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Author Topic: Crayfish Trapping  (Read 25324 times)

Spikehorn11

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Crayfish Trapping
« on: Jun 11, 2007, 08:58 PM »
I plan on buying to buy a crayfish trap made by Frabill.

Any tips would be very helpful on locations on where to find them and what to use for bait in Central New York.

Thanks.


I use to use a homemade skimmer for catching them but the pnd I did that in was drained by the DEC last year.   >:(

pikemaster789

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #1 on: Jun 12, 2007, 05:08 AM »
looking for rocky areas that are fairly shallow. If you spot crayfish toss the trap there, and id say leave it in over night


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the Wizard

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #2 on: Jun 12, 2007, 07:42 AM »
 I'm not sure if this will help but when I used to set traps for minnows in the creeks , I found  that any of the deeper holes that held minnows I also caught crayfish if I left the traps overnight ;    I used bread and dog food for bait,  try to keep the trap openings running up/ down stream not side ways. 
     If takes longer for cryfish to get in sometimes, I've found traps that belong to other people that haven't been checked in a while and you could see they were packed with crayfish [ and half eaten minnows].
       I'll bet a minnow trap with fish heads or parts wood work also.
Catch and release in a hot pan of grease.

JimP

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #3 on: Jul 18, 2007, 01:27 PM »
I use standard wire minnow traps, baited with any fresh cut fish for bait. Leave overnight for best results. Rocky areas are best.  To avoid stolen traps, set them right at dusk and retrieve right at dawn.  -Jim

johndeere540

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #4 on: Jul 18, 2007, 01:38 PM »
I set in rivers. Leave the traps in overnight and near the bank or a log. I also have the best luck with a wire minnow trap with no bait at all.[I dont know why this works so good.]  You may have to make the openings a little larger for better results. Check your state laws for regulations on the opening size though. Them little buggers from the river are ussually pretty clean and make a great meal. Good luck.

bwalleye

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #5 on: Aug 09, 2007, 07:03 PM »
The following link is an interesting site.  Has a lot of info in it from what I remember

http://www.terrybullard.com/CrawfishMain.html

the Wizard

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #6 on: Aug 27, 2007, 06:04 PM »
   I went out fri. night at 1:00 am till 3:00am, armed with old sneakers and a flashlight , I caught 8 dozen crayfish , more than half were softshells.
  I kept them in styrofoam bucket with a frozen bottle of water in with them.     on sunday they were in good shape , but did have a few dead ones .      After fishing all day on sunday I got back to my truck to find some got out of the bucket and were walking around in the back of my truck [ all day in the heat] and were in better shape than the ones in the bucket of water [ that I changed often]  .
    Could be a tip for keeping them, they must be fine with out water for quite a while.
Catch and release in a hot pan of grease.

pikemaster789

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #7 on: Aug 28, 2007, 01:02 PM »
I heard somewhere that you can keep crayfish out of the water as long as you keep them in moist leaves. Ive never tried it but it may be a little more practical


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Spikehorn11

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #8 on: Aug 30, 2007, 12:14 AM »
I keep them in water with a bunch of grass so they can climb onto it. Then I put them in my fathers dirt celler. I can keep them alive forever. I do change the water at least once a week.

I went to my usual spot and had to really search for them. Where the sun hits the mud is really bad but I did manage to find a shady spot and got 4 dozen.

I never thought about trying in the middle of the night. Sounds like an option that I'll have to try.

pikemaster789

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #9 on: Aug 30, 2007, 09:06 AM »
Yea the crayfish like to come out of their hiding spots at night. They seem to be a little slower too with a spotlight on them. But they can still book when touched


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the Wizard

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #10 on: Sep 07, 2007, 09:20 AM »
  I went out a couple nights ago again, I caught about 3 dozen in less than an hour I found some genesee coontail weeds to put in the bucket with just a little water and they did good.   What I didn't use I took back to the river and released.   I can get what I need when ever.
Catch and release in a hot pan of grease.

Litchfield Fisher

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #11 on: Mar 23, 2008, 04:16 PM »
old as this post might be I catch them all the time in almost any spot especially in the spring on ponds were the smelts run as they come up into the shallows to eat the half dead smelts but I also catch them in muddy water or in pools in brooks brook fishing I often catch them on a rod by accident but I use fresh cut fish and have found in places such as when we take a trip to moosehead lake here in maine for a week that after catching and and cleaning fish and tossing the left overs or cut up fish around that happen to act as an attractint to fish catchalbe on the dock that it slowly draws the crayfish in the first night I caught 2 the second 2 or 3 ect but by the end of the week I was pulling 4 dozen or more a night out of the trap I used them for bait but they are suprisingly good eating as well 

HighLiner

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #12 on: Mar 17, 2009, 05:34 PM »
You can use a standard minnow trap, to catch the smaller ones for bait.
hot dogs work well.

Shadrap

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Re: Crayfish Trapping
« Reply #13 on: Mar 17, 2009, 08:45 PM »
Used to take a 6 ft. minnow net in the creeks where it was rocking with some current and hold the net across the creek down current and kick over the rocks with my boots.  They flow with the current right into the net.

 



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