I’ve heard alot about making homemade cover for slabs, brush piles and pvc ect… But what works best? And more importantly what is the best depth to sink the structure?

In my experience, the absolute best material for a crappie stand is willow branches. For some reason, they seem to attract more crappie, for a longer time. My next favorite is discarded Christmas trees, usually Douglas Fir or Scotch Pine. Right after New Years, I usually go to all my neighbors and family members and offer to dispose of their Christmas Trees for them. I wind up with several truckloads of trees.. The Fir trees seem to be the better of the two. After that, everything else is about the same. The key to creating crappie ‘Honey Holes’ is that you want locations that only YOU know about. Avoid popular places for boaters and other anglers. Find some quiet, out-of-the-way places to set your habitat. You want at least 3 different places, in locations that will attract crappie during different seasons. Forget the spawn and summer. During the spawn, a fish holding area is not necesary, and in summer, crappie won’t use one no matter where you put it.. Concentrate on creating habitat for Fall and Winter. Crappie like the mid depths in these seasons, and will follow structure such as old creek beds and channels, as they follow schools of shad and baitfish. Concentrate your efforts at cove mouths, inlets, shallow bays and creeks. Between 10 and 20 feet of water seems to be the best depths, depending on the local water conditions. Make sure you mark all the locations on a GPS, so only you can find them. Happy Fishing!