Sinking Brush

[raise the motor]

I will be making my first attempt at sinking fish attractor brush in Bull Shoals with a fish cover permit later this month. It sounds quite simple, but I have been told it will be quite an experience.

I can only use dead trees or live cedar up to 6 inches at stump. The only other materials that can be used is wire and shoreline rocks. You tie wire around a large rock then tie it to the tree. Somehow you must keep the wood afloat until the weight is sufficient to sink it all the way down. I can use up to six trees (any size if downed dead tree).

Has anyone done this before? I would appreciate any pointers or observations. I was told the top of a ledge in about 15 feet of water at normal pool is the best spot. Does that sound right? I assume that would be for crappie. Would some other location be better for bass or other species? I will map the area with my graph, then use a marker until I get the bundle to the right spot.

Thanks for any suggestions or pointers. I will post my experiences to this thread after the fact.

Joe

[Mitch f]

First thing you do is bring a can of spray paint to cover up the stump of the freshly chopped off little tree. The first thing savvy fishermen do is browse the shoreline for cut trees and they know brush pile is near.

[Jason Essary]

Im curious. Do you alwasy have to have a permit to sink brush? and whats the best way to recieve one. I have two places I would like to put some but havent messed with it yet.

[flytyer57]

Im curious. Do you alwasy have to have a permit to sink brush? and whats the best way to recieve one. I have two places I would like to put some but havent messed with it yet.

Check the state regs before ya dump anything. Could get a nice fine for polluting.

[raise the motor]

Hi Jason

The Bull Shoals Lake fish attractor permits were available on January 13 this year at the Mountain Home office. I think they had 50 permits available and I was told they did not expect to use them all. One unique feature of the permit is that it allows you could cut small red cedar trees on COPRS property and to use downed dead trees of any size from their land. There are some added restrictions concerning placement of the brush and location of the trees. They indicated that permits would be available next spring for Norfork Lake.

Table Rock Lake is also under the Little Rock District but is managed from the Branson Project Office (tel 334-4101). I assume they have a similar program.

If anyone is interested in the Bull Shoals permits call the Mt Home office to see if permits are still available. The original deadline for sinking the trees was April 13. They could also tell you if other placement is allowed without permits and when they will next be made available. Based on their comments at the permit meeting I would be surprised if they approve of private placement.

We found out about the permits from the Baxter Bulletin newspaper. I will post a notice if I read of any permit programs other than next years Norfork permits.

Joe

[raise the motor]

I wanted to give a report on the sinking brush project. The project was interesting and we learned quite a bit in the process.

Our first attempt was to build a structure similar to a flower arrangement with limbs sticking out at various angles. They looked great but when submerged they all pointed straight up since they were buoyant. Made for a much smaller (3 ft diameter) structure.

Our next attempt was to build on the same with most of the brush lying horizontally around the outside. This seemed to work better but still most of the limbs tried to float to an upright position. We lost one pile when we dropped it on a severe slope and it tumbled to 65 ft.

Our final attempt was with an entire dead tree (7 inch diameter). This seemed to make the most attractive structure but sinking it was a chore. If I ever get another permit I will tie on all of the rock in shallow water on the shoreline, then pull it out to its final position and add more weight. Attempting to tie on weight from the edge of a boat is difficult.

Since we could only use wire and rock for weight we built rock cages with wire which we placed at the center of the brush. The entire structure floated so we could pull it to its position, then add rock to the wire cage. A five gallon bucket of rocks would sink around 25 6ft limbs tied together. It may have required less but we kept adding rock until it went down well.

With that we ran out of time and had to call it quits. I understand they may issue more permits in two years and permits for Norfork will be available next year.