Seasoned anglers frequently dismiss public fish attractors as amateur grounds, with the rationale being that because the locations are public knowledge, these spots get fished out.
That’s a mistake according to pro crappie angler Mike Parrott, who urges anglers at any skill level to not overlook public fish attractors.
As fisheries managers seek to build fish habitat that doesn’t constantly have to be maintained from year to year, the locations, composition, and fish-producing abilities of today’s artificial reefs are better than ever.
“State agencies put in a lot of time and effort building artificial reefs like they’ve been doing in saltwater for years,” said Parrott. “That stuff is really good to fish. They usually put it in deep water, which is going to hold the fish year round. Algae grows on it real well and draws bait fish, which draws game fish. It’s a great place to fish.”
Many of today’s public fish attractors are built using man made materials like concrete, formed rock and composite materials, providing more vertical structure. Parrott said vertical structure is a natural attractor for crappie.
“Vertical structure that comes up high off the bottom is always good,” he said. “If it’s not in real deep water, it provides shade to fish and they’re going to get on the shady side of it or the down current side of it. They can change up and down as far as the depth on something’s that sticking way up off the bottom. They can go to the bottom or they can suspend up or above it or out to the sides of it.”
Parrott said that artificial structure also works well in current areas, providing relief from current for crappie to ambush prey.
“They may want to get out of the current a little bit so they get behind it on the down current side or on the shady side if the sun gets some penetration in the water,” he said.
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