artificial reefs for ice fishing/jiggin.

[under-ice]

hey guys,
i was wondering if anyone had made some of there own artificial reefs?
i was thinking of making some out of PVC pipe or 2x4's.  i was going to trow some out where im going to put my shanty this year.
i dont know if i should nail some 2x4's in an X shape or make some squares or somthing.
or does anyone else have an idea on how to make them? or does anyone have any reason why this would not work?
lemme hear your opinions and ideas please.
thank you
Mitch

[SPARKYICE]

structure does attract fish, i imagine it would work.
treated wood leaches out the preservitives- i know it's used widely for docks, etc, but the stuff has arsenic and copper salts in it.
i would think yould want a material that would encourage natural growth on it- maybe dead shrubs or small trees.i don't know what state you're from, but there may well be regulations about constructing that sort of thing- hazard to navigation or some such. i know if your shanty goes through, they can fine you.
there are commercially available artificial weeds that you suspend around your fishing area. i guess they work.
"reel weeds" i think they're called

if it were legal and you could make an under water "forest" in an otherwise barren area you would probably have your very own honey hole.

[Polar]

I have used brush and pallets before. I found these and I am going to try them.


http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0047096122249a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=bill+dance&Ntk=Products&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

[JuvyK]

Be careful where you do this if its on a lake dont let the DNR see you!!! You can get yourself in some trouble!!! Good luck fishing this winter.

[miket.]

make it easy for yourself by throwing some branches and christmas trees etc... i don:t think that that will be illegal.

[JuvyK]

Throwing anything even trees and branches in the lake is usually illegal. At our cabin up north I dropped some trees in the water with my chain saw and the DNR stopped me. They told me that I cant do anything to shore line that wasnt natural. Anyways they gave me a day to take them out. I thought I was doing them and the fish a favor by providing structure. I guess the fine is pretty heavy and you could lose your fishing rights for this. At least the DNR officers that I ran across were nice enough to cut me a break. I would check before doing this.

[miket.]

what parts are you from , i ask because i know of a place here that was drained dredged and christmas trees and such were added for fish structure. they even put some pvc coming out of the dredged slopes for the cat fish.

[JuvyK]

Born and raised in Wisconsin. I was making the crib in Northern WI.

[miket.]

its pretty strange with all the differant rules and regulations from state to state ha?

[brokenline]

make it easy for yourself by throwing some branches and christmas trees etc... i don:t think that that will be illegal.

youd be surpised in MN seems like everthing is illegal..

[captain54]

All I can say if there legal in your state,do it.I made pallet cribs,4 wired together in a square cube and weighted with 4 cement blocks,I made 7 and they produce a ton of gills,crappie,LM bass, and huge pike.