Crayfish Catching, Keeping and Fishing

[reelcharacter]

So where are the experts on catching Crayfish?

How do you catch them, is there a trap you have made? How about a picture?

How do you keep them and how long can you keep them for? Do you feed them while "raising" them for fishing.

What is your best way to fish with them?

This duffer has netted a few from streams. Have never "trapped" them before or kept them for more than a week or so. In fishing them I have found them to be good used whole for larger game fish, with parts of the Crayfish good for panfish and even stream trout.

-Reelcharacter

[HIMO]

here in wisconsin you can not fish with live crawfish. i guess it is so no exotic species are introduced to the waters.I take the crabtail and peel it and use the meat for perch fishing. works great.

                                                 HIMO

[Cider]

I have the one on the left for crawfish and the one in the middle for minnows.  Paid under $5.00 each for them.

I use a can of wet catfood (fishy flavor like sardine, tuna, or ocean whitefish).  Punch a bunch of holes in the can with a nail and put it in the bottom of the trap.  Toss it over into the river just like setting a minnow trap.

As far as fishing with crawfish.  I use a 1/4 - 1/2 oz jig head and hook the crawfish through the shell right on the back.  Be careful not to go too deep or you will kill it.  Then just jig it along by bouncing it on the bottom or swim it just off the bottom in your favorite bass waters!

Everytime I use live crawfish the bass hit it almost as soon as it hits the water.  I swear they push past each other to be the first to get to my bait! 

[suskymusky]

I catch most of my bait by mugging them.I look for a riffle section of the river and select a rock about the size of a paper plate.I slowly lift the back of the rock and slide my hands under the rock blocking their escape.I feel around for stonecats and hellgramites .If I find something I slowly cup my hands and pin it to the top of the rock. If I take my time I can get it without getting stung.I hold stonecats loosely and let their pectoral fins slip between my fingers. I grab hellgrammites by the collar and crayfish  by the claws so I dont get pinched .You can also get them by shore by slowly lifting rocks, so you don't muddy the water too much.When the crawfish tries to get away put one hand  or a minnownet behind it so it goes backwards right into it.Takes some practice.I store hellgrammites in damp burlap.I keep several buckets of water that I put rocks and PVC sections in for cover.I run one aerator and split it with tees and extra tubing. I keep different baits separate so they don't kill each other.I feed them goldfish flakes  and dead minnows once in a while.

[reelcharacter]

Cider,

Thanks for the pic. I have the same or a similar minnow trap, was $6-$7.00 from WalMart. The tinker'er in me likes to make the gadgets I use, but for this small amount, the sensible thing is just to run out and buy one. May try using the minnow trap for crayfish this spring, or just look for the crayish style in a store. I have hoked the Crayfish through the tail, so when I skip him along the bottom, it looks as though it is flipping it's tail backward like it does when trying to escape.

-Reelcharacter

[Cider]

I have used my minnow trap for minnows and came up with nothing but crawfish, so I know it will work for that.

I will hook crawfish through the tail sometimes too.  That works pretty good if you want to swim them.

[reelcharacter]

here in wisconsin you can not fish with live crawfish. i guess it is so no exotic species are introduced to the waters.I take the crabtail and peel it and use the meat for perch fishing. works great.

                                                 HIMO

Hey there HIMO, greetings from NY State.

For large ones I have cut the crayfish in half with good results. The tails have been good for Perch and Panfish. The heads have caught Bass and other fish almost as well. I will have to try your "peel and eat shrimp" method.

-Reelcharacter

[HIMO]

try it out. it works real well for me. I learned that from my grandfather.

                                 HIMO

[mike692]

I've caught alot of crayfish in regular funnel type minnow traps. I imagine a chicken neck or fish head would work great for bait.
I have kept them for weeks in my aquarium. I could have kept them longer, but my channel cat ate them

BTW crawdads are delicious. Steam them til they're red and dip the tail meat in melted butter. mmmmmmmm

[seaweed01]

A good bait to use for minnows in the trap is a
small handfull of dry cat or dog food. It works much
better than bread, cheese, etc. than anything I have
ever used.
I have found a good bait for crabs is a small "fresh"
fish of any type in the crabtrap. I've had a lot better
luck with fresh vs smelly bait for them.

[acsacmboy]

i am thankful i have a small creek 20 yards behind our house. i catch them using a net or by hand. can catch about a hundred if im trying in a few hours. keep them only if you are going to fish with them. keep the ones you accidentally crush because you can still use them.let the big and small ones go, depending on what your quarry is. great bait for smallmouth's

[kerosenecounty17]

Alright, now I've gotta try it.  I'll be eating them, not using them for bait.  I've always heard they're delicious, and as much as I love other shellfish I just have to try them.  Here's my question - where should I set the traps?  Lake type, bottom content, depth, etc.?  Most of the lakes in my area have very silty/soft bottoms, so I might have a problem with the trap sinking into the mud.  Thanks for any help.

kero

[reelcharacter]

I knew someone who had one of those deep (3-4 feet) gentle meandering streams that flowed into the bay of a larger lake. This location I guess provided him a supply of as many crayfish as he wanted, whenever he placed a baited trap inthe stream for a while in the cloudy water.

Have not tried eating them, but may have to do so this summer. My son and some friends went to the Adirondacks a couple of years ago, where he tried some he caught there. I do not know how good they were, he has not gone back for seconds . . .

Reelcharacter

[Cider]

Most of the lakes in my area have very silty/soft bottoms, so I might have a problem with the trap sinking into the mud.  Thanks for any help.

kero

I would think that if you use the cat food can for bait in your trap, that will give you the weight to hold it down.  To keep it from sinking (as long as there isn't a strong current) try keep the lanyard rope as tight as possible.  Just balance out the resistance of the can of cat food!  I think that should work okay for you.

[Mackdaddy21]

A good, cheap trap is to take an empty milk jug, fill it with meat, and set it on the bottom of the lake or river near the bank, and keep it down with rocks or bury it. The crayfish will enter the milk jug, and not be able to get out. I also just walk rocky shoals at night and look for crawfish to scoop up with a small net.

Tyler