Our newest, ultra dense, shallow and first ever artificial fish habitat arrangement in a reclaimed plastic barrel, holds hundreds of separate pieces of never before seen cuts and profiles of 100% reclaimed PVC habitat. We’ve found a way to display and ship our most robust habitat creations, tighter and tougher for the fish! Seven inches of thick concrete hold things together in the base and heavily weighted in the bottom of the barrel, standing up in all conditions.

Each completed Barrel habitat is unique and one of a kind, just like we find in nature. Colorful, abstract and always welcoming, fish gravitate into the thousands of individual crevices provide within the intricate and ever changing, detail.

Large footprint and extreme weight hold these towering creations in one place forever. Installation is a breeze. You can simply drag or carry them with the incorporated handles, or use a two wheel dolly cart. Once in the boat, pontoon or on the dock, you can roll them around on edge and push it into the water. It stands up no matter what, on slopes and current areas. Taller, heavier and wider options are always available, contact us today to talk about your ideas and goals.

Barrels full of fish, hiding spots and ultra dense cover, hit the water for 2021 with unmatched variety, complexity and unlimited flexibility. Ready to sink in minutes, no assembly, materials or additional tools needed, roll into water to and fish!  Unlimited variety available, more sizes coming soon. Ask us about making your own custom size, shape, and included materials to design your own barrels just for your lake, dock, pond or river frontage.

These new shallow water barrels hold a myriad of hand selected cuts of reclaimed PVC, creating an entire refuge of protection inside.

Weighing just over 150 pounds each complete, they stand 48″ tall and open to a seven foot diameter.

The barrel base is 20″ in diameter and stands almost 8″ tall, full of strong cement.

The reclaimed barrels offer a sturdy and durable container that can be rolled on edge with ease.

Two included cotton rope handles, allow user to slide, lift or pull them off the dock or boat once in position. 

For extreme current applications, the entire barrel can be dug in and planted like a bush, never to move from it’s original position. Coming three on a pallet, they get shipped right to your door, ready to be unfolded and HOUSE FISH THE DAY THEY ARRIVE.

When considering fish habitat, I think we need to discuss the role artificial fish habitat can serve. They’re being used more and more, especially in large southern reservoirs devoid of important structure fish need. Fish managers have traditionally placed bundles of Christmas or cedar trees on the lake bottom to provide cover for fish. Because the lifespan of tree bundles and brush piles is limited, replenishing them has always been an ongoing and expensive process.

One advantage of artificial habitat structures that help explain their growing popularity is that they don’t decay or deteriorate. But can “anything” man-made be placed in our waters and be called fish habitat? If we throw a rusty wheelbarrow into a lake today and catch a fish on it next week, can we genuinely say we’ve added fish habitat and therefore improved the lake? Are we unknowingly turning our lakes into landfills or the equivalent of the town dump under the guise of creating fish habitat? Is it really true that any structure of any kind is better than nothing? If you’ve ever wondered if there’s any discernible line between “junk” and authentic fish habitat, you wouldn’t be alone.

If there’s any hope of understanding the potential benefits using artificial fish habitat might offer, I think we need to uncouple two terms: Fish habitat and fishing. Effective fish habitat needs to protect young fish too small to be of interest to anglers. The metric to evaluate how useful fish habitat is must be re-calibrated. The question shouldn’t be how many trophy bass did you catch this year on the habitat, but how many young-of-the year bass survived the brutal gauntlet of their first year of life because of the protection that habitat provided. It could be argued that the most successful fish habitat would be one that only attracted age 0 fish and was a lousy fishing spot.

As anglers, we need to modify our point of view. Fish habitat should be regarded as an investment in the hope of a better day’s fishing in the future, not something with instant payoffs today. If fish habitat isn’t a vehicle for fish recruitment, what good is it? Today, there isn’t a single designer of any artificial fish habitat that doesn’t promise their product or design will protect young fish. These are merely assertions that haven’t met their burden of proof. These claims must be demonstrated before we have warrant to accept them as true. Where is the evidence that any assemblage of man-made parts and scrap material does anything to help even a single fish survive its first year, let alone to adulthood?

So far, Fishiding.com is the only design that has continuously and consistently documented in hundreds of underwater pictures and videos over the years the efficacy of their product.

If you work in the fish management sector, you should absolutely demand evidence that whatever artificial habitat you’re considering spending resources on legitimately works. As condescending as it may sound, intuition or gut feeling is not evidence. If we’re not more careful about scrutinizing and properly evaluating artificial fish habitat, we run the risk of unknowingly crossing what should be a distinct line between what authentic habitat is and what’s simply junk.

The Sprocket Fish Spawning Rocket is the only, multi-species, artificial spawning structure, designed exclusively for nest protection and fry survival.

Self weighted and fully assembled, this 14 pound spawning rocket, can be installed directly from the box into shallow spawning water.

Three individual compartments provide fish a choice to bed in any direction with three sided protection, each measuring approx. 15″x72″ with an overall diameter of over seven feet!.  More habitat models at fishiding.com

“Fishing Tournaments that Produce more Fish”

“Catch and Create” Habitat Improvement Tournaments by Fishiding.com

Tournament competitors dropped Fishiding “Safehouses” to improve habitat at Strom Thurmond Reservoir.

Activist Angler note: Teaming with Fishiding, PotashCorp introduced a conservation component to its benefit tournament last year and plans to include it again this year. I hope that other tournament organizers will take note and follow the leader because these kinds of projects actually could improve fisheries.

PLM Lake & Land Management Corp.

…is an American, woman-owned and operated small business whose goal for over thirty years has been to protect your property from the aesthetic and economic damage caused by invasive plant species. More habitat articles at fishiding.com

We provide a team of expert biologists, foresters, ecologists and managers to evaluate your environment, prioritize…more

In the far Northwest suburbs, away from the fast paced city of Chicago, a 17 year old boy loves the outdoors and fishing. This outdoor lifestyle in our youth is alive and well in our Nation, thanks in part to The Boy Scouts of America. As our world changes at this alarming rate, Scouts continue to build boys into men with ethical, honest and life building challenges. More habitat articles at fishiding.com

The dedication to study, practice and ………….more

Last fall at the Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery in Wild Rose, Wi, State WDNR Biologists, Supervisors and staff, eagerly awaited the start of a new pilot study, incorporating artificial habitat in rearing ponds with musky, walleye and other species. Multiple offices within the WDNR, jockeyed for position to decide just what to study first.

WDNR Biologists and staff discussed the various benefits of incorporating habitat in their Hatcheries and which species to use them on first. Musky were the first in line, with musky being the State fish.  Being an ambush predator, Musky instinctually seek cover to hide and attack their prey. The grow ponds lacked anything to hide and learn to hunt around. Typically, the fish would circle the rubber lined 2 acre ponds, relating to the only physical form available, the water’s edge. Original story.

When I began discussions with Steven Fajfer, Natural Resources Operations Supervisor at Wild Rose, he explained they had been studying musky raised on pellets indoors and then switched to minnows when put in the grow ponds outside. This would be in comparison to fish that were fed minnows exclusively from start to finish. Next, they would stock pre-designated lakes with both groups of fish and track them. More habitat articles at fishiding.com

Because this study was already underway, by incorporating habitat into the above feeding parameters, this would give the Biologists even more and improved data for comparison. Although discussions and plans to use the habitat with Walleye and other species present at the Hatchery, those fish would have to wait until the Musky study was completed. Next, the hatchery had to select the best option for them in artificial habitat.

Fishiding Artificial Fish Habitat is produced using reclaimed PVC vinyl siding. Multiple pieces of durable, flat, strips of material are held together by cement, forming the base. These patented, multi-textured, bush like units, provide shade and surface area, forming a fuzz of aquatic growth when placed underwater. This natural process is nature’s pristine way of converting over abundant nutrients into periphyton, (fuzz/algae) which is then consumed by the small fish by a process called “grazing”. All fish eat this exclusively as fry.

Each unit is unfolded and bent by hand, to abstract shapes. When placed on the lake or pond bottom, they simulate something like an artificial Christmas tree, providing hiding and feeding areas. The mid-sized Safehouse model was selected as the preferred size for the staff to work with. Standing just under 4’ tall and opening up to over 7’ in diameter, each unit stays in place with the weighted base, coming in at about 15 pounds total.

The ability to wash, disinfect and re-use over and over again, made it the easy choice for the many studies the State has planned. 300 units were delivered, 75 in each of the grow ponds, awaiting delivery of the musky from the Michigan DNR.

When we left Wild Rose last fall after setting up the habitat, we could hardly wait to hear that the ponds had been filled and the Musky had been put in the grow ponds. After a number of months passed with no confirmed delivery, the anticipation turned to disappointment. The musky wouldn’t be stocked with the habitat this year. Bummer yes, but with good reason as the details unfolded.

Steven explained a great deal of the background of the State’s current and past stocking efforts with Musky. Back in the early 1900’s, the Great lakes spotted musky were common in Green Bay and the surrounding waters of Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, poor water quality and over fishing wiped them out. Starting in 1989, Wisconsin received eggs from the Michigan DNR and began restocking them in Green Bay. When those fish became mature and attempted to spawn naturally, they became the source of eggs for the stocking program, since there was very limited natural reproduction. With the outbreak of VHS in 2007, that was no longer an option.

With the local fish not viable to use for brood stock anymore per VHS, that wasn’t the only problem with local stock as the genetic diversity was lacking. About 2007, the State began looking for other outlets to acquire the Great Lake Strain. For a few years, WDNR worked with Ontario, purchasing fingerlings from Georgian Bay stock, which had been raised on pellets. This worked ok, with most fish being stocked directly into Wisconsin inland lakes and a few grown at the Westford Hatchery to about 12” and then stocked. The biggest problem was the red tape getting them across the border each time, resulting in lengthy delays and increased costs.

Back in 1989, the WDNR began working with the Michigan DNR Fisheries department, stocking Great Lakes Musky in places like the Indian River, Burt and Mullet lakes. to name just a few. Michigan also has a top notch program and cool water facility. Easy to transport, healthy and close to home, the two States work well together on each other’s experience and knowledge. Michigan has a wonderful and robust fishery, with plans to improve the State’s fishing opportunities even more. Recently, $1,000,000 in Grant money has been made available for habitat improvement and installation projects.

The Musky that are to be brought in to Wild Rose for the habitat study are coming from Michigan……at some point. About a week before the fish were to be delivered they were tested one more time by the Michigan DNR staff. There was a problem. The biologists discovered Piscirickettsia-like organisms, or something called P.L.O  disease in the Musky.

The presence and importance of Piscirickettsia-like bacteria in mammals have been long recognized, but only in recent years could they be identified and characterized in aquatic animals. For this reason, it was not until the late 1980s that Rickettsia agents were linked with major diseases in fish, and subsequently attributed as the cause of substantial economic losses due to disease-related mortality in the 1990s. Piscirickettsiosis and piscirickettsiosis-like diseases have affected aquaculture productivity, profitability, species compatibility with commercial rearing, and fish transport.

Musky with the disease were first discovered in Lake St. Clair in the early 2000’s. It can appear as red spots or blotches on the fish. The WDNR asked them to hold onto the fish for further testing, which showed no definitive results of where or how they were infected. Although the fish appeared healthy, robust and happy, the Wisconsin officials regrettably had to decline the importation. A sincere feeling of disappointment spread through the various department offices, as the realization of waiting another year to begin the study solidified.

“The risk is simply too high to utilize fish with ANY known issues or problems.” That is the standpoint the WDNR had to take. “The investment in time and money to study diet and habitat with any potentially skewed fish stock is not an option.”  It’s not known what the Michigan Hatchery did or will do with the infected fish, but a new, fresh batch of Great Lakes Strain Spotted Musky are already growing fat, planning to come to Wisconsin this fall of 2014.

The Wisconsin DNR Fisheries Department and their own state of the art Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery, will continue to draw attention. Known as one of the finest run Hatchery programs in the Nation, all eyes are on the leaders, the ones to watch.

It’s tough decisions like these, that ensures that anglers all across the state will continue to enjoy some of the World’s finest freshwater fishing. Plans to utilize the habitat are taking place with walleye, while the musky mature for delivery. “We have plenty of fish that we are eager to study within the habitat. We just wanted to start first with our well known and much loved Musky.”

Patience and adjustment to ever changing issues in the aquatic realm is a stark reality today.  Learning from past experience and pushing for new ways to grow better, stronger and more sustainable fisheries, the Musky habitat study will happen. This fall, Wisconsin’s plans to grow smarter, stronger, “super” muskies will begin.

Statewide general permit for fish habitat structures ready to use

Weekly News article published: January 28, 2014 by the Central Office

MADISON – Lakefront property owners statewide can now more quickly and easily create “fish sticks” habitat near their shoreline to benefit fish and improve fishing, state fisheries and habitat protection officials say.

A new streamlined permit available from the state and an easy step-by-step guide for fish sticksare now available on the Department of Natural Resources website to help foster the projects, which involve placing trees in shallow water and anchoring them on the shore.

“”Fish sticks” projects are paying off in northern Wisconsin lakes by providing more critical habitat for fish and insects, birds, turtles and frogs,” says Scott Toshner, the Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist who worked with partners on “Fish Sticks” projects that placed hundreds of trees in the Eau Claire chain of lakes in Bayfield and Douglas counties.

“More people wanted to do this same kind of thing on their own shoreland property so DNR created this general permit and a step-by-step guide to make the process easier for them.”

Fallen trees provide shelter and feeding areas for a diversity of fish species and nesting and sunning areas for birds, turtles, and other animals above the water, Toshner says. “Nearly all fish species use woody habitat for at least one portion of their life cycle,” he says.

“But fallen trees have been removed from the water in many areas. “Fish sticks” add to the natural complexity of the near-shore area by restoring woody habitat that was removed during shoreline development.” More habitat articles at fishiding.com

Interest in Fish Sticks projects to restore this woody habitat has been growing throughout Wisconsin and the region, says Martye Griffin, the DNR waterway science policy coordinator. DNR responded by converting the existing general permits for fish habitat projects (Fish Crib, Half-Log, Spawning Reef, Wind Deflector and Tree Drop) to a statewide general permit, and added standards for fish sticks.

The new general permit allows property owners on lakes to have a streamlined permitting process to submerge groups of trees near their shoreline, Griffin says.

“The streamlined permit process is less costly and can be reviewed in less time,” he says. It also allows for fish sticks sites constructed in later years and by different property owners on the same lake to “add on” to an existing approved permit without a new application fee – something the DNR has never done before, he says. Even though an ‘add on’ site may not require an application fee, the sites are still reviewed the same way as a new site.

The general permit identifies the location, design, and other standards and conditions these beneficial projects must meet to qualify for the general permit and to ensure minimal impacts to public rights in the waterway.

Step-by-step guide

In addition, DNR created a new, step-by-step guide for landowners who are interested in developing a fish sticks project. “It provides instructions to plan and complete a project, including equipment needed, site suggestions, and potential funding sources.”

More information on the general permit and to access the fish sticks guidance documentis available by searching the DNR website for “Fish Sticks.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Toshner, 715-372-8539 Ext. 121; Martye Griffin, 608-266-2997