Can you over structure a Location?

I was wondering can you put to much structure in one location? Whether you are dropping on the bottom or hanging from a slip. I have always thought that to much is just that to much.

Agree with you

I think you can put out as much in one place as you want...kinda depends on what your goal is...do you want a few BIG places to fish, or do you want a higher quantity of smaller places.

Can't go wrong either way

I believe you can have too much cover in one place. It will spread them out and make them harder to catch.

+1

+1 That was what I was thinking.

want to see what putting out way too much small structure does to a lake, go fish lake Granger. If that lake were ever drained it would look like a pvc pipe and 5 gallon bucket graveyard. Heres how that happened. Because of lots of fishing pressure and lots of very good crappie fisherman fishing it over the years, many people started puttin g out thier own " personal " piles , hoping to get a shot at catching a bunch of fish off one pile. Then, because of that scattering the fish, people started putting small piles, that are very hard to spot on this great sonar we have today, these piles hold a couple of fish, because they arent fished much unless you know where they are. So all of this equates to the fish being very scattered and you as a fisherman having to fish many piles to get a decent mess of fish, and if the lake is putting out 12 undersized fish to one keeper, like Granger does, well you do the math.
My personal opinion is to replinish known good medium sized piles that produce good numbers of fish. stack the brush horizontally. when you put those sticks in a bucket or pvc in a standing bucket, the only place that usually holds as few fish is the bucket itself. Get you some good sized oak, cedar, pecan limbs that have VEES in them, and some smaller branches and just throw them out with weight and let them fall how they may.
also bamboo and river cane is the worst thing you can use, next to pvc. a week after you put the bamboo out, all thats left is skinny, spiny sticks in a bucket. all the leaves fall off in a week, and that lush bamboo forest you envisioned that the crappie are playing tag in just doesnt exist. You may as well just go sink a five gallon bucket with nothing in it .

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! Intriguing. Thank s Leanin Post. I didn't know that.

same with willow 1yr max 0n most of the limbs. hard wood steels your jigs but it also produces fish!!! medium is best, large piles hard to fine sweet spot. good luck!!!!

There are a lot opinions on this subject, but the FACT is
that fish need the cover to brood there youngins, so any and all
cover that is put in or natural will contribute to the future
of all fish. This is benefit to the fisher person,
now days its easy to find and catch with the current technology.
My answer is No, the bigger and more cover there is a very good thing
for the future and health of the fish/lake eco system..

OK. On my slip We have real and artificial structure. So far the artificial has been producing more and in most cases bigger fish. I am just trying to pick the mind of fellow fishermen. very good knowledge here. Thank You Guys. The biggest problem on my slip is that the other guys that are on it with me get to go a lot more than I do. it makes me a little jealous. LOL Just kidding. We have a good group of guys.

My opinion:
1) "Medium" sized piles are the way to go.
2) Refresh your productive piles when needed.
3) Really big piles usually produce large numbers of short fish, so you have to cull a lot.
4) Small piles produce small numbers, but occasionally big fish.
5) Good sized hardwood piles seem to produce bigger fish.
6) Rather than the size or type of piles, focus on LOCATION!


Hate to be contradictory on this one, but I can personally attest to bamboo condos I have out from several years ago that still produce to this day. In fact, we caught a 2 man limit off two Boo condos this past summer on Palestine, and they were put out 3 years ago. Yes, the leaves will fall off eventually, but the bamboo last a long time. Those same bamboo sticks are held upright by pvc, so there's another contradiction.
I agree that, if given the option, good solid hardwood limbs (or whole trees) are the way to go. But bamboo WILL work.

To me, the bottom line is put out what you can and be selective about location. Like LeaninPost said about Granger, too many piles in a given area can tend to scatter fish.

I agree with Slabexpress. I have had great luck with bamboo. I use the big end of the boo. Usually 3" in diameter, and 10' in length. I use 3 pods in each location. I try to make it about 20' pod diameter. But get you a good waypoint mark because after the air is out of the boo ( couple months) it is next to impossible to pick up with side scan. 2-D will pick it up but must drive right across the top of structure.

This is time of year I add to my locations, and build up other locations with cedar, willow, etc. they are location that others have put in, so I'm not worried about these being found since others put them in. I rarely find anyone fishing MY boo piles due to degree of difficulty in finding them.

Great information.

When I first started Building boo structures. Now, I have made them in larger diameter of boo.

http://s106.photobucket.com/user/cooter-...sort=3&o=12

Then start crossing poles to the 4 legs. I take the bucket w/4 legs, and a bundle of 3" x 10' pieces and build it in my boat on location, and put it in water.

http://rs106.pbsrc.com/albums/m278/coote...80&fit=clip

Like I said I have gone to bigger diameter of boo, but this is the idea. I also build them with boo to set on reach the ground which keeps the bucket from tipping over and gives hiding locations to crappie right on the bottom. Also when putting the bucket in the water, I take a 2" x 4" or 2" x 6" board the will span the width of my boat. Build structure on the end of board. This allows me to side board off the edge of boat and ease the structure into the water. Will just slide off boat, which keeps stucture from breaking up when it hits side of boat.

http://rs106.pbsrc.com/albums/m278/coote...80&fit=clip

http://rs106.pbsrc.com/albums/m278/coote...80&fit=clip

These are early pics and have upgraded in size. But hopefully this helps with the idea. I build several cement buckets at one time. I also use a full bucket of cement, due to the boo being full of air chambers, which makes the want to float. Smaller boo structure will require less cement.

http://s106.photobucket.com/user/cooter-...sort=3&o=13

that may make the difference, many folks / including myself refer to river cane, which looks like bamboo and grows in sections of joints as bamboo, it grows tall, up to 30 feet, but not very thick, maybe 1 to 1.5 inch diameter.
Keith speer puts alot of stick condos together, line in rows of 12, and if I recall he had mentioned that most of the fish are caught near the base of the bucket. Im sure fish will move around them, but theres many factors that can make differences such as depth of the lake and depth of the condos. Im looking at it from my perspective of my own experiences. Location is important as in this scenario.
I have a spot on waco that fish gather in mass, theres not much down there , just possibly a few RR ties laid horizontally, the fish are not there in the numbers that they gather because of the small structure that has been placed there, they are there because it is a unique bottom topography where 3 gradial graients come together to form a ditch. This feature is near a shallow cove. that shad go into at night, and they go sit nearby in this area. Now if I went and dropped I pvc or river cane condo in this spot, I would still have fish there, regardless, so the point is theres many variables. If the area was featureless, with nothing at all there, and some thype of structure was put there, than something is better than nothing. JMO .

IM glad u posted those pics because im going to pour cement weights to weigh down some bait buckets and was thinking of how to release the cement from the bucket, the plastic garbage bag is a good idea. cheap and effective, just what I like.

same as bamboo , all those leaves fall off in a week, and all you have is a stick porcupine. mass is what is needed, get the tree or trees, and tie them together in a long bundle and tie a weight on and toss it over. I would rather several large limbs laying horizontal on the bottom, than 10 bamboo condo standing vertically.
there was many bamboo condos put out on lake waco on the east side of the bridge. I saw them a couple days after they were put out, there is ALOT there. from abt the 3rd piling to around the 10th there is staggered condos and ALOT of them. I fished them the year they were put out, and tried a couple times since, and have caught nothing. I have talked to several other people who frequent the bridge, and its the same results. you can catch fish off of pilings, but the fish dont seem to be interested in the bamboo condos. The fact is, that all that is left now are thin, spiny sticks in a bucket, and thats not going to compete with the shade and ambush cover that a 4 foot diameter 40 foot tall bridge piling and support crossbeams will provide.

iv got both planted and i do much better on the PVC condos iv built.