Page 12 - Crappie NOW - December 2018

CHRISTMAS TREE CRAPPIE

That’s what our fishing club does each Location, Location, Location
winter. We set up a Christmas tree dump For a brush pile to be effective, you
site at our marina and advertise it to our have to sink it in the right neighborhood.
neighborhood. We also haul trees from You can’t just randomly pick a location
other dump sites and end up with more and expect fish to swim across the lake to
than 100 trees, find it.
We arrange a work day, and groups of Instead, choose an area that fish already
fishermen in several boats head out with are using – main-lake and secondary
as many as eight trees per boat to sink points, humps, drop-offs, the mouths
trees. We have as many as 10 large brush of coves, along road beds, along gravel
piles on the 130-acre lake. That’s not spawning banks, etc. Remember, your
counting the marina, where there is brush purpose is to get fish to concentrate in an
in practically every other stall. area that already is attractive to them.
That, in large part, has brought our If you’re serious about it, sink brush in
fishing back. We once had a clear body a variety of water depths to meet seasonal
of water that was rich in weed growth. You fishing patterns. Drop trees along river or
could catch bass and crappies along many creek channels for winter fishing, in the
weed edges. But the fishing suffered when shallows or just off spawning banks in
the vegetation mysteriously disappeared. coves for the spring, off main-lake points
We’ve had many fisheries biologists and and mid-lake structure for the summer,
other experts out to look at our situation, and in the middle of creek arms for the
and no one can pinpoint a reason. All they fall.
can offer is that “it’s possibly a cycle.” We will drop as many as 25 Christmas
Meanwhile, they have recommended that trees in some prime locations such as
we put brush in the lake to attract fish and main-lake points, and they have developed
produce good spawning, nursery, ambush into great fishing spots. But again, they
and resting cover. So far, it has worked. have to be freshened up every two years
for them to be effective.
One strategy I have used is to create a
fish highway out of brush. I and my friends
will drop bundles of Christmas trees from
the bank to 20 feet deep, covering a variety
of the fish’s needs. For example, there is
spawning cover in the shallows, but there
also is brush to hold them in 10 to 15 feet
of water when a cold front interrupts the
spawn and they temporarily drop out to
deeper climes.
On public water, make sure you check
regulations and requirements before
sinking trees. Some U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers reservoirs, for example, require
fishermen to get permits before sinking
brush.
Once you have completed sinking
brush, it is public property. In other words,
if another fisherman locates it, he or she
has every right to fish it. With the advance
of modern fish finders, that has become
increasingly common.

12 Crappie NOW December 2018