Adding Brush?

[Dutch]

Or you could go out at night and cut down trees and drag them to where you want and sink them like lots of guys do. I have heard that sycamore sinks.

[Bill Babler]

Dutch, I was just trying to get over that mess from last year, and here you are rubbing salt in the wounds.

J. Jermey Rasnick would have the answer to your question. Maybe Phil can contact him and get a answer. YOU can bet, cutting trees off the points and dragging them out is not it.

[SKMO]

Ok, to the ones that know more than me. What are the Corps rules on adding brushpiles to table rock. I have fished a couple that a friend has showed me and have done wonderful at times. Would like to add a couple, nothing large, but have heard that its not allowed.

I can assure you putting anything in the lake is forbidden without a permit from US-CEC, Little Rock

You might disagree with the whole philosophy but think about what the lake would become if every Bubba could dump his junk in the lake. Car bodies and bedsprings are great habitat.

[Crappie Fisherman]

Thanks, have a couple that MDC has put out that are decent, but none of them are where I would like to have them.

Has anyone ever heard of someone getting ticketed for dropping brush. Bill commented last year about people cutting brush on the bank and taking it straight out and dumping it. Not what I have in mind. Would use dead cedars brought from home and tie to rocks with galvanized wire.

Really wanting to do it in the next couple weeks but want to make sure that I dont get myself in to some kind of trouble.

There's about 1,500 in the lake MDC has put out. Surely there's some that hold fish somewhere.

[Stump bumper]

I know at Beaver they were advertising in the paper for a few years to drop your trees so the Corps could build brush piles with them, but in the last two years they have just given the location of the boat ramps and published that fishermen will pick them up and place them in the lake.

FYI old Christams trees make a heck of a mess and weight them at the bottom.

[eric1978]

If you can get a bunch of free PVC plastic pipe cut-offs (good luck with that, with no construction going on), they make the best brushpiles. There are all kinds of articles and diagrams on the web about building brushpiles out of those, and there are even bases made for them with sockets to fit the PVC.

No doubt those PVC contraptions attract fish, but I hate the idea of sinking plastic junk to the bottom of lakes. I'd stick with cedars and rocks if I planned on dropping brush. You probably don't need to use galvanized wire, either...by the time regular wire rusts away, the tree will be plenty waterlogged and not going anywhere.

[T-RockJaws]

It seems like every point or bank that I pull up on has a brush pile or 10 on it already. Some hold fish and some do not, but they are definately there!

[Jason Essary]

Talked to the Corp today. Got what I needed and got approval. We went over what was ok, dead cedars and brush, and what was not, anything unnatural. I will be finding some rocks to use (as concrete was not allowed). And of course, will not be cutting sycamores off the bank...

I realize that MDC lays alot out, I have some found. Just not what I am quite looking for.

Thanks for all the help guys,

[Whack'emGood]

Talked to the Corp today. Got what I needed and got approval. We went over what was ok, dead cedars and brush, and what was not, anything unnatural. I will be finding some rocks to use (as concrete was not allowed). And of course, will not be cutting sycamores off the bank...

I realize that MDC lays alot out, I have some found. Just not what I am quite looking for.

Thanks for all the help guys,

Hey Jason.

For bass... take my advice and use hardwoods. Crappie love cedars, but for bass we have had much greater success on our big hardwood piles. Sycamore limbs work well, for example. We use burlap sacks filled with rocks and sisal rope to sink our piles. The sacks and the rope are both all natural materials and biodegradeable. By the time they biodegrade, your brush will obviously be water logged and set into place. You can get the sacks at feed stores... if you don't see them on the shelf, just ask them if they have any in the back they are willing to sell. Bulk items come into the store in them, and are emptied out... so they are just trash to the feed store, really. Sisal rope is available at the hardware store. Get a little heavier rope than you think you need... dropping a big pile with a heavy sack of rocks puts alot of strain on a rope.

Don't drop them too shallow... I know of a bunch of piles on TR that are entirely too shallow (and worthless) that guys have dropped. Our best night fishing piles on TR are anywhere from 16 to 25 feet deep at normal pool. Be ready to mark your pile on your GPS immediately on the drop for accuracy, before the boat drifts.

Lastly, don't forget to give me the GPS coordinates to your piles!

[Jason Essary]

Thanks Wackem. Already sunk one very large pile with cedars, will be checking on it soon. Wonder how long it will take for them to use it? Dont have access to sycamores really, but would love to get them for next time.

I agree, most all piles are to shallow. Mines starts around 25 foot and ends in around 35. Found an old pontoon boat to borrow, worked perfect. If this one works good im thinking of setting couple more this fall.