has anyone made some pvc brush piles to sink in the lakes. I have seen them at bass pro, and they look easy to make. My questions are 1 why is it ok to throw a bunch of plastic/pvc into the lake? Isnt that basically controlled littering. 2 how deep do you normally put yours, i was thinking about 25' of water and spacing a few within 10' or so of each other to make more of an area to fish. 3 Would it be a good idea to put multiple depths to try to target all times of the year?

looking for what people have done with theres

Lots of brush/ condo Dunkers on here that know more than me....I'm sure they will chime in..

I have several to put out this Winter. We will be looking to put these out during Dec, Jan, and Feb. I figure we will be looking to put them in deep water, as we have a lot of shallow brush piles (7'-15'). Our deep brush piles will be in 20'-25', but no deeper. Our natural and PVC piles are 4'-7' tall, according to if they are natural or PVC.

We find that we have more crappie hanging around the top of the pile during the summer months. So if it is in 20' of water, standing 5' of the bottom, we are still able to fish in 15' of water. This has been plenty deep during the hot summer months.

We will be putting 3-4 of the PVC Piles in each location. The structures are 4' high, and 5' long. They will lay on the bottom Horizonal like seen in the PIC.








keith

PVC is an inert material so no toxic chemicals should leach into the water from PVC. It makes good fish habitat and improves the fishery.

How tall are you planning to make them? 25' is most likely too deep. It would hold fish in the winter but would likely be void the rest of the year. I would set them about 10' - 20' deep.

Your idea of spacing them about 10' apart covering different depths has merit. I do this with brush as it gives a little bigger area for fish. With PVC you want to cluster them, by cluster I mean put several together for density. Then, put several more about 4-10' away.

Hope this helps.

CCK, those are sweet! thanks for the awesome and simple idea!

I have some PVC that I could use to make some like those!

I would need a bigger boat to get them there!

BigDozer66

We use a 2 Liter Bottle filled with cement on each end of the structure holds them down with no problems. We have found that if you anchor with 1 weight in the middle of the strucutre, SOMETIMES they stand on there ends, due to not sinking correctly.



It is pretty easy to get them out, they just stick INTO each other, I can get 3-4 in my boat, and that is enough for us to do 1 location. We will haul 10-12 of them out to the lake in the boat and back of the truck, then just make 2-3 trips back to the truck, while putting out 3-4 in a location.


keith

You guys pay CLOSE attention to CCK as he IS the "CAPTAIN OF CRAPPIE CONDO'S"

those are some sweet ideas, i have plenty of pvc i demo out on a weekly basis. thanks for all the ideas

question how do you avoid not hooking them??? and im also a huge catfisher and what if a bass crappie cat or anything got tangeled up in them then wat

PVC pipe is very smooth and "ROUND". Unless you just happen to get a jig into the tiny space where 2 pipe intersect (chances of that happening are slim to none), you're not likely to ever hang up in a PVC condo. Even if you wrap your line around a "branch" and it ties a half-hitch, still you'll probably pull till you rotate the condo abit and the wrapped line will likely slip off the end of the pipe.

trees are "ROUND" to (but i get it) also cck whats those blue middels on your tree

Crappie usually hang around the top half of a structure, unless they are holding tight to the cover for some reason, like Barometric Pressure, or some kind of weather pattern. So when you get a hook up, I feel we move ther fish about a foot before they start fighting , unless it is a big'un. So the are basically out of the the structure before they have much of a chance to hang you up.

Not being a catfish guy, I would figure catfish would be in and around the lower part of the tree, so it might be a little more problem. Not sure on that, we do catch a catfish or two out of our structures every so often, but not alot.

Like Pepop said, the PVC is round and hard so it doesn'y lend to hanging you jig up, they jus slide right off. But I figure you were talking about AFTER you hang (catch) the fish. We use to make some heck of a Brush Piles (20'-30' in diameter X 8'-10' tall) but had the exact problem you are talking about. Hard to get your jig into a pile that big without hanging up, and when/if you did catch one, you couldn't get him out. We make our Bamboo Piles out of 5 pieces of Boo about 6' long, in a bucket with there branches left on them. They make about a 8'-10' diameter, standing 5'-6' tall. Then we throw 3 out at a location. Now we're not hanging up while fishing, or getting fish out of them. We have figure out it doesn't take a LOT of brush to be a good spot. The thing is finding a GOOD spot for the location.



keith

thanks cck but what did you use for the blue middels in the pictures

thanks cck but what did you use for the blue middels in the pictures

Oh Yeah, that is just 4" drainage pipe. They just have various olor of drain pipe. I've used everything from 2" to 6". It is more about what I can just cheapest, or free. Most everything I get is free.


Keith

ok thanks got plenty of both

going to set three tonight at hubbard

Make sure you get a GOOD GPS Mark on the PVC Condo's. After a few weeks, the alge grows on them and they become had to pick up on SI or DI. We always add something that the sonar will pick up.



keith

Are you supposed to get permission from TPWD before your make or set any type of structure in public waters?

On some lakes it is illegal, on some you do need permission and others you do not.

I would check the TPWD website to verify.

BigDozer66

thanks!

I really couldn't find much on the website about it and pertaining to certain lakes. I will give them a call tomorrow and report my findings

Sand the PVC down, with super rough sandpaper. You don't have to, but it helps with algea growth and it will grow way faster therefor attracting bait faster. U don't have to sand the crud out of it, just rough it up a bit.

Good idea, I will be putting some of these in my local lake in a few spots I know already hold fish. Just improve it a little better!

Google it

YEP, what Cooter said! Definately hard to see but, that dang guy from bigcrappie.com has a lock on mine!!!! And the sucker never pays rent on my condos and even had the nerve to ask if I provided breakfast!!!! The gall!

Looks like you finally got all that pvc cut up. I still have a ton of it left if any body wants some. Started building the new house so I am here most of the time unless I have to dallas for the day. PM me if any body want some.

I dont really understand the PVC thing..... Why spend money on PVC when brush is free and everywhere. I mean i know it will hold fish, but so does brush. Anyone have any good reasons for why using PVC over brush. And life span is not a good reason because a 4" tree branch will last plenty long underwater.
Not starting a fight, just honestly wondering benefits of PVC.

Just my understanding of the subject, as I have and will again put out pvc condos, most folks that use pvc, including myself, pick up the material free of charge. Most plumbing or irrigation companies will have a scrap pile that grows fairly quickly and most would rather have someone haul it off and use it than pay a disposal fee to place it in a landfill. As for function, I guess the biggest advantage to pvc is that it is almost snag-free. I loose many jigs on natural material but in 6 years of fishing pvc myself & others have planted, I've yet to loose a single jig. PVC is also very hard to see on sonar, 2D, SI & DI so if you get good coordinates on the placement, chances are you'll be the only person fishing it. I guess lastly, pvc is much easier & cleaner to work with. Just my well, maybe 4 cents.

Ok the snag free thing would be nice. and if the material is free then that is a good option i guess.
Although the new sidescans and down scans have no problem finding PVC.
I kinda like losing jigs from time to time though. If i never lost a jig i wouldnt have a excuse to go to BPS or Cabelas!!!

The few I put out last year, have completely disappeared to my HDS-10 w/SI & DI. After about 4 weeks it was over. I can just barely see something, and I don't mean enough to tell anything about the image, that there might be something there IF I increase to image by 1 click. And that is with me knowing exactly where it is.

I have put out some Orange Tube Tree's that I can see with the SI a little better, but again, if you didn't know something was there, you wouldn't know what it was. I have PVC Tree's that have disappeared also. Here are a few PICS of what I put out that has basically disappeared. Disappearing is not a issue if they are holding fish. I don't find that the PVC stuff holds fish as good and natural limbs and tree's and such. But other fisherman not being able to see my PVC piles is not a problem for me, I like it. Here's the PICS.

Orange Tubing Tree



PVC Tree




PVC Horizonal Pile





keith

I have read that people sometimes put something on the PVC condos that will show up better on your sonar, but don't know what they are using. Any suggestions....some sort of metal or what?

Never tried it but heard aluminum foil wrapped on the ends of the "limbs" makes it light up on sonar. Anybody ever try that?

Here is what my boys created at our dock. 3" PVC and filled them with cheep dog food. These started producing crappie after soaking for about a week. Don't forget to sand down the PVC so the algae can grow. After a year of soaking these will be completely covered with algae and should produce for many years. These are in 19' of water. Always a good idea to tether these to the dock so you can pull them up and refill them with dog food. the dog food brings in the bait fish and the bait fish attract the crappie.

I was told by a Lowrance salesman that any metal in the PVC tubes will aid the locators finding the condo. Heard of some Guys buying the commercial plastic ball, dropped 6 in a lake and the have not found them!!

Possible rebar or conduit might help. I made some condos from yellow gas PVC pipe about 4 feet high. Have the coordinates, but not finding them. Todd Huckabee, in a seminar , stated that yellow PVC was are to find. I am building condos now and prefer the "tree" or "horizontal". I will put some metal or concrete n the tubes.....to test.

I will be keeping a eye on this thread! I sat 2 condos out and do not see them on the finder.

I have made a few of these.

http://catchcrappie.com/howtoExamples1.asp

Over the last 20 years I have built hundreds of condo's and most are still in place and hold fish.

The above link takes you to a few samples.

I prefer 12' to 18' depths and place several close together, 5' apart works best.

Be sure they are well constructed so they don't create litter.

since we are on this topic...

Not PVC, but you can't go wrong with some strategically piled and placed driftwood either...

A lot of great ideas here that I will put to use on Fork
While clean out my shop, I've found approx 10-12 license plates and I will attach 1 to the top of each PVC structure for locating

I like pvc trees with bamboo mixed in to get them going. Works well for me.



Took these to the dump since I didn't know if it was legal in the lakes I fish.

Hummmm I can lay my hands on about 2 miles of 2" black Polly line. Wondering just how many condos I could build with that lol. I can see the water level rising on a lake near me lol

Here is a pic of just the pvc.



Bamboo gets shoved down the short pieces of pvc and then screwed in.

And with the bamboo added.



These are new ones which will be taken to the "dump" very soon.

There is some really good information in this sub-forum here: http://www.crappie.com/crappie/forumdisplay.php/63-Crappie-Cover-Lake-Structure-and-Pond-Mgmt

I read sanding the PVC will allow algae growth for visuals on depth finder.

For the guys with the taller structure here, how well are you getting it to stand up straight and not slump to the side once its on the bottom?

Sanding it will allow the algae to grow quicker on it which is what attracts the bait fish which in turn attracts the game fish. I doubt it would help all that much with finding on the sonar.

If you are worried, tie a empty 2 liter bottle to the top to help keep that end up. Otherwise, you just need a sufficient base to keep it from happening.

I make a wide base out PVC and then fill up the top section with spray foam or secure a gallon jug to it. If you use a jug, freeze the jug w/o the lid and then put the lid on immediately. It will prevent it from collapsing due to the water being colder at the deeper depths.

I wasn't sure about the standing up thing either, so I drilled out holes in the bottom of the bucket to form a X, so it can't fall over. This is the only one that I have done this way. I made the rest out of a coffee can and didn't add any kind of a brace, but they are all tied so I can re-set them under the slip. The one in the pic is the biggest one and it is sitting in the middle of the slip. I put all of them out in February and they are producing now. I did sand them lightly, but if you choose to do this, do it at home instead of at the dock because you look kinda funny

One of the best ideas I have seen for piers is to use the black PVC that is used for sprinkler lines and cut it into 3-4' sections and thread it through the links on a chain and then hang it from your pier.

Good suggestion.

I use the black electric conduit as it is cheaper than the plumber pvc. However I had not thought of tying it into chains to hook from the slip.

This sounds easier than cement blocks for attractors to hang from the walkways and the edge of the dock.

But it would not work for attractors to place in the middle of the slip. But some of the other attractors pictured in this thread would work great for the middle of the slip.

Now I have a use for all the flower pots my wife accumulates from the plant she buys each year to put in our yard. Great suggestion, should be good for the center of the slip.