The reservoir i fish is over 30 years old now and is virtually void of structure. I would like to add some brush piles  in various places. I'm not sure about the laws in doing this. Any advice on how I should go about doing this would be greatly appreciated.

one thing to remember is this.  brush piles attract more bream and sunfish, and thicker structure, such as boulders, thick laydown trees, and dock pilings attract the bass.  so, if the bass in your lake feed heavily on bream, plants brushpiles, so that bass will come in there and know they will always have food.  i dont beleive there are any laws on planting brush piles.  hope this helps.

I strongly recommend planting brush shallow and deep on lakes that are old and the cover has decomposed.  Planting brush at night, not letting everyone else see can put money in your pocket for upcoming tourneys.  Plus it gives the fry, minnows and other bait fish a place to hide until they've grown.  Enough brush can change an older lake thats going down hill due to a lake aging with no vegitation.  

Thanks for the advice. This lake is very clear and I can't locate a thermocline in the summer. I don't really know how deep to put them but I thought I would just experiment.

Clear  deep lakes usually don't have thermoclines.     Always consider the seasonal patterns when planting brush that you may want to fish soon.  Off the end of wind blown points.  In the mouth of a cove, where a ditch or a in creek bend or where two come together, on some flats.  

I would check with local DNR or other conservation office. I know that here in Indiana you cant sneeze on the water without a fine. lol Hope you get to plant some piles. Good Luck ;D

Clear deep lakes usually don't have thermoclines.  

I would have to totally disagree with you on this one!  If any lake is going to have a thermocline, it is going to be a deep one...clear or not.  I would definately recommend placing your brush piles above the thermocline unless you are planning to fish them after fall turnover.  Try increasing your sensitivity on your depth finder to see the thermocline.  Expect to see it anywhere from 10 - 20 feet.

This lake is deep and clear. 100ft  in some areas. I use a garmin 250 with the sensitivity on 90. I've found a hump in about 15 ft of water with big drop offs on on 3 sides. I've never caught anything off it. I'm hoping its just because it has no cover. I'm going to load it up with cover.

I knew I should have asked more specifics about the lake.  You'll find deep, clear , rock basins with a thermocline that can set up at 60- 80.   We already discussed on other threads as to how deep bass are caught in summer and winter.   My fault, I don't consider a lake that hits 40ft occassionaly a deep lake when I have fished lakes over 100ft.   Most of the time, deep clear lakes with very little vegitation doesn't have a thernocline that sets up.  Fish in the summer on these lakes can be caught in depths of 50ft or greater.  Thats personal time on the water.  The key word is MOST LAKES..  A hump is an great place to put brush, Is this hump in the middle of the lake?  Or is it a staging point were fish can go shallow.  This time of the year, bass are found in the backs of the creeks chasing shad and bait fish, I should say usually found  chasing bait.

Thanks for the info. This hump has access to shallow water. I believe it was a long underwater point that has partly eroded away.

If the hump that you are planting on has some weeds, it should be even better.  Will you be targeting smallmouth or largemouth on these brush piles?  I have personally have never seen a thermocline set up past 30 feet deep, then again I cannot speak for every lake.  The lake I am on reaches depths of 250 ft in places and the thermocline is seen at approx 15 ft in the heat of the summer. Happy planting.

I have been on some deep resorvoirs before, but after going to canada and fishing for salmon in fresh water lakes with depths of over 500ft, I was amazed at the clarity and beauty that surrounded us.  We pulled fish from 300ft. on down riggers.  I have made 7 trips over the years to Victoria and Esquimalt(sp) Canada.  I still have some of the salmon left that the cannery processed for me.  doubl a, i'm jealous of your hunting and fishing in Canada.

yeah, its pretty sweet as you know matt fly.  I'm heading north this weekend for opening of moose season and a bit of lake trout fishing.  One negative is our hellish long winters.....6 months of hard water.  Its a good thing I like ice fishing too.

I like ice in my tea!!!!! ;D