Adding artificial PVC fish attractors to your favorite pond or lake has always been popular amongst anglers and pond owners. Artificial PVC fish attractors sometimes referred to as fish shelters, fish cover, habitat structures, artificial fish habitat, artificial reefs, and artificial structure offer a number of benefits when placed in a pond or lake.  Often these artificial fish attractors provide the only habitat for aging lakes and ponds or newly built ponds.

In the past, discarded Christmas trees or oak trees were commonly used to build a fish cover, but now new commercially built PVC fish attractors are becoming more and more popular. The most unique, environmentally friendly PVC fish attractor being built is by Fishiding. Fishiding makes part of their patent pending PVC fish attractors out of recycled siding. It’s a win-win situation. A lot less unwanted scrap vinyl siding in the landfills and more fish habitat in lakes or ponds.

David Ewald, owner of Fishiding (www.Fishiding.com) came up with the idea for Fishiding from his exposure in the housing explosion and trying to find an environmentally safe use for unwanted vinyl siding. After testing different sizes of vinyl strips, containers for the bases and anchor material, Ewald came up with an environmentally friendly, safe and cost efficient fish attractor. “Everyone loves the idea that Fishiding is environmentally friendly, but there are other benefits to Fishiding. It only takes a short time for fish to find and position themselves around them. Of course the more of them placed close together in clusters will attract more fish and all types. Plus algae tends to grow on these limbs quickly once submerged,” said Ewald. Fishiding units are shipped ready to use and nothing to put together or tools required.

Fishiding PVC fish attractors come in a number of models that are different sizes, textures and shapes. The Cradle Artificial Fish Habitat units are fine stranded, dense fish habitat perfect for the smallest fry to hide and larvae to grow. Each Cradle unit has over a hundred super fine strands of PVC with over 22 square feet surface area. The Cradle unit comes in two models with one weighing in at 10 pounds and the other 16 pounds including a base that keeps the Cradle in the upright position. The original Cradle unit that weighs 16 pounds is 18-inches long by 4-inches wide and 20-inches tall.

The Keeper Artificial Fish Habitat unit is the largest model of fish habitat that Fishiding currently produces. The unit stands four feet tall and opens up to 84-inches in diameter. The Keeper unit provides maximum shade and protection for bass, crappie and bluegills. The PVC limbs measure 2 ½-inches to 3 ½-inches wide. The extra wide surface allows for maximum algae growth while promoting a safe habitat for smaller fish. Due to its extra large size it is recommended that the Keeper unit be placed in water depths of 10 feet or more. Weighing in at 32 pounds, every Keeper unit has over 62 square feet surface area of PVC limbs and includes a weighted base that sinks and maintains the Keeper unit in the upright position.

The Safehouse Artificial Fish Habitat unit was designed to provide habitat for both large and small fish. The wide PVC limbs range in width from 2 ½-inches to 3 ½-inches and measure 18-inches to 46-inches tall not only offer plenty of shade, but area for algae growth. Due to its large size the Safehouse is recommended for use in depths of 6 to 12 feet. The Safehouse covers over 44 square feet of surface area. It weighs in at 16 pounds including the weighted base to sink and keep the unit in the upright position.

The new 8-inch Cradle Artificial Fish Habitat unit is the most compact of all the Fishiding units measuring only 26" inches in height, but covers a whooping 22 square feet of surface area. Its smaller size base of only 8-inches in diameter makes them easier to transport and sink in the pond or lake and weighs only 10 pounds. The Cradle unit has over a hundred fine PVC strands where larvae and small fry can hide. The ideal location for a Cradle is in 1 to 4 feet of water to grow forage fish and fry.

For garden pond enthusiast and Koi pond owners, Fishiding also manufactures three smaller sizes and textures of fish habitat. Each one of these smaller compact size units were design specially for using in garden and Koi ponds.

The simplicity of installing Fishiding artificial fish attractors begins with its small compact size, but extends to the individuality of adjusting the limbs to the owner’s preference. Unlike other artificial fish attractors or homemade PVC fish attractors, no tools or assembly are required. To assemble, the individual vinyl limbs only need to be pinched in the desired spot to crease the material. Each limb can be pinched in any location and will maintain their shaped afterwards. This can be done in a systematic fashion or at various angles. Fishiding can be shaped like a thin tree or big brush piles. Any number of Fishiding artificial fish attractors can be sunk in the same area to create a honey hole on your lake or pond. Although, it’s better to vary the number of Fishiding fish attractors in each location.

Adding artificial PVC fish attractors to any pond or lake will increase the number of fish around that area. The benefits are numerous for using PVC fish attractors including being able to catch more and bigger fish; in addition to creating habitat for smaller forage fish. Habitat made from PVC last for long periods of times making them a financial wise decision when selecting fish cover as well as having no negative environmental impact. By utilizing recycled vinyl PVC siding in Fishiding fish attractors not only do we reduce our carbon footprint, but create habitat for fish in ponds and lakes.

Artificial PVC Fish Attractors by Fishiding for Building Fish Cover provided by Brad Wiegmann for Fishiding.com