Our lake (Sinclair, GA) is down six feet for another two weeks and I was wondering what ideas have worked for anyone in the past as far as brushpiles, fish hotels, or anything they've added to the water, whether it be beneath their own dock or a secret spot. We have roughly forty feet of water frontage and I have gotten several stacks of pallets that I will be stacking and A-framing and anchoring both beneath the dock and just below the water line along the shore. Any other ideas for bass habitat enhancement ideas?

Somebody threw an old toilet in the lake at my folks lakehouse.

It's been down there for ... 30+ years.  ;D

I place brushpiles of all types out year around.  Where I have had great success, I'll scout the travel/migration routes that lead them in and out of areas.  All my lakes get serious pressure.  A well known lunker hole may see 100 boats in a day.  I try to give an escape to the fish, maybe 50 yards off or more or less.  I also look for heavy timber, some guys never go in the dense timber, just fish the edges.   Hardwoods, like oak for example will last years, were a Holiday tree (Xmas) will only last so long,  I mix up cedars and hardwoods, they both offer something to the big and smaller baitfish.   I will add to someone elses piles that I have found, by placing a small pile, maybe one large cutting will hold the largest fish by itself 15 yards from the original pile.  

Someone will find them eventually, but until they do, and you are in fertile waters that bass seem to keep replenishing daily, a pile off from the original can pay dividends with the kicker.

My piles are to help pre-spawn and post spawn staging.   Summer is one of the easiest pattern to hold, lots of high pressure systems stalled in Tx,  you can set your watch to the dinner bell in summer on different locations.

After the dam for my lake broke last year... :'( :'( :'(...I started A-framing pallets and placing brushpiles in key areas throughout the lake. Place them in places like ledges, drop-offs, spawining flats, points, creek channels, key areas like that. Also be sure to mark your placements so you will be able to find them later.  

i was just in the process of planting some fish attractants until i got  "rudely interrupted."

i have lots of pvc pipe left from a construction job.   cutting it & making a long row of "tee pees".  ..it's easy to cut, put together, transport & weight.  ...also, lasts a long time (i hope, i hope!  LOL)

Like justtrying said PVC pipe, it makes a great fish attractor, and it will last a long time.

I use Christmas trees. Just tie a cinder block to them to hold them in place. Christmas is a good time to do this because when there is ice you can slide the tree to where you want it and wait for the ice to melt. If you know some one who has a live tree offer to haul it off for them, then tie it to your tree to make it bigger.

Like a lot of people have said, christmas trees make great habitat, but in the lake that I fish in a lot we have put old tires in places that bass spawn and they like to spawn on the inside of these tires.  Just something else that you can try!

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/creating_fish_cover.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/bass_structure.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/tree_structure.html

Enjoy!

I saw some pictures of artificial brush piles that I was very interested in making but haven't gotten around to it.  I can't find the pictures so I will try and describe them the best I can.  They cut a bunch of different length sections of plastic hose (it wasn't garden hose it was black plastic and was about 1 inch in diameter and about 1/8-1/4 inch thick so it was pretty sturdy) then they took cinder blocks and placed a bunch of the pieces in each side and then filled them with cement.  The hoses all kind of flowered outward and made a snice snag proof structure.  I've included a link to a picture of the closest thing that I could find on the net.  It's the stake tree structures about halfway down the page.  They used 5 gal. buckets and 2x4's so just picture that with a bunch of hoses instead of the wood.

http://www.pserie.psu.edu/seagrant/communication/fact/fs14.html