Man-made sweet spots

[JiggaMan512]

So i found four nice/fresh Xmas trees behind the dumpster in my neighborhood about a week ago. I took one (the biggest one) and dropped the trunk in a 5gallon bucket, then set it in concrete. I threw it off the end of our boat dock (in about 8ft. water). then, i took the other four and dropped them around the standing tree, and laid a big rock on each one, so they would sind straight down, and stay down.

so im wondering:

will these be possible productive spawning sites in a couple months? or does it kind of need to "establish" itself in the water, and grow algae, etc. before this is possible? how long (on average) does a man-made brushpile take to hold baitfish/bass/etc??

P.S. Ironically "Brushpile" Berry should probablly already know these answers, but its my first time to actually make one myself. I usually just "borrow" ones that have been put there by a fellow fisherman  :exclamation

[Fisher of Men]

BB-

I've never put any brush down specifically for bass, but several years ago, I put four or five around our boat house (don't live there anymore, darn it) by tying cinder blocks to both ends of the trunk.  I put these down in January and did have crappie on them in the spring (my wife and I pulled the biggest crappie we've ever caught off of them).  The only other thing I did there was sink an old five gallon bucket (with holes drilled around the bottom) filled with old cat and dog food nearby.  Not that I'm a wildlife biologist, but I would assume that natural habitat would attract some bass in a matter of two months or so.  Now those PVC artificial things they make now might take awhile for algae to grow on them.  Just my .02.

-Fisher

[VekolBass]

I just read this in a magazine this past week--unfortunately I gave the magazine to my son, who then took it to college with him. However, I do believe the claim was that brushpiles get better with a coating of algae on them. However, the needles on the tree may compensate for that somewhat.

[Other.]

I always thought that the needles would repel the fish. I read that some were but dont know if its true or not. Pretty much there is a chemical in the needles that fish dont like.

[Fisher of Men]

The concept of algae growth relates to the basic food chain of fish (energy flow shown):

algae-->phytoplankton-->minnows/shad-->gamefish (or web variations of this)

However, Christmas trees do provide cover for both the bass and the baitfish. If placed strategically where no other source of cover is available, sometimes it can be quite effective. I think what made my trees effective was that it was the only cover available at that particular depth.

[JiggaMan512]

yeah, i was thinkin the same thing, thats why i put them where i did. as far as i know, there is no other cover around the area where i put the trees, excpet for the dock i threw it off, of course, but oddly enough, the bass in this lake do not hold around docks really at all, no matter what time of year. so, figured if i added a variable of cover (the x-mas trees) next to the dock, it would give baitfish, predatory fish, etc. a place to hang out. I hope it works. I never heard of the needles being a repellant for fish, but it sounds like it could be true. Ill have to do some research and report back on that one. :-/

[Sam]

I put a Cedar tree in my local pond and have caught a few baby bass off of it plus one 4 pounder who built her nest near it.

I was told to use Cedar trees and not pine trees as the pine trees throw off a scent that reples the bass.

I have no idea if this is true and maybe some of the guys have more information on this issue.

As for doing it again?  No way.  The tree with the concrete blocks weigh too much to move around and once you let them go, they are not going anywhere.  So make sure you drop them where you want them.

Good luck and let us know what you pull off your trees.

[Bassn Blvd]

When i was 14 yrs old some of my friends and I met the gentelman who did the fishing report each week on the local news chnl in Palm Beach, Fl.  He got permission to sink 200 trees in Lake Osborne and 150 in Lake Clarke Shores.  We helped on the ussumption that he would take us fishing and let us fish in his moms bacyard , which is where onre of the reefs were sank. He said anytime, go fish.  We busted our Donkies and to this day he has never let us fish in the yard or take us.  They did produce some good cover though.  After a while though the trees will rot and leave you wint concret block unless the dirt covers it up.  Im 39 now and if I ever see the guy who asked for our help I promise I will break his nose.

[eastkybass]

When I was younger my Grandfather always had 3 Christmas trees haning of the dock where his house boat was.  We would put them in in January and by spring they would be producing plenty of fish.  What I have read and heard on other sites is that the oils in the needles make the weird scent that the fish don't like but it doesn't take them long to fall off and then start producing.  Hope this helps

[Infidel.]

I don't think that a piece of structure needs to establish itself before fish will hold on it.  I have no doubt that as soon as a bass finds the structure and they are holding at the depth of the structure, they will use it in one way or another.

[Millerman]

We have caught bass on "new" structure within 3 days after putting it in.

AS far as pine trees....WE don't waster our time fishing them...only caught 2 bass over the course of 26 years fishing bass.  Don;t know if there is anything scientific behind it, but, I would have to say bass don;t like pine trees...even old ones without needles.

[burleytog]

All algae needs to grow is sunlight and a sufficient substrate.

Throw a piece of PVC in the back of a cove and retreive it a week later.  It will be covered in algae and slime.

[chitwnbass]

The essential oils in pine needles are a natural repellent for many insects and animals although I'm not sure of its affects on fish. I've always let the needles turn brown and shaken them off before I sink my trees just to prevent the amount of quickly decaying material I'm putting in the pond.  The needles will just decay and eat up oxygen.

[Guest the_muddy_man]

There is a lake in Prospect Park Brooklyn that has a man made sweet spot, but oover the years we have pulled up a few cheap hair pieces, one gold bracelet , a huge diamond pinky ring and a copy of a racing form We suspect that spot will one day give up Jimmy Hoffa's drivers licience