What are your thoughts on moving/modifying structure to; a) attract fish or maybe MORE & BETTER fish, b) make the trophies easier for you to target and/or harder for those who don't know where the structure is, c) improve or create possible spawning sites to improve recruitment. Are any of these things ethical/unethical in your opinion?
What prompted these questions is that I was out at my favorite lake which is drawn down about 20'+. Someone has moved a tree that was high and dry last night, into the water sometime today. It's in a spot where I had caught about a 5#er 2 weeks ago. They positioned it well and anchored it with a large rock. I have no doubt it will hold a bigger fish than the 5#er at times within a week or 2. It is visible for anyone who is fishing the lake right now and was only moved 5' vertically. I think this is fairly ethical because it isn't hidden and everyone has the opportunity to find it easily. On the other hand it gives an unfair advantage by artificially potentially positioning a fish where a fisherman has a greater chance of targeting it effectively.
I have been thinking about building a small rock pile on a large mud flat that is usually 5-10' deep the rest of the year. This could be taken as giving myself, and anyone else who marked the location of it before the water came back up, an unfair advantage over the fish and fellow anglers.
I have also been thinking of placing some gravel in amongst some brush that I've seen bass use for beds. I think this would fall under the previous category of giving an unfair advantage over fish and fishermen in terms of fishability, but it would also give the fish a better chance to get a good spawn.
Conversely, one particular area has a ring of brush around it and last year the only way in was wading and that would spook every fish in there. It's the perfect place for a few bass to create the next generation, largely undisturbed, but there isn't anything but a mud bottom. What kind and size gravel would be best for beds? This would be a good and ethical thing to do because the fish would be better off for it and I can't effectively get to them so it doesn't give me any advantage. What do you guys think?
Tight lines,
Wade