While waiting for my auto to be repaired a couple of weeks ago, I read an interesting article in a Field and Stream magazine. It was an interview of a man that "designs" top qualify bass lakes for people for prices ranging from 10K to 50K depending on the size of the lake. This does not include building the dam etc., just designing the lake. They had several diagrams and the description of one method he uses called a bass tree. He plants a 2" heavy duty PVC pipe vertically in the lake bed where the lake will be about 8 feet deep. He puts a stop consisting of four threaded rods sticking out of the pipe about 4 feet from the bottom. The stop could be done by cutting the pipe at four feet and slipping in heavy lag bolts so that they stick out the pipe and then glue a coupling to continue to pipe up to about the surface. He then takes a 4X8 sheet of half inch exterior or marine plywood and cuts a 2 inch hole in the center of the plywood. He slips this over the pipe and slides it down to the stop. Then he takes a 5 gal bucket, cuts a 2 inch hole in the bottom of the bucket, slides it down the pipe and fills it with rocks to keep the plywood down. Finally he places a piece of brush in the top of the pipe to mark the location. This contraption acts like a bass magnet when placed in the proper position in the lake. The bass will conjugate under the board and any lure/fly that is cast onto the board will be grabbed as soon as it slides off the board and drops towards the bottom. Just a thought if you want to get a bit fancy.

Jim Smith