Anglers who dedicate a little time and energy and build their own fish attractors can be rewarded with good fish catches when fish are attracted to those structures. Last week, I discussed the materials that can be used to construct the best fish attractors. Selecting good attractor materials and building those attractors will not however guarantee success.

Once those fish attractors are constructed using good materials, the location for their placement becomes critical. Building good attractors but placing them in a bad location is a total waste of time.

Over the years, my efforts in building and distributing fish attractors have been rewarded but I have occasionally been disappointed when I placed the attractors in what I thought was a good location only to see the fish attractor fail to attract fish. You can sometimes pick a location that appears good but for some reason the fish are not attracted to that location.

Lake Sinclair is a better lake than is Lake Oconee for placing man-made fish attractors due to the make-up of the lake bottom. Lake Sinclair’s bottom was basically cleared when construction took place in the late 1940s and early 1950s but when Lake Oconee was constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s a lot of bottom material like trees and other materials were left in place to create habitat for the fish.

Many locations on Lake Sinclair can be enhanced by the placement of fish attractors. However, there are still plenty of locations in Lake Oconee where adding fish attractors will enhance those locations but it might take a little more study to find good locations since there is so much bottom material that was left when the lake was constructed.

One of the first considerations for placement of your fish attractors is the depth of water where you want to place the fish attractors. Fish attractors placed in two feet of water will attract fish and attractors placed in 50 feet of water will attract fish. However, I recommend you concentrate your efforts in water down to 35 feet deep.

Fish will inhabit water greater than 35 feet but the majority of the time whether in summer or winter, most of the game fish can be found above 35 feet. One exception to that idea is crappie, and if you are building fish attractors to attract crappie in deep water placing the attractor in water as deep as 60 feet can pay dividends.

I frequently catch crappie from natural standing timber in Lake Oconee that is in water 40 to 65 feet deep. However, those crappie will suspend in the trees at 10 to 17 feet deep. I know of man-made structures (standup trees and bamboo beds) in Lake Sinclair that are in water depths as deep as 40 feet that hold crappie, but again the crappie suspend in the trees at depths of 10 to 17 feet.

The fish attractors can be built to stand up from the lake bottom or lay down on the lake bottom. For me standup attractors work best for crappie and lay downs attractors work best for largemouth bass. The real secret to any fish attractor is attracting baitfish to the structure. Game fish will also use the structure for a hiding or a resting place but using the attractor to ambush baitfish is the primary reason the game fish are attracted to those locations.

Natural underwater features or cover like creek channels, ledges, humps, points, flats and ditches are good places for placing fish attractors. Placing attractors around docks and boat houses are also good places for fish attractors. Consideration should be given to swimmers and boaters if you are placing the attractors around docks, and even in open water you want to make sure that any attractors placed in the water are at least five feet below the surface.

Best to get a good lake map (one with GPS coordinates is recommended) and study the map to identify some potential locations. Once you have identified some potential locations, get in your boat and using your depth finder and GPS further study the locations selected to make a final determination before taking the attractors to those locations. Do not try to accomplish everything in one trip.

Mark the chosen locations with your GPS so you can return to actually place the attractors in the water and of course keep those GPS coordinates so that you can return when ready to fish. Now you are ready to bring the fish attractors to those selected locations and drop them in the water. Remember to err on the side of too much weight due to the strong water current generated by the pump-back operation.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division has been placing man-made PVC structures in Lake Sinclair for several years and plans to continue those efforts this year. To obtain a list of the GPS coordinates for the WRD fish attractors send me an e-mail and I will forward you a copy.

Georgia Power is also currently placing donated Christmas trees in Lake Sinclair and those GPS coordinates should soon be available.  Now is the time to get your fish attractors built and in the water. Good fishing and see you next week.

Outdoor columnist Bobby Peoples can contacted via e-mail at brpeoples@windstream.net.