How to Build Georgia Cube Fish Attractor Updated

How to Build Georgia Cube Fish Attractor

Crappie anglers are big fans of brush piles as they tend to congregate fish during certain times of the year. Bass anglers also target them when the piles are in shallower water. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism has initiated a project to build and place 150-300 artificial PVC "cubes" in area lakes for fish and fishermen.

The onetime adage, "build it and they volition come" is truthful of many things.

And in the globe of fish, this saying might be particularly appropriate. Anglers and fisheries biologists take been putting brush piles in area waters for years to attract fish.

Information technology's worked in well-nigh cases, and anglers reap the rewards of the attempt to constitute additional fish habitat. However, in most instances with natural brush piles, like Christmas and other trees, they typically don't last very long and have to be routinely replenished.

Only a new option on the horizon might solve the short-lived trouble of natural habitat, or at least significantly extend it. The Kansas Section of Wild fauna, Parks and Tourism has plans to launch a specifically-designed PVC construction that has proven popular and constructive in other states.

"The idea came from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources," said Bryan Sowards, KDWPT fisheries program specialist. "It was a study washed by Due north Carolina to see which fish attractor worked the best, or as good as brush piles do. And the model that Georgia came up with seemed to work the all-time."

Human-made fish attractors are an attempt to concur fish in a certain location, according to Sowards.

"They're there because it's construction," Sowards said. "A lot of our larger, wind-blown reservoirs really lack a lot of habitat."

Castor pile placement in these reservoirs has proven extremely popular with anglers, particularly crappie anglers during the winter and jump. All the same, it'southward labor intensive and constantly ongoing, so these artificial PVC structures will be built and tried in a scattering of surface area reservoirs beginning this month. They are scheduled to become into Milford, Wilson, Melvern and El Dorado reservoirs, equally well equally a diversity of other community and land fishing lakes.

"Our goal is to produce 150 to 300 of these cubes each year," Sowards said. "The structures will immediately attract fish for angler harvest, only the overall goal is to accumulate enough structures to better fish populations."

The new structures, known as "Georgia Cubes," are cube-shaped and iii anxiety alpine, 4 anxiety wide and four feet deep. More than 50 feet of corrugated piping will be stacked and woven into the PVC frame, allowing the structure to attract and agree fish while keeping a adequately open design.

"Nosotros wanted to do something that wouldn't be obtrusive to people using their nice bass boats, then instead of using cinder blocks, we poured about 16 pounds of gravel in the PVC frame on the bottom to anchor the cube," Sowards said of the anchoring arrangement. "We'll see how it does in farthermost weather condition simply it should concur them down."

The study mentioned before found the cube structures quickly accumulate periphyton, a complex mix of algae, fungi and leaner, which further attracts insects and fish, an platonic result for both fisheries management staff and anglers.

"I don't think yous'll go a lot of walleye on them. It's possible — only I call up bass and crappie will use them the near," Sowards said.

Sowards said if an individual was to get to a hardware shop and buy the items needed for 1 of these PVC cubes, the price would exist about $100 to $150 each. Milford Reservoir might get the starting time batch of cubes in the next week or ii, and their locations will be determined with insight from the local bass clubs, as well as the fisheries biologist.

"The biologist will make up one's mind the surface area where he thinks they'll work best," Sowards said. "And then he'll assign GPS coordinates to mark the locations of these."

The GPS coordinates of these new structures, much like some of the older data for past brush pile projects, will be listed on the KDWPT web site.

"Over fourth dimension, I'm compiling a database," Sowards said. "If you look now at each lake and check out the 'Fish Attractors' link, I'll input the data into that as I become it from the field and update information technology periodically."

Despite these "new-and-improved" fish attractor designs, Sowards doesn't believe they'll completely supercede the old tried-and-true brush piles popular with then many fisheries biologists and anglers.

"At that place are some guys at reservoirs with extreme h2o level fluctuations that have expressed trivial involvement in these new cubes, equally they don't desire to motion them when the h2o levels driblet," Sowards said. "They nonetheless want to do brush."

And anglers still will probable use brush, as they've been putting habitat in places similar Perry Reservoir for years.

"I've probably got most 70-some guys on the listing that do it here at Perry," said Kirk Tjelmeland, KDWPT fisheries biologist. "Over the years, they've probably put in thousands of piles."

Every lake is different as far as regulations on the public placing of brush piles, and then it'south best to contact the local fisheries biologist to get started. Tjelmeland said he has permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed a listing and provide a permit to those interested in placing their own fish habitat.

"They have to do it in sure areas and utilize existing piles or habitat that's already there," Tjelmeland said. "And the piles have to be at to the lowest degree 3 feet below conservation puddle, and so there are some rules associated with the let."

Tjelmeland admits hardwoods like hedge or locust likely work the best and last the longest.

"Cedar trees are overnice, likewise, as they'll last quite a while," he said. "The softer forest tend to autumn autonomously real quick, so information technology'southward all-time not to utilise those."

A concrete block works well to anchor the copse, and attach information technology with No. nine wire, according to Tjelmeland.

"And it's best to use the trees as soon equally you cut them so they sink better because they still take wet in them," he added.

Castor piles constructed from natural materials typically concluding about three to five years, sometimes longer for the hardwoods, before they deteriorate and are no longer useful to fish species. It'due south hoped these new artificial PVC cubes volition terminal 10 to twenty years, depending on the weather condition and whether they remain submerged during their lifespan.

Regardless of the type of habitat, anglers are the ultimate benefactors of a project similar this. It concentrates fish, making them easier to catch, and if there are enough placed it could improve the overall fishery for a item body of water.

"These cubes will not merely provide habitat for developed fish of all species, but they as well provide critical nursery habitat," said Jeff Nolte, conservation managing director for the Kansas B.A.South.S. Nation clubs. "We are excited and encouraged by the fisheries staff's delivery to improving Kansas fisheries in general. We have had a keen relationship with KDWPT in the past and this cooperative endeavor bodes well for a connected relationship that will benefit all fisheries, not simply bass."