy way is find a stickup[or piling] in a good location and tie the top of the tree to the stickup, bingo-- instant condo that won't collapse with time and won't eat as many jigs.

I made two bundles out of this particular stack, and used 80# per bundle. They don't even budge when I get snagged in it. If they're still in-tact when we get another current surge like we had recently, we'll see how stable they are...


-Al

It's hard to beat Mother Nature

Al,
In my opinion, I like willow first, followed by cedar, followed by condos. Of the three, I think willow will hold more fish, cedar will last longer than willow and condos will be there until someone pulls them off with an anchor. And bigger is better, so I would have build only one pile out of that last pic, but you definately have the right idea and aren't afraid to do the work necessary to be successful. You're already in the top 10%

since my two condos haven't produced anything for me yet, (either too early to fish them, or bad placements), I may have to put a good size brush pile in between the two condos I have out there to see if that helps.

Thanks for the tips guys!

Im with Guy. Go with willow if you have access to some. I have had crappie come to it within 3 days and will last over a year. cedar sometimes it takes a while to cure and hold fish but can be good in the long run, Condos will hold fish but I have never caught big numbers at one time from them.
What you are doing will pay off for you.
Cliff

Yeah, I've heard that willow is best too, because it's soft, and you can pull your hook loose most of the time, instead of breaking off.

I sure appreciate the advice, and engouragement from all of ya'll. I've got a bigger boat, working on getting the motor running, so I'll be able to put out more brush per trip, in more areas of the lake, not to mention being able to tolerate a little wind. My little jon boat can only handle so much.

Anybody out there from around the Corsicana area need their willow trees trimmed?


-Al

I built a condo out of PVC pipe and then wired willow limbs to it and sunk it in our boat slip. I also made one that has a 3 inch PVC pipe in the center with fence slats screwed to the PVC and then I screwed willow limbs to the fence slats. We like to never got that one to sink. It took about 120 lbs. to sink it. Both of them were about 7 foot tall and 7 foot wide. I sunk both of them 3 weeks ago and haven't been back to try em out. But my guess is they will draw some fish this fall and winter.

The last one I made, I took a 4' long piece of 4" PVC and set it in 1/2 a 5 gallon bucket full of concrete, then screwed cedar limbs to the base of the PVC, then stuffed a bunch of limbs inside the top opening of the PVC< and screwed them in place. Used steel for legs to make sure the thing stood up in the water. This one ended up being about 7-8' tall, and it sank, and stood up no problem. It looks real purdy on sonar.No problems finding this one again. It's just been too darn windy to go back and try it.

-Al