i was looking at these weeds or structure ona string things that people in the midwest have been using for ice fishing. you just buy a couple of them and position them in a patterrn around where your fishing and the fish are supposed to congregate and hang out around it which makes sense. just seeing if anyone has tried them before and if its worth it, also is it legal to have several different hanging structures around you when you fish. i could make them myself for no cost cause some of them are a little pricey for a string with some fake weeds.
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LOL, you can have the fish hang out around the weeds but that does not mean they will bite. There are lots of weeds in Manuta but catching is slow right now. If it helped, you could just use one of those old plistic Christmas trees[;)].
thats exactly what i was thinking on the christmas tree, but im more interested in using at say utah lake where structure is far and few between. thinking about setting that up in the middle of the boat harbor and see what happens. but its true, doesent mean they will bite but maybe atleast it will give you a better chance if they are around. like the gills and wb crappie and such would see that and not want to leave, but who knows what fish are thinking. so i assume its not illegal to drop some kind of structure around you?
I figured you did. But there are some folks who don’t. There are a lot of folks who would like to add “structure” to some of our reservoirs. Unless you’ve got authority to do it, even putting a real Christmas tree in is considered littering.
that makes sense though, iknow peple want to that too. the dwr here did some of that at wllard bay near freeway bay, they put a ton a old christmas trees and anchored them too the bottom for structure out there, pretty cool if you know where it is. i might try it i might not maybe ill set a rig of weeds up and tinker with it if i get bored out there.
thanks fishrmn.
Two considerations. First is the approval of both DWR and whatever water users groups are involved. Sometimes both can be restrictive. There have been citations issued for something as simple as dumping tree trimmings in the back of a cove to create structure…without a permit.
Second is that setting up something new in the water does not automatically create an instant fish magnet. To the contrary it can spook fish and keep them away until they get used to it and accept it. When artificial reefs are created it sometimes takes weeks or months before fish begin treating it as structure or habitat. Not always though. So if it is legal it is certainly worth a try. Might be interesting to send down a camera to watch the reaction of the finny denizens.
Have wondered the same thing. Seen those products, but as TD sez - I’d expect they gotta sit around for a while before (1) fish find them (2) fish decide the like them. Maybe if you add some smelly-jelly to the leaves! Or make leaves poured out of scented plastics
There was a thread - even a map of the Willard Xmas project. Pretty cool - NOW I know where all my bottom bouncers are going!
In-Fisherman had a whole article on artificial structure. I can dig it up if interested (can I scan an article and post it?). There were various strategies - some vertical, some horizontal. Most involved cinder blocks and branches and wire (oh my). You set it - mark it on your GPS or wayside references - they learn to love it - you return and SLAM EM! ( and absolutely do NOT post where you put them!)
It was a Crappie based article if memory serves (rarely!). Seemed like one of those out-east, up-north type things to do - like fishing with minnows, and chain-sawing 4x7FT holes in the ice.
(just got introduced to Pike Decoys and Spearing - wow! Not a Musky technique for sure!)
So what does it take to stuff an old Xmas tree down an ice hole - even a 10 incher! Be about like the Grinch showing trees UP the chimney!
So do Xmas trees work better if you LEAVE the tinsel and ornaments on 'em? All that glitters!!!
So if you throw an organic object (like a tree branch) in the water - IS that considered littering? What about a Rock? How bout a Roll (with Garlic - thank you!)? Might work for Carp chumming, no?
You can look up the porcupine fish attractors on the internet. They use them in the great lakes region and in the midwest. I wish they would drop a bunch of them in Willard, but I’m sure that would be illegal. Making them is fairly simple and it would keep Tube Dude off the streets for a long time, as they are made out of PVC.
those are exactly what you need to add structure. i wonder if you could like plant some seed throughout the posts coming off that and let em grow off it. thatd be pretty cool.
Like others have said, it would probably take some time for the fish to become familiar with the structure. I bet they are really popular where you can leave your shack out on the ice for the season.
I wonder if anyone has ever approached the Weber Basin Water Users about putting structure in Willard?
I have been really contemplating that a lot latelly about contacting the division to see if they would be interested in placing about 100 or more porcupine style structures in willard bay, it sounds like they would also be very useful in utah lake. Willard bay is somewhere that could use some more structure for promoting stronger fish populations. But I doubt it unless it is there idea you won’t see it happen.
We used the “structure on string” quite a bit in MN. Does attract and hold fish but does not guarantee they will bite. Should work on Bunny Gulch perch but doubt trout would care. My problem in MN was pike trying to use the structure as an ambush point so the panfish would scatter.
Given the invasive species problems I doubt DWR would be in favor of it.
There was a post some time back talking about the “artificial reefs” - one feller was kind enough to share some down-scan and side scan shots of some of trees. I’ll try to dig up the post, but the search is always squirrely for me…
Hope the originators don’t mind the repost. I’m almost hesitant to post the “map” (spoilers) but where it was quite some time ago, it’s likely to suspect a lot of the bundles have broken up, or decayed.
So - now - the $10 question is who did it before, and can they do it again?
Wish I had diving gear - just think how many nice crankbaits you could retrieve if you dove those reefs?!?!?!
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Artificial structure has been a big topic in Utah in the past. The Willard Bay project was started by the Northern Utah Bass Anglers ( NUBA) back in the 80’s. The reefs are made of old tires, cabled together with concrete and christmas trees added for flavor. They were built on the Dikes then lifted into place by National Guard choppers.
Another major project took place on Yuba in the late 80’s. Charlie Thompson, then the Central Region DWR Biologist obtained several different artificial structures to test. They were placed in various locations around the lower portion of the reservoir. About two years after they were put in, the pond was lowered to work on the dam and before Charlie could get out there and retrieve them, some of our more conservation conscious individuals burned them. They also burned the Christmas tree reefs that were built on the exposed shoreline to be flooded when the lake came back up. Those were the last attempts to add structure in the Northern part of the State.
At Lake Powell, the Utah BASS Federation and the College of Eastern Utah Engineering Dept. were working on a floating structure that could be moved as the lake fell and rose. A prototype was built and placed at Powell, but there were several design flaws and it rolled over and sank. Several attempts were made to retrieve it, but I don’t think that they were successful. The status of that project is still on hold, the design is workable, they just need to be able to build one that stays upright.
Regarding the use of artificial structures. Most of the literature on the subject reports that most artificial habitats are in use within 24 to 48 hours after being placed. The fishing docks at Wahweep have string type structures on them and they were attracting fish as they were being placed.
Several attempts to put habitat in other waters in the state have mostly been met with NO or HELL NO !! responses. Mainly, water users are afraid that such things will clog intakes or become hazards. No attempt to look at what happens in other areas of the country is made, just “get out of here and don’t bother us”.
Two considerations. First is the approval of both DWR and whatever water users groups are involved. Sometimes both can be restrictive. There have been citations issued for something as simple as dumping tree trimmings in the back of a cove to create structure…without a permit.