Anyone else build their own fish attractors?

[mudhole]

I've been diving for a long time, and many of my friends from years ago, all built their own secret fishing spots. The new spearfishermen I've met at the lakes, seem to think they can just keep moving to find fish.

I found a tree stump in a good spot, stacked rocks around the roots. From week to week catfish would move in and wallow a bigger and bigger hollow. It's been attracting flatheads for over 20 years.

I found some tree logs scattered on the bottom, and dragged and stacked them to create some dark holes. . . these have been pulling fish for over 15 years.

I found some christmas trees, dumped randomly around a mud bottom, I hijacked them and arranged them in a W shape horizontally in the water over a sandy bottom. These pulled fish for several months, until fishermen found them and dropped anchors into the trees, then pulled the trees apart to get their anchors back.

In a 24 hour marathon, which encouraged baiting. . . I put high protein hog pellets in a gunny sack and tied it to a flooded tree, to keep the bag off the bottom. This pulled carp and buffalo to the bag for a week.

Let's here your experiences in bringing fish to you. . .

Remember it is illegal to cut trees in the corps of engineers areas. . . but the lakes are full of trees others have cut and dropped in poor locations.

:beer: :beer:

[diver50]

Yes, I do some re-arranging of lake structure quite a bit myself. I have a nice log cabin built for flatheads at Tenkiller, and I use those cherry tomato bags (they have a fine mesh) as chum bags which I place at intervals along a bluff line. Some of the bags have range cubes, some have soured grain. I also use cut shad, and a variety of catfish baits from time to time. It all works, but sometimes it works better than others. There is a fairly large boat sunk in about 30 feet of water, and there are usually a few flatheads around it. So yeah, being creative on food and habitat pays off.

[sticknrelease]

Have you guys seen the Porcupine fish attractor from Bass Pro Shops? it is basically a small ball that 1/2' PVC sticks out of in all directions, forming a big 3dimensional sort of snowflake that suppossedly attracts algae, and thereby baitfish, and then bigger, predatory fish. [U]http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchResults?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&CMID=TOP_SEARCH_GO

I haven't used it, but it seems to be right up the alley of what you are referring to.

[mudhole]

I have seen several commercial fish attractors and they work "a little". To do a good job you have to buy a lot of them.

If I find trees in a good area, I'll hunt there but I won't bother the trees. . . If I find trees dropped in a mud flat and there are no fish using them, I'll move them nearby, to a fishier location. If you want to move a tree, tie a small lift bag, or one of the new SMB (surface marker bouy) inflate, and move to a new location. Most surface fishermen will find it's new location and never know it's been moved.

[aaron proffitt]

Just whatever you do,DO NOT sink items like barrels or old bathtubs and things like that.Alot of noodlers do this and DWC will nail 'em for it.

[mudhole]

Just whatever you do,DO NOT sink items like barrels or old bathtubs and things like that.Alot of noodlers do this and DWC will nail 'em for it.


:beer: :beer: :beer: Aaron, In Tenkiller there is enough structure to feed us all. . . ;)
I know a lot of divers at Eufala sink 55 gal drums split top to bottom and welded end to end. They put them in some of the creek chanels where there is not good structure. It is illegal in Oklahoma, because the DWC doesn't care what benefits it's natural resource. Ask anyone at DWC why they deny divers most game fish, but make us pay for a fishing license? Ask any wildlife professional, why they limit flathead and how this great eating fish can be better used.

Noodlers and divers are just taking small numbers in a few lakes. There are flatheads in many rivers and most lakes in our state. And most methods of fishing won't catch flatheads. I had a friend, buddy Rice, that took hundreds of pounds of flatheads a month and never made a dent in the populations of flatheads. He used a pole and hook and barrels put in muddy parts of Eufala lake, his method was illegal according to DWC. . . it hurt nothing. Oklahoma has had noodlers catching fish since statehood. DWC banned use of diving tanks while noodling. . . and noodlers are drowning fairly often. . . There's better hunting and better laws in nearby Arkansas.

[apnea_beast]

be very careful about legality issues when sinking debris.

[aaron proffitt]

:beer: :beer: :beer: Aaron, In Tenkiller there is enough structure to feed us all. . . ;)
I know a lot of divers at Eufala sink 55 gal drums split top to bottom and welded end to end. They put them in some of the creek chanels where there is not good structure. It is illegal in Oklahoma, because the DWC doesn't care what benefits it's natural resource. Ask anyone at DWC why they deny divers most game fish, but make us pay for a fishing license? Ask any wildlife professional, why they limit flathead and how this great eating fish can be better used.

Noodlers and divers are just taking small numbers in a few lakes. There are flatheads in many rivers and most lakes in our state. And most methods of fishing won't catch flatheads. I had a friend, buddy Rice, that took hundreds of pounds of flatheads a month and never made a dent in the populations of flatheads. He used a pole and hook and barrels put in muddy parts of Eufala lake, his method was illegal according to DWC. . . it hurt nothing. Oklahoma has had noodlers catching fish since statehood. DWC banned use of diving tanks while noodling. . . and noodlers are drowning fairly often. . . There's better hunting and better laws in nearby Arkansas.


Couldn't agree more with you,mudhole.Just would hate to see someone get themself in a trick bag cause they didn't know the law. But,you bring up alot of good points about the state's backward view at allowing greater spearing opp..Really pisses me off. :mad:

PS Part of the reason we're going to be transferring back to the Ozarks. ;)