Bill Dance Porcupine Fish Habitat

[Javelin_Venom]

Has anyone seen these advertised of in the stores? Was wondering what your opinions of them are? In case you haven't, here is a link:

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=73759&hvarDept=100&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=11&hvarSubCode=1&hvarTarget=browse

The instance they would be used in my case would be for a pond about 4 acres large. There is already rock piles, stumps and laydown logs in the pond placed there by us but we were thinking about using some of these as well. Do you think they would work well? What would you like and dislike about them? Just wanting to see what everyone else thinks.

[Chris]

Will it hold fish...sure would it be effective in a lake that already has great cover maybe. If you place it in the right place it could be very effective and will draw out some fish from some shore cover. I wouldn't think it would be a hog hangout but panfish might take to it.

[KenDammit28]

Well if its drawing panfish, theres bound to be a big buddy or 5 swimming nearby and waiting for a meal.  It can never hurt so long as you don't have entirely too much cover.  As the info suggests, I would think it'd do really well around boat docks, and in my case..a pond desperate for some kind of cover and habitat.  I would wonder about how one would weight it, seems to be a bit ackward in that regard, but I say it would be just fine in a group of 2 or 3 in a little area.

[cart7t]

If you already planted cover before the pond filled this would probably be a waste  of money. If you felt the urge to add cover a bunch of concrete blocks and some cut brush or small trees are alot cheaper.

[Jeff_NHBA]

I saw those advertised on Bill Dance's show and they looked promising.  He says you can't get hung up in one but I'm sure I'd figure out a way.  Algae starts to grow on them in a matter of days which of course attracts the little guys with the rest of the food chain not far behind.

[.ghoti.]

They look intersesting. I'm guessing, with a little creativity,  you could make your own for considerably less.

[Will]

I agree with ghoti, a little thinking, creativity, and pvc pipe and you could have yourself a good little piece of cover.

[alhuff]

I saw a show where an FFA group in Texas started making this type of structure out of the underground drainage pipe and sold them to raise money for thier FFA.  They are selling alot of them and they seem to work well.  

I'm with you guys on making it myself and not buying them.

Alfred  

[KenDammit28]

I've thought about making them myself, but could never figure out a way to get a good center point for all the stems.  Theres no such PVC ball with a bunch of holes in it that I'm aware of ..so any suggestions?

[Will]

Here are a couple ideas.

This one would be fairly simple. Put some concrete in a 5 gallon bucket and then stick some pipe in it, let it dry and drop it down. If it lands on its side, oh well, fish will still stay at it.

I am not sure how the pipe is connected, but a triangle shape would be good especially after the top gets some algae growing on it.

If you really want to do some work, here is a pvc in the shape of a box with piping all around the edges.

There are lots of them out there, just what you want to build. Good Luck!

[Yankee_Bassman]

OK, Will....if you put these together and photo'ed them just to answer this post, then Dude, you got WAY too much free time on your hands....(OK, I saw the dates on the photos)....The cement buckets look pretty good....I might use these if I was building a pond and couldn't get boulders, etc. to place before filling, but in an existing lake or pond, there should be plenty of cover and structure. I'd be afraid to place the Dance ones in my lake without a very heavy permanent anchoring system. I'd be afraid they could drift from wave or current action to shallower water where somebody might dive onto them. And I don't care what Bill Dance says, you could get hung up in one of these......

[Will]

OK, Will....if you put these together and photo'ed them just to answer this post, then Dude, you got WAY too much free time on your hands....(OK, I saw the dates on the photos)....The cement buckets look pretty good....I might use these if I was building a pond and couldn't get boulders, etc. to place before filling, but in an existing lake or pond, there should be plenty of cover and structure. I'd be afraid to place the Dance ones in my lake without a very heavy permanent anchoring system. I'd be afraid they could drift from wave or current action to shallower water where somebody might dive onto them. And I don't care what Bill Dance says, you could get hung up in one of these......

LOL, to much free time ;D . Found the pictures on the internet.

[Javelin_Venom]

We have figured out that you can buy just the pvc balls with the holes in them without the pipe. Price is $20 for 3 balls. Then you can get the 1/2" pipe from somwhere else for quite a bit less and make your own as large as you'd like to. You can also go for a less expensive pvc, such as sdr 21 instead of sch. 40 to make it even cheaper. When you go this way it's not quite as much money to swallow for something that you're going to sink to the bottom of a pond anyway. ;D

[Guest avid]

I think these would probably work.  Of course their are much cheaper ways to create cover, but still, there will be people who won't want to bother.

[KenDammit28]

I like the buckets...have plenty of concrete at my disposal.

A way of creating a tree that I've heard before is to take a bucket, fill it with concrete, then stick one piece of  1/2" PVC pipe in it..let it set up.  After that, take two liter bottles of soda, and cut them up each side all the way to the retainer ring.  put a screw in the pvc pipe, then drop the split two liter bottle down on the pipe, then place a screw over top of it, although loosely.  The bottles represent leaves, and they are allowed to move freely so it would be almost impossible to hang up on them.

[Kana]

lets see, gimmick lures, now gimmick habitats.  i agree that you can build your own for less, and add weight which is the most made comment regarding the BD habitat.

[Rattletrap]

On the concrete bucket tree. You can add elbows and short lengths and make a canopy. Shape it like an umbrella. Remove the metal carrying handle so your lures want grab it later. Also, put an eye hook in the center of the concrete. You can use it to lower the buckets into the water. Don't tie the rope to it. Loop it through holding both ends of the rope when lowering it. When it gets to the bottom, let go of one end and pull the rope out. Drop them when nobody is around.

[Rattletrap]

Or. You can put a long bolt through a cut 4-6 ft tree( about 6-8 inches up from the bottom of the cut), and put the tree in a concreted bucket. The bolt will keep the tree from coming out or turning in the bucket. Tie a 2 liter plastic coke bottle to the top middle section of the tree. Use some strong fishing line. Tie it close as you can to a limb. You do not want a lot of loose line that might catch your hooks. The plastic bottle will help keep the tree in the upright position. You can also use concrete blocks tied to the end instead of the bucket. You most definitely need the plastic bottle attached when using the block method. The tree will fall over on it's side without it.

[KenDammit28]

lol yeah, but we both know how often you can go without being seen and still do a good job of placing them!

I fish a lot of private water, so its no big deal whether someone sees me or not.   Since I'm just a recreational fisherman, I fish a lot of ponds and I've never found one that couldn't use some cover put into it.

[Rattletrap]

You try to go out the coldest day of the year.   I have personally never sunk anything. I know how. It's hard for me to go to a lake and work.  ;D

[cart7t]

lets see, gimmick lures, now gimmick habitats.  i agree that you can build your own for less, and add weight which is the most made comment regarding the BD habitat.

Do any of you remember the last habitat Bill was pitching? The fishing tree, which was produced by the Gimmick King himself, Dr. Loren Hill.  It was a metal rod in a weighted ball type base.  Plastic leaves stuck out of the rod and the base was to be filled with purina fish chow which would initially draw baitfish in when it was first planted.

Haven't seen those sold in years.

[Hookhead]

I've seen people make bass habitat from old x-mas trees by tying a cinder block to the end and sinking it.

[texasbass1]

Cart7,

I haven't seen the fishing tree for sale either. But I do know where a few are sunk on Texoma.

[Rattletrap]

Hookhead. That method also requires a 2 liter plastic bottle attached to a limb to help keep the tree upright. I'm not sure if a smaller bottle would work.

[KenDammit28]

I've seen people make bass habitat from old x-mas trees by tying a cinder block to the end and sinking it.

thats probably the most preferred way of making cover.  It works really well and has been proven, so theres not much need to steer away from it, just make sure that if you do use Christmas tree's, you make some float while making some lay down just to add variety to cover, IMO that is when they work best.  I saw a segment on BASScenter where the guy was sinking some Christmas trees.