Add some holiday cheer to your favorite fishing hole

LITTLE ROCK — “No one loves a Christmas tree on March the 25th,” was the punchline to a favorite poem in Shel Silverstein’s book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, but Silverstein may have gotten it wrong in the eyes of crappie anglers. They absolutely love old Christmas trees at the end of March, so long as they’re sitting 10 feet deep in their favorite lake.
In his poem titled “Merry,” the pop culture poet, cartoonist and writer of Johnny Cash’s famous song, “A Boy Named Sue,” was taking a jab at the sudden change in people’s sentiment toward each other once the holiday season has ended. Your personal “Giving Tree” still has a lot of potential in those branches for baitfish and young sport fish to hide from predators, which draws crappie and crappie anglers alike. That’s why the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has worked with many towns over the years to establish Christmas tree donation centers to give those used trees a second life as fish habitat.

AGFC Christmas tree drop-off locations work sort of like a take-a-penny, leave-a-penny tray at a cash register. Anyone can drop off their tree, and anyone is welcome to take them to sink their own brush piles. Anglers sinking brush should call ahead to make sure sinking brush is allowed in the body of water where they want to sink the trees. Some water-supply reservoirs and other lakes have regulations to prevent dumping of brush without permission.
No artificial trees are allowed at the drop-off locations, and anglers also should make sure all ornaments, lights and tinsel are removed from their real tree before sinking. A modest piece of parachute cord or bailing wire can be used to add a cinder block or bags of sand to sink the trees and keep them anchored to one spot.