CRIBS

[martymoose]

WHY DID THEY EVEN BOTHER WITH THE CRAPPIE CRIBS WHEN THERES NOTHING GOING ON TO PRESERVE THEM

[RogersResort]

At the time it kept a few idle hands busy and it did

give a little hope to us that were pacing the floor at

night wondering just how we were going to make the

mortgage payment and pay the real-estate taxes.

We do see quite a few crappies come off the cribs in

July and August when the wind is not blowing to hard.

[Random guy]

Also it was later discovered by the locals, fishery boys, anglers of all levels and even the poeple that spent hours and hours building these cribs the crappies really don't like them. If you will notice maybe one or two houses on a set of cribs if any at all.

Now the crib design was more or less copied from other crib projects that worked on other lakes, trouble is the severe wave action of Upper Red is more then anyone excpected even at the bottom of the water column and yes they are tearing aprt after how many years. I'm curious just how they could be maintained.

Now the resort assocation, locals and the mass of poeple could do it again if it was effective. Truly it was not, it was unknown at that time just how nomadic these crappies are, the only thing that hold crappies in one given spot for anytime is food and the food is on the move in open water.

Sad as it is the cribs did not do the great things an entire broad commity of poeple thought they would. Still a very valiant effort to help save a town.

[late night]

I gotta wonder how many trees have been sunk on that lake by private individuals?

[Ice Ranger]

 Originally Posted By: late night

I gotta wonder how many trees have been sunk on that lake by private individuals?

Gotta point there. And we wonder why some of those folks have their own "favorite spots".

[GoFish4]

With the wind and waves on Red you could drop a small forest of trees on the ice and it won't be in the same place for long . That favorite spot would move about 1/4 mile each time there was a storm

[WestCentralGuru]

I would say if you were going to drop a small forest of trees, if you were clever you would attach cinder blocks tied to the bottom of the trees.

[WestCentralGuru]

However, i'm pretty sure the local dnr would not be to enthusiastic about this acitivity. I believe that Red Lakes lack of deeper depths and vegetation doesnt warrant fish(crappies) to stay in designated areas during winter months. Any comments?

[late night]

I know of one smaller lake with a sunken brush pile, which I did not do by the way. In the winter the fish do not seem to stay on it very much, except rock bass. However, in the summer it is the fist place I hit up and usually do very well.

[Random guy]

As for crappies they hate structure in the winter. Rock piles, granite fields, and even the "super gravel" with its four inch rocks mixed in do not hold crappies. Gravel or even debri based structure does not hold whats for dinner. The mud does and the mud goes on for miles.

The best way to describe the travel patterns/habits of Upper Red Lake Crappies is compare them to migrating Caribou. The are following food towards the nursery.

[ZapBranigan]

Wasn't the point of the cribs to attract and hold baitfish. It wasn't really to attract and hold game fish except they would go where the baitfish goes.

[Random guy]

They do hold baitfish but the crappies will not hold to them.

[FISHINGURU]

i found some wood structure in my local lake in about 12 fow...seen a few crappies earlier in the season with the aqua vu but haven't caught or seen a crappie since then in that area...all i catch is smallies and largemouth there now...dropped the cam down in that spot about a week ago and seen about 20 bluegills and a largemouth but couldn't get them to bite anything i tried.

[ZapBranigan]

Yeah we all get a bit camera shy.

Ha.