In last week’s article, I discussed the materials that can be used in building fish attractors and now I will discuss the best places to place the attractors. As much thought and preparation should go into deciding where to place the fish attractors as was done in the actual building of the attractors.

You can build the best fish attractor and then place it in a bad location and you will end up with a totally wasted effort. The tools needed for deciding where the fish attractors will be placed are a lake map, your depth finder and some buoy markers.

Several years ago, I had spent a considerable amount of time during one winter building a variety of fish attractors that I planned to place at various preselected locations in the lake during late winter so they would be ready for the following spring fishing season. Before sharing the details of my story, let me mention that the building and placement of fish attractors in the lake is best if you can persuade another angler to help with the project.

That winter, I had a fellow angler join me in both building the fish attractors and then placing the attractors in the lake. We did our homework and selected good locations for an array of fish attractors that were made from several different materials over a span of several weeks.

I had a 12-foot johnboat and we decided to use it for the transporting the attractors. We placed the attractors in the johnboat and then towed the johnboat with my bass boat to the various spots we had already preselected. We had to cross a fairly wide expanse of open water before we got to our first drop location.

My partner was given the task of sitting in the back of the bass boat holding the tow rope that we had tied to the johnboat. The two of us had been very careful to balance the load as best we could. About five minutes into our trip, as we slowly motored through 30-40 feet deep water, I just happened to glance back at my partner.

He had the sheer look of terror on his face and could not say a word. He just pointed in the direction of the johnboat which was turned upside down. All our hard work had been deposited in an open water area where few if any fish would ever found.

Since that catastrophe, I have found that a pontoon boat works extremely well for transporting constructed fish attractors to the site where they are to be sunk. I can sit several fish attractors upright on the pontoon’s front-end and then easily deposit them at my preselected sites.

Let us turn our attention to good locations for placement of fish attractors. Best locations will be in water no deeper than thirty-foot. The majority of the lake’s fish will be found in water less than that depth year-round.

There are exceptions to that rule but my advice is to concentrate your efforts in water depths of 8-25 feet where a majority of the lake’s fish can be found. Those fish include largemouth bass, crappie, hybrid/striped bass and catfish.

Any natural underwater feature or cover like a creek channel, a ledge, a hump, a point (main lake point or cove point) or a ditch can be improved with a fish attractor. Occasionally, I will place an attractor where there is already some structure like a stump but for the most part I pick good locations that contain no current structure or cover.

Many large coves have a natural ditch that has been made from rainwater runoff or was once a flowing small creek. Sometimes these are void of any additional structure and adding a fish attractor can create a great fishing spot.

In a cove where a ditch or small creek channel runs from the back of the cove all the way out to the cove’s mouth, I will place several attractors at different depths the entire length of the cove. I have found that long coves with water at the vary back that might be 3-6 feet and then deepen to 25 feet at the cove’s mouth will be excellent candidates for fish attractors.

Once I have selected my locations by studying a lake map and then by studying the location with my boat’s depth finder, I then mark the exact spot with buoys and write down GPS coordinates so that I can return later to fish the spot. I then return to the spot with the fish attractor and place it in that location.

Due to water current, you can never use too much weight on your fish attractors. Both Lake Oconee’s and Lake Sinclair’s water current created by the Georgia Power pump back operation at the Wallace Dam can easily move a single concrete block attached to a fish attractor. Also main lake locations require more weight than do locations inside coves.

It is truly amazing and rewarding to place a fish attractor at a spot and then in only days see fish show up at that location. If you like to catch fish and have some spare time on your hands, I suggest you might want to try building a few fish attractors and place them in good locations in the lake.

No restrictions apply to placing fish attractors in area lakes. Just use good judgment when placing the attractors in the lake so that they will not interfere with boat traffic. In other words make sure they are weighted down adequately and at least a few feet below the lake’s normal low pool. Good fishing and see you next week.