Fishing Tips

Want your Porcupine Fish Attractor to look like a stump?
Well you can! Place in this setting.

On the 5 ½ foot attractor, the sphere has 26 pipe fittings that holds 65 ft of 1/2 in. PVC pipe. The sphere has two holes that are by themselves. Put in either hole one pipe cut 19 1/2 inches long, glue this pipe in first thing. Place the other 25 pipes that are 30 inches long in holes. Turn the 19 1/2 inch pipe to the side. Put two or three King bricks on short pipe then glue 1/2 inch PVC tee on bottom of pipe. Place bricks down on ground at bottom of the fish attractor and you have a perfect Stump.

(Note the following variations for other size Attractors)

* On the 4 ft model attractor, cut the 19 ½ pipe mentioned above to 13 ½ inches and use just two bricks.

* On the 2 ½ ft model attractor, cut the 19 ½ pipe mentioned above to 7 inches and use just one brick.

Any questions or information needed call 270-254-0150 or e-mail lharper@fishattractor.net

Thanks,
Larry Harper
 

Porcupines works great in Montana! Just mark your spot & fish attractors all summer by GPS. When ice fishing begins, simply drill a hole at GPS setting & start fishing. You will not have to wait for fish to hunt for bait or structure; they will be there when you start fishing

This porcupine helps attract fish
By Gene Mueller
April 1, 2007

Ask any bass or crappie fisherman -- for that matter, even certain saltwater anglers -- what helps them locate the fish they're after and you soon will hear something about brush piles, sunken cedar trees or discarded slabs of concrete.

It's all about creating fish magnets, some of them man-made, others provided by nature. The idea is to find a previously barren water area and drop some kind of structure into the water. Before you know it, the fish in the vicinity will flock to it to seek a hiding place or food or lie in ambush for unsuspecting smaller species.

Among the saltwater fishermen of the Gulf of Mexico who are after red snappers, sea trout or amberjacks, it is quite common to secure permits so they can tow entire junked school buses (engines removed) to certain locations, sink them and create a virtual fish factory only they know about. Well, for a while anyway; other anglers soon catch on.

Underwater structure also can be used to help propagate fish. A case in point is the Coastal Conservation Association's Southern Maryland Chapter.

These folks are involved in helping out the much beleaguered yellow perch that have not done well in some Chesapeake Bay feeder rivers. Some of it is blamed on mindless commercial netting of the fish, some on poor spawning in tidal streams loaded with blockages. The lazy perch will not try to climb over, under or around them. In the process, entire annual classes of yellow perch can be lost.

The Southern Maryland CCAers visited a stretch of the upper Mattawoman Creek (upstream of the Route 225 bridge) last month and sunk 20 discarded Christmas trees. The object was to get the female perch to deposit their ribbon-like eggs onto the submerged trees, where they could be fertilized by the males' milt. Soon there would be perch fry flitting about, the location of their hatchings genetically imprinted in their little heads, and in years to come they would be sure to return to continue the spawning ritual.

There you have it. Builders of fish attractors are found in every facet of fishing.

Some of them probably would have loved to know about a new kind of device that can do a great job and not make you work like a mule. It's a spiny-looking critter known as the Bill Dance Porcupine Fish Attractor, and it works wonders, especially in quiet bodies of water like private lakes and ponds. You could even deposit a few of them into certain deep-water coves of local reservoirs by taking the rectangular box it is shipped in by boat, then go to a favorite area, quickly assemble the attractor and drop it. You would be the only one who knows about it.

The Porcupine Fish Attractor comes in three sizes: 2?-, 4-, and 5?-foot diameter structures. I recently assembled three of them in less than 30 minutes and deposited them into a farm pond that needed something the bass and crappies could flock to and wait in ambush for nosy little minnows that surely will happen by.

The concept of the Porcupine is so simple it irks me that I didn't think of it years ago. It consists of a central sphere with holes that act as receptacles for narrow diameter PCV pipes. The spheres can hold up to 26 pipes to create an instant attractor. Best of all, the pipes will not snag a lure like a tree branch can. Lures simply slide off.

The green plastic pipes can be trimmed or designed to specific lengths. Because they're hollow, they will fill with water and sink. The manufacturer recommends you tie a couple of bricks or a concrete block to it to hold in place, although I doubt you would need that in a small, quiet pond. I do not think, however, that it would stay in place in strong-flow tidal creeks and rivers like the ones we have in the D.C. area.

The smaller diameter Porcupines work best in waters of less than six feet deep; the larger models are suited for deeper layers. Once they have settled and begin to collect algae, the baitfish will visit, and you already know what will follow: minnows, shiners, crayfish and frogs.
Porcupine Fish Attractors can be ordered online at www.porcupinefishattractor.com. This Web site also has some video clips made by popular cable TV fishing show host Bill Dance. The small model costs $24.95; the mid-sized version is $29.95; and the large 5?-footer costs $34.95, which I believe is a little high but worth it once the fish show up. Locally, Bass Pro Shops in the Arundel Mills shopping center in Hanover, Md., has the Porcupines.

• Look for Gene Mueller's Outdoors column Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday, only in The Washington Times. E-mail: gmueller@washingtontimes.com 

Porcupine Fish Attractor Improves Your Chance at Success
Bob Whitehead
Outdoor Guide Magazine
Spring 2007

Improving your fishing spots in private lakes or on public waters never has been easier or more productive than with the new Bill Dance Porcupine Fish Attractor.

Developed and refined through input from professional anglers, the Porcupine Fish Attractor comes in three sizes: 2 1/2-, 4-, and 5 1/2 foot diameter structures. They're incredibly easy to assemble and are great for helping teach kids about habitat, conservation and how fish relate to structure and cover. Each central sphere can hold up to 26 pipes that create an instant attractor

The central sphere assembles in minutes and pipes can be trimmed or designed to specific lengths. Because they're hollow, the Porcupine Fish Attractor will fill with water and sink, although we recommend using one or two bricks or a concrete block. A small hole in each sphere allows you to secure the Porcupine Fish Attractor with wire or nylon cord, which should be wrapped around one of the pipes before sinking. This prevents the cord from being exposed and possibly snagging a lure or fish.

Porcupine Fish Attractors are durable and work anywhere you would normally sink cover, but without the aggravating mess of dragging old limbs, treetops or Christmas trees on your boat. Simply choose where you'd like to sink the Porcupine Fish Attractor, assemble them in the boat, secure them and then mark your GPS unit with the coordinates so you'll know exactly where to fish. Because they don't deteriorate, the Porcupine Fish Attractor will last for years and even can be moved to other locations.

Although you can put the Porcupine Fish Attractor virtually anywhere, the small diameter models work best in shallow water up to 6 feet deep. For mid-range depths, you might opt for the 4-foot diameter model, and for deeper water the largest model is recommended. Porcupine Fish Attractors can be placed under or in front of docks, around boathouse walkways, in spawning areas or offshore. If your lake fluctuates, consider suspending the attractor so it rises or falls wiht the water level.

Fish will be drawn to the Porcupine Fish Attractor because it will provide cover for baitfish, smaller predatory fish and collect algae. Lures wont get hung on the smooth plastic pipes, though, so you can fire a crankbait, spinnerbait, jig, nightcrawler or hunk of stinkbait into the Porcupine Fish Attractor and work it through.

"I rely on Porcupine Fish Attractors to bring me and the fish closer together," says longtime Tennessee crappie guide Steve McAdams. "It improves habitat in any size lake with all species. I spend more time catching and less time getting unhung. I fish for a loving, and it's the best lure in my tackle box."

Porcupine Fish Attractors can be ordered online at www.porcupinefishattractor.com for $24.95 for the small model, $29.95 for the mid-sized version and $34.95 for the large model (plus shipping and handling). They're also available in a growing number of outdoors and fishing tackle shops.

The Bill Dance Porcupine Fish Attractor.
By Richard Williams
Kentucky Lake Crappie Angler

The use of plastic fish attractors are becoming the preferred way of placing structure in many lakes across the country. A lot of the older lakes have lost much of the natural structure that has been there for years. Because of the void of natural cover, the fish have had to rely on man made structure. For years, many of the anglers have placed brush tops or stake beds into the lakes to attract bait fish which in turn will attract larger fish. The down side of using brush or stakes is the wood used for these attractors will not last more than just a few years. Depending on the type of wood used, they will break down or rot. Every other year or so the anglers will have to add to or replace the wood used for these attractors.

It’s now becoming more popular to use some type of plastic structure in place of wood structure. Once placed in the lake, the plastic will be there long after the wood is gone. I have been placing plastic fish attractors in Kentucky Lake for several years. And catch just as many fish from the plastic structures as I do from the wood structures. Plus I never have to go back and replace or add to the plastic structures already in place. Once they are there, they are there for a long time.

There are many types of plastic fish attractors. One that works very well is the Bill Dance Porcupine Fish Attractor. It is very easy to put together and very easy to place in the water. You can change the size of the attractor easily by just changing the length of the ½” pipe used in the sphere. If you are targeting shallow water fish, put 12” pipes into the sphere to give it the appearance of a short stump. Or in deeper water, use longer pipes to make it a full fledged tree top attractor. The possibilities are endless just by using different lengths of ½” pipe.

Glue a piece of ½” pipe into all of the holes in the sphere, put the bottom pipe through two regular size bricks, and glue a Tee on the end of the pipe. This will keep the bricks from coming off, plus weight the attractor to the bottom of the lake. You’re now ready to place the fish attractor in your favorite spot on the lake.

The advantages of using these fish attractors are they are easy to put together, you will not get hung up while fishing, and you will have a place to fish for years to come.

For more info on this product call 270-254-0150.

Are you really fishing in the right place? Ever hear that 90 percent of the fish are in 10 percent of the water?

The manufacturers of Porcupine Fish Attractors Fish Attractors have asked me talk to fishing. I’m excited about this new product that will help ALL fishermen become better anglers.

As a National Crappie Champion, seminar speaker, outdoor writer, and 32-year career as a professional guide, I’ve had a lot of questions tossed my way.

The best advice on how to improve your own fishing success can be found below in a summary of “Ten Tips On Using Porcupine Fish Attractors”.

Structure is vital and these attractors will enhance the fish productivity of any size lake or reservoir. Want to make a big change in your small lake? Try placing several attractors around the edge but also sink some on out in deeper areas.

They sink fast as the sphere and pipes fill with water.

In a short time you can make unproductive areas quite attractive to roaming fish that will quickly reside around isolated cover.

Farm ponds and small lakes can be productive waters but they often lack habitat to sustain a good fishery. You can help the cause by adding these structures that not only provide spawning habitat but also enhance survival rates on young of the year by giving them a place to hide.

Manmade fish attractors are your “Ace in the Hole”. They help bring the fish and the fishermen closer together.

While crappie and bass are two of the more popular species that relate to these structures, walleye, catfish, bluegill, and yellow perch also use them for a comfort zone and a source for forage?

Guess who also benefits when these fish congregate in one specific spot? YOU!

Here are ten tips on using the attractors to your advantage:

1. There’s no substitute for placing a lot of structures out there. Put them in a variety of depths or zones and let the fish decide what area they like best at the time.
   
2. If a creek channel or drop-off, hump, etc…is available then place structures on the shallow and deep sides but also attempt to gets some located on the break. Bass, crappie, catfish, and walleye love to have the best of both worlds close by.
   
3. Crappie will spawn around them so you’re helping the fishery while improving your own odds at the same time. Place them in secondary bays and shallow flats to replace cover that has disappeared due to wind and ice erosion or siltation.
   
4. Bass really love the attractors so toss some out on main lake ledges or long, sloping points. They mimic a stump or treelap but are much easier to fish without snagging, such as when using a crankbait.
   
5. Remember the wind is always a factor so keep that in mind when choosing spots. Ask yourself where you’d be fishing in a gale north or east wind? Then, put some attractors in an area where you’ll be sheltered, regardless of the wind direction.
   
6. Mark your spots with either landmarks or GPS coordinates.
   
7. Some reservoirs have winter draw down so take that into account when choosing the area of placement. For example, think about how deep the water will be during spring versus winter levels of elevation.
   
8. Try to place the structures below normal water levels as ice can form in winter months and displace or destroy.
   
9. Current or high winds are not likely to move your structures but I sometimes wire various weighted objects to the small hole in the sphere. Aluminum or copper wire works best.
   
10. When fishing main lake venues far from shore, use several attractors to create a larger area. You can even experiment by attaching three of them together, making a more appealing spot and one that’s easier to locate on your LCR.

Planting Season: Some Anglers Make Good Use of Winter Days By Sinking Attractors Where They'Ll Fish Later

By Steve Vantreese, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Feb. 10-- -- The seeds of a great many fish catches are sewn about this time of year.

During these cold days on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, there isn't a lot of actual fishing going on. But some preparations are being made that will make fishing later on much more productive.

A lot of serious fishermen spend these winter off-days putting out "cover," or for practical purposes, fish attractors. Anglers sink or set out various sorts of brush, tree tops or wood or made-made structures around which sport fish of various species will collect in weeks to come.

Most fishermen recognize that fishing around cover will much more likely put them where fish are. That was scientifically validated back in 1978 when a multi-agency study on Barkley's Crooked Creek embayment showed that areas with cover held 8 times as many sport fish weighing 13 times as much as area lacking cover.

Man-made cover or attractors on the lakes are important to fishermen because much of the original cover left in the lakes is long gone. Kentucky Lake, after all, is more than 60 years old, while Barkley is on the plus side of 40.

Lake-managing agencies themselves have place a large number of fish attractors in the sister waters over the years, "public" attractors marked with buoys and indicators that are easily found.

Individuals are allowed to place their own "private" attractors in the lakes, although nothing that goes in can really stay private. At best, individuals can put out cover and hope other fishermen don't find it.

Managers, however, have some qualifications they want met before opening the door to just any idea of a fish attractor.

Paul Rister, Western District fisheries biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, said fishermen who want to place attractors in Kentucky Lake should contact him (phone 753-3886) to get a copy of a TVA map to show the places where attractors have been approved.

"That's the requirement if someone wants to be absolutely legal," Rister said.

Rister said shallow brush piles or stake beds, those that are within 5 feet of the surface at winter pool level of 354 feet above sea level, are supposed to be marked with a white pole -- wood or PVC pipe -- extending above the surface.

"If you put fish attractors deeper, they're supposed to be marked with a buoy," Rister said.

Rister said it is important that anglers not gather brush, tree tops or other material for attractors along the shores. Cutting trees for that purpose is disallowed by both TVA and, where applicable in the Land Between the Lakes, by the U.S. Forest Service.

Mike Looney, the Corps of Engineers' Lake Barkley resource manager, said the primary concerns about fish attractors is that they don't create a risk of injury to lake users or a hazard to navigation.

"Nine times out of 10, what a fisherman wants to do in putting out an attractor is fine, but it's best if they check with the resource office (362-4236) first to make sure what they've got in mind is safe," Looney said. "And if something is elaborate and a pretty big structure, you might need a permit."

Looney said managers are most concerned about avoiding brush piles or stakes in shallow water areas where they would pose a danger to swimmers or, especially in shallow, secondary navigation lanes, where they could be struck by boats.

"Ideally, if you're going to put in some cover for a fish attractor, it should be 5 feet deep at winter pool so that it's not going to create either a safety or navigational problem," he said.

Looney said he is especially concerned that fishermen do not use upright metal posts to mark relatively shallow brush or stumps below. They pose a significant navigation hazard and a risk of damaging boats and motors, he said. He suggested natural canes as exposed marking sticks.

"We like to see stake beds in deeper water because we don't want them where somebody might jump out of a boat to go skiing -- and jump in right on top of a stake," Looney said. He said some anglers use home-made "drivers" to sink stakes in deep water.

Lake managers have established a significant number of well-marked fish attractors using a combination of brush, stake beds and even PVC structures made for that purpose in the form of Bill Dance's Porcupine Fish Attractors.

The Porcupine attractors are the satellite-like structures that feature a round, globe-shaped hub with holes into which PVC "legs" plug and splay out in all directions. Originated by four Fulton area partners initially as O-No-Hang Fish Attractors, the patented outfit was picked up and promoted nationally by famed angler Dance, although the production of it remains with some of the original folks down Fulton way.

One of the fish attractor's designers, Kentucky Lake regular angler Larry Harper, said the Porcupine is effective because it creates cover like a tree top or root-sprouting stump, yet it is snagless to probing jigs and hooks, and it doesn't deteriorate like brush will do.

Harper recommends the Porcupine for use as mid-depth to deep attractors on the local lakes, anchoring them by running the bottom-center "leg" through the holes in two bricks, then gluing a "T" fitting to the tip of the leg.

For placement, Harper said fishermen should consider putting Porcupines on flats that otherwise have little cover.

"Ninety percent of the people fish ledges, and I'm one of them," he said. "But you can put an attractor away from a ledge up on a flat and it creates a new stopping point for fish that are moving across the flat between the deep ledge and the shallow spawning area. Go 100 to 200 feet from the ledge, and sink one, and every fish that moves through the area will use it as a stopping area."

Harper said the plastic fish attractors can be relocated by marking them initially with a GPS, global position unit. Lacking a GPS and if no buoy is used, a Porcupine can be made easier to find on a regular depthfinder by wrapping 3 inches of foil around the outside ends of a couple or more legs, securing them foil with wire ties, he said. The foil gives a sharper image return on sonar.

For more information email lharper@fishattractor.net

Patent Pending. Porcupine Fish Attractors is a division of Cedars Ltd.
© Copyright 2005-2007 Cedars Ltd. All rights reserved.

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