by Gillzilla » Sun Nov 29, 2009 10:27 pm
Building and placing fish cribs may indeed be illegal, but it is one hell of a way to establish structure in an otherwise barren lake. Not to mention, you'd be the only one who knew where that structure was!
I've always thought that if the structure you are constructing is of natural materials in tune with the lake's surrounding biology/geology, then why not? As long as the materials are natural, and the structure is not a hazard to navigation, why not?
Hardwood pallets, tied together with thick natural twine, and weighted down with stones between the planks, makes for great structure! Pallets are just wood held together with nails (iron). The iron in nails is a critical nutrient for plants, and the minute amount that would digest into the water column over time would be insignificant. The same could be done with heavy logs.
One could also transport cobble-sized rocks to a location of choice over time, and build small underwater reefs. This is another excellent way of creating benthic habitat for fish, invertebrates, etc.
Just my .02
Morgan