Artificial cover

[SteveHTN]

Anyone ever sink artificial cover, like American Fish Tree? I’ve seen these things for a few years, but A) didn’t know if it’s legal to sink em somewhere, or if you have to get TVA/TWRA permission b) if they actually attract fish. I’ve seen a few guys over the years take Christmas trees, cinder blocks, various other stuff out, whether legally or not idk, but never seen one of these artificial fish habitats. 

[31Airborne]

Yep, have seen them in the water and they work.  VDGIF (VA's counterpart to TWRA) use artificial structure and cover in many of our lakes and rivers.  Almost all of the fish attractant signs you seen on VA waters are tied to artificial arrays.  You have to have permission to sink these and there are strict guidelines as to where they can/cannot go (for all the obvious safety reasons).

Airborne likes bricks.  And sticks.

[softbaitmaker]

Back about 14 years ago BT had a pontoon boat he converted into work boat for putting structure down and I spent 1 entire winter making the structure we planned to put down. Because I had about 70 five gallon pails from buying bait material over the years we went to Lowes and bought 50 bags of quikcrete and 300 feet of 3/4 inch PVC and all the different couplers on different angles and I built  about 60+artificial trees and we put the trees in the buckets and pour in quikcrete. Once they were set up we put 25 to 30 of them on the pontoon boat and at night we would go put them down. Had a winch on the boat with a swing arm and BT had cut trap doors in the center of the front deck and put them on hinges. We had an underwater camera and light and once we put the trees down we would look at them with the camera and position them how we wanted them to look with the winch. I have bought enough Plastic spray paint in brown and green to paint them like trees before putting them down. When we were done we had we had a few in one place and a few in another place and in some places we would build a small forest and have maybe 10 down in that area. We would mark it on a GPS unit and a topo map. It was funny at times if another boat located it and we saw them fishing it and catching fish on it we would got out with the toon that night and moved the structure about 50 feet and put it back down. Next time the boat showed up to fish the structure they had marked on GPS it was gone. It was good for a long time till the side view units came out and then moving it was a waste of time and BT had passed away and he had sold the toon about a year before he passed away. Last time I was on Old Hickory I went to see how much of the structure was still there and was surprised to see most of it was still there and the flood of 2010 didn't move much of it. But to said will fish atttract to it. Yes they will in large numbers depending on how big the structure was.

Edited March 11, 2019 by softbaitmaker

[SteveHTN]

Thanks for the info. Something to ponder, I reckon 

[basskicker]

I drove out to the Misty Waters ramp on Boone Saturday and TVA had cleared the trees around the ramp area. Then I guess TWRA has come and put a whole bunch of 2 to 3 feet round little igloos made out of concrete with holes here and there around the sides. Looked like little condo's for fish and some of them were stacked on top of each other making little 2 story condo's for the fish with larger families     Of coarse they won't be in the water until 2022 but I'm sure the rabbits and opossums will homestead in them until then.  

[brwnbass]

It is "illegal" to build any kind of structure on tva lakes without their permission. But i've built multiple rock piles on norris & we used to hang large cedar trees off the corners of our housboat. We would put 25' tall trees on ropes & weight the tops so they hung upside down, over about 55' of water. They were crappie magnets. Twra collects Xmas trees every year & builds brush piles on norris. They mark them with big buoys sometimes. There are alot of them, along with the igloos & spawning 'benches' for smallmouth. 

[Mountainman]

Don't ever weight the base of a cut tree & tie a detergent bottle to the top. It won't do and up perfectly and resemble a growing tree at all. Just sayin.

[NETangler]

Tva ramp holler at boone has a bunch of stakes in the ground  put down now.

 

[SteveHTN]

Thanks for the info fellas. Pretty awesome ideas