Turn your Christmas trees into fish homes
Every January, our fishing club celebrates one last holiday tradition.
We gather at the boat ramp on our private lake near Kansas City and work to turn Christmas trees into brush piles.
We start by establishing a tree dropoff site right after the holidays, then purchase concrete blocks and wire. By the day we are sinking the trees, we have an assembly line of volunteers drilling holes in the trunks of the trees, wiring concrete blocks to the trees, and hauling them to a barge.
We sink as many as 250 trees in 12 sites and we have great places to fish throughout the year.
True, Christmas trees break down quicker than branches from hardwood trees. But we freshen the piles each year, plus add some new ones, so the spots continue to produce.
There is a method to our madness. We try to sink most of the trees at the edge of a dropoff. But on some points, we sink cover at variables from shallow to about 20 feet of water so that we have cover to accommodate fishing anytime from spring to the heat of summer.
Curiously, some brush piles are more consistent producers than others. But they all will hold crappies and bass from time to time.
We sink the trees with the needles still on their branches. But they still attract fish within days.
I remember using an Aqua-Vu to look at trees we sunk at our boat dock. Fish were suspended over the Christmas trees just a few days after they were put in.
You might want to try it this year. Even if you are on your own, you can build a large brush pile by sinking five or six Christmas trees in one spot in a pond.
If you plan to sink them in a reservoir, make sure you don’t need a permit first.
The branches will grow algae, then baitfish will move in to feed. As the needles fall off, gamefish will be able to suspend in the branches.
That’s when the fun starts.
That’s it for this week. Merry Christmas to all. We’ll talk to you next week.
Brent
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