Crappie crib

[Tikkaman]

My family has a 5 acre lake on our land that doesn't have much structure.  We are planning on sinking a tree or 2 to give them some cover and make it easier to locate the fish for ice fishing.  Open water they are easy to locate but through the ice we can never seem to find them.  Has anyone tried this before?  How much weight do you need to keep the tree submerged?  2:1 ratio? 

[Gills-only]

Have done it in the past, with a 6' tree we used 2 cement blocks, wired with as wire doubled.  Tie a large jug of any kind to the top with same wire to keep the tree upright.  Take onto ice, put where u want it and when ice melts it will go thru!!

[Tikkaman]

What kind of tree?  Thanks for the response gills-only

[Scooby31]

I have watched on tv people make them out of pvc. I want to say it was on jimmy Houston outdoors.

[Gills-only]

Christmas tree, after Christmas they give them away!!

[Tikkaman]

I have watched on tv people make them out of pvc. I want to say it was on jimmy Houston outdoors.

That is a great idea,  chances of getting snagged up with PVC are small during open water.  I'll have do some research for that show.

[Kevin23]

Lots of different ways to make fish cribs. Remember that crappie like VERTICAL structure.

Before putting anything in the water you should first contact the DNR, even if it is private there might be laws regarding what can be submerged in the water. I'm sure as long as it is private, using non treated wood would be fine.

Best crappie crib I've seen was A big box made out of pallets. One on bottom, 4 walls, and a roof. Cinder blocks and half an xmas tree inside.

[UFCreel]

Look to crappie.com for some fine examples of how to make a crappie crib.

[greensider]

i made one from pvc pipe been killing big bass ice fishing over it

[greensider]

i made one from pvc pipe been killing big bass ice fishing over it

[sparky]

To keep larger  fish in the crib use pellets with up right post , it is the way to go.  You put down pines and you will have a nursery.  The best are thin 1 1/2 inch wide boards.  Get a bucket and place a plastic bag in the bottom.  Place 8-10 pieces of lumber in angled on the sides and fill with concrete.  The plastic will make it so you can reuse the bucket.  I like the wood to be different lengths. 

If there is a place that makes pellets stop in and see if they have any scraps.  I can get a bundle of 40-50 about 7 foot long for $20.  Some guys will sub bamboo instead of wood or pvc.