# Pensacola Reef builders



## bfish

I bought a reef from these guys and cant find it. Has anyone else bought one from them Thanks


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## BWNN

Never bought a reef from them, but have several from Walter's Marine out of Orange Beach. Very happy with results!


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## Fully_Loaded

> *bfish (11/23/2009)*I bought a reef from these guys and cant find it. Has anyone else bought one from them Thanks


When was it put down? If it was put down prior to a storm or in shallow water it may have moved or covered up.


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## Fully_Loaded

> *bfish (11/23/2009)*I bought a reef from these guys and cant find it. Has anyone else bought one from them Thanks


When was it put down?? It is possiable a big storm may have moved it or covered it especially if it was in shallow water. 



Sorry for the double post locked up on me and it posted twice.


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## bfish

put down in 2008 looked for it in June 4 times and nothing its in 80 feet


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## bluffman2

contact the the people that deployed it...i gaurantee they will find it or give you another one........just my .02....these guys are great people!


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## bfish

I,ve called and emailed several times and get no response. It's frustrating to spend $450 and get nothing.


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## Rastaman

Bfish, 

You might want to mention to the forum that you got your full refund some time ago but you forgot to spread the good news. Also, please mentioned that you promised to buy a new depth finder with the money so you dont have to put yours in a bucket of water. Take care and tight lines.


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## flappininthebreeze

> *bfish (12/10/2009)*I,ve called and emailed several times and get no response. It's frustrating to spend $450 and get nothing.


So, you can put a "reef" down for $450. Tell me more. How did you start, how long did it take from first contact to deployment and did you get to go along when it was placed? I'm interested in this and looking for actual experiences from people who have placed one. BTW, sorry you had a bad experience and hope you will share your resolution story.


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## reel trouble

I have had alot of experience with reefs in the last 10 years and its my opinion that the concrete reefs (pyramids) work well because of their weight although when deployed close (100' of water or less) are prone to being covered up. I place 2 in about 80 feet of water out of Orange Beach in 04 and after Katrina there were about 2' of the top out of the sand. I had a buddy dive the area and see what he could see. Thats what he told me but I didnt see it myself. Right after that I had 4 placed in 130' and I still fish them today. They are covered in fish. I have also placed chicken coups which are cheaper but also are prone to drift in a storm and rusting out. If you are diving then from what my spearfishing buddies tell me they like to be under 100' so they can stay down longer. Anyway I bought all my pyramidsfrom Walter in Orange Beach. They also will move a wreck if someBastard picks off your numbers. There was a guy in Dauphin Island who deployed my Chicken coups but I dont have his info.Hope this helps


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## capt mike

I think I can speak on the use of chicken coops for reefs as I have deployed them since 1996. I have literally put out hundreds of reefs in this time. The first point I want all to realize is that the deeper the water the longer the longevity of any structure. The next thing is weight of the reef and the ability of the water to flow through the structure (we call this surface area). The third is the substance the reef is built out of. And fourth is the type bottom its placed on.

The water depth factor is important because of wave action in violent storms such as tropical ones and even some violent winter storms along our coast. Most of the time in these storms too much surface area will help a reef tumble and be hard to find. I always tell people that if they choose shallower water don't expect the same longevity as a deep reef. The owner has to look at his fuel usage and what he expects to catch off the reef. Coops weigh 750 lbs. each with shelves in them so a double coop reef is 1500 lbs I never recommend using a single coop and some of the negative I've heard over the years is due to deploying only 1 coop instead of 2 welded or chained together. The pyramids weigh more than that. I know from years of doing this that steel can't be beat for its attraction ability. Steel also matures much faster than concrete and other materials. Heavy reefs put southwest of Perdido and in within 15 miles will sink in the bottom due to the outflow of Mobile Bay at a faster rate than southeast of Perdido at 15 miles because the bottom has more mud in it which is softer. I have used old water tanks at 1500 gallons and had them cover up west in just 2 tropical storms while coops stayed put.

I have had coops in shallow water that survived Ivan and some that didn't. I have went back to ones that I thought didn't survive Ivan (because I checked after the storm) and a year later uncovered and were loaded with big fish! 

When you look at price you need to look at your needs and use that data before putting out any kind of reef. A new design that Has been successful is what we call a Pyracoop, Which is a pyramid with a coop permanently attached to it and it is producing very well and has the added weight for longevity. I personally have splashed some of these and will fish them late in 2010 and let all hear the results but I know captains that use this and they love it.

Right now The reefmaker in Orange Beach has some steel pyramids and has put them on sale, and I have coops for sale for $75 each that can be deployed east or west or delivered by the truckload from Gulfport to Panama City Florida for $75 each.

I also sell coops to Rastaman and can assure anyone on here that he operates a straight up operation and my customers use him frequently and we have had no problems whatsoever. When a reefmaker guarantees things you can't ask for anymore than that as I know ones that don't. We are lucky in this area to have The Reefmaker in Orange Beach and Rastaman in Pensacola so get out their and support them!


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## fishon

I just wanted to say that was very well put. I agree steel works! We use steel for our structure and a concrete base for stability. The results are awesome. Pensacola Reef Builders has done a great job for us! Check out our new offshore reef for 2010. These reefs are 1" and 1/2" steel structure with a shelf and expanded metal skin. We have six foot and eight foot available. The expanded metal helps jump start the reef. They have keeper fish in six months and a life expectancy of forty-fifty years. We all need to support each other.

www.reefstructures.com

www.lindsaybuilders.com


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## Desperado

Can you still get a reef for $450?????


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## capt mike

Those are attractive reefs but your pictures don't have anything but baitfish and a few short Jacks and I saw only 1 snapper of any size on it. What you need to do is add more reef material to them (density). What are you trying to get for them and how much do they weigh with the cement on the base? Its a great idea but it needs to be more dense. A pair of coops at 12 months has hundreds of snapper and triggers swimming around it by then. You wll get it refined good luck!!: clap


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## fishon

I appreciate your input on my reefs. The fish pictures are of my first prototype. After reviewing the videoI came to the same conclusion. Since then I have added twice the rebar,some shelves and expanded metal for density. The six foot unit weighs 800# and the eight foot unit weighs 2050#. It has over five hundred linear feet of 1/2" rebar. The frame is all 1" rebar. The base weighs 1400#s. Over time the base sands in. The expanded metal gets incrusted to the rebar. Carbon steel having a average deteration rate of .3mm per year submerged in saltwater. I figure a life expectancy of 40-50 years. With 2/3 of the weight in the baseand the flow thru design they should be there for our grand kids. I am working on getting some current video.


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## capt mike

Thats great the weight is there and if you have added interior structure your next videos should show much improvement in the volume of fish the structure attracts. I have been experimenting with concrete pyramids with coops attached on each side (deployed in June 09) and hope to have them dove and filmed in May or early June.

I am still curious about the price of these could you share that info.

Thanks


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## fishon

Capt Mike

That pyramid coop combo sounds pretty interesting! What kind of pyramids did you use? How did you attach the coops? My six foot units are$595.00 ea and the eight foot units are $ 895.00 ea.


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## ryanbr

One thing that hasn't been mentioned on finding your reef is the question about electronics. What do you have? I know many anglers who've fished large public wrecks with bottom machines that are insufficient for finding these small private wrecks, especially if it's not holding many fish. On the reef materials. I've always found that the more shelter they provide the better. Ultimately the small fish and small critters want to be able to hideunder or behind a solid structure. But I agree that densityis a necessity(in order to shelter these small fish and not just provide a growth medium). That's why a combinationof types of structure works well, i.e. in the past, concrete, steel, and tires. Now it would be concrete, steel, pipe, etc. The pipe isn't used enough in my opinion, and I think too many people use a lot of horizontal "shelves" instead of structure perpendicular to the bottom. Coups also benefit from a lattice structure on its bottom versus an open bottom on the concrete pyramids which helps prevent its sinking.

Chris


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## Strictly Bizness

I won a free reef (chicken coupe) from Pensacola Reef Builders back in '08. I believe that it had been deployed that year. We didn't even attempt to find it (due to tournament schedules and other honey doo's) until Feb '09. We found it easily and pulled stud snapper and scampoff of it every time we stopped at it last year. Can't wait to check it again this year!!!


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