crayfish question?

gj

New member
Does anyone know how to catch crayfish? There is a small lake near one of my favorite yote spots that a warm spring dumps into. I've been told there are crayfish, crawfish, crawdads, there. How do I find them and what do I look for to spot them?
Thanks, GJ


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We use a trap made from 1/2 wire mesh. The trap is approx. 18 X 18 X 30 long. One end has a V formed inward with a gap left open about 3/4" wide that allows the crawdads access to the inside and to the bait. The top hinges open and we hang the bait(liver, chicken parts,etc) from the top inside a screen bag. Make sure the bag can not be reached from the outside and the crawdads will find their way inside. Tie the trap to a roap and submerge in a couple feet of water. You will know the next morning if the water holds crawdads.
Hope this helps?
 
We use a similar trap but it is about 30" long, made from 1/2" wire mesh formed into an 18" round cylinder and each end is made from the mesh formed into a funnel with a 1 1/2" opening. For bait we use a can of dog food with holes punched in it with an ice pick.

[This message has been edited by Daryl (edited 07-15-2001).]
 
I've seen friends at Strawberry reservoir go to the boat ramp, tie a piece of a chicken leg and thigh on a string and lower it into the water. You can see them climb on. They will then wait about 5-10 minutes, pull up the leg and pick off maybe 10 at a time. Crayfish or crawdads, are abundant in Strawberry and Soldier Creek, (about 45 miles east of Park City)
The kids have a great time and also get gobs of the little critters.
As the guys mentioned above, the baskets or traps work just fine, I know that throwing some bait in there helps. They can be tasty, but you need to catch a lot of them to make a meal!
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MP

BTW- GJ, you do any fishing at Chesterfield or Mackay? I used to get up that way at least twice a summer and fish.

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[This message has been edited by Mike Paul (edited 07-15-2001).]
 
Some crawfish hunters you guys are!
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The big ones aren't in the water, they are in the ground near the water. There will be holes above the water level. Usually 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter. They usually, but not always, have mud pushed up around them. You can catch them with a fishing rod and a small fly. You do not have to actually hook them. They will grab hold of the fly and you jerk them out of the hole, then scoop them up with a container of some kind.

Sometimes you can find them quite a ways from water. If the water table is within 2 feet of the ground level there may be crawfish holes there.

Back East I caught a lot of crawfish 5 to 6 inches long like this. It doesn't take many of them that size to make a meal.
 
Jack
I never claimed to catch them, I just eat them all when my friends cook them up!
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Hi guy's;

I'm not sure What you guy's really mean.I think you guy's meant SHRIMP right.I've caught them before but only for catfish bait.
I didnt think people ate them...lol


HC..
 
Any of the traps mentioned here work well. I have had the best luck at night, though in deeper water you can catch them all day. If you have access to a dock or some other structure here's another idea: get some fairly rigid wire mesh with about 1/2" holes. Cut a square about 3'X3' It should lay flat and stay that way (more or less) when lifted by the corners. Tie an equal length of tough cord to each corner, join them all about 3' above the mesh, then leave one longer (10-12'). Place a piece of bait (liver, chicken, fish parts, whatever) in the center of the square mesh and lower it into the water. Come back and lift it out of the water every 10-15 minutes. If there's plenty of crawdads in the water, you should 8-10 each time. It doesn't take long to fill your bucket this way. While you're waiting, wade along shoreline with a flashlight and spotlight 'em. Usually when you get them in the light they'll just stop. You can reach down and pick them up. Small ones I just grab however I can get 'em. If they're 4"+, get them right behind the pinchers so they can't reach back and get you. It's great fun. You can also do this during the day by flipping over rocks along the shore and grabbing them from their hiding places. Be ready though, when that sun hits them, they're in a hurry to get out of there. And they can move! I caught thousands of them like this when I was a kid. Used some for catfish bait and boiled the rest. Right tasty with melted butter and beer.
 
I don't know about eating them but we caught a bunch of channel cats on them this weekend. We used a seine to collect our crawdads. Have caught them by hand and by dangling a worm in the rocks too.
Chris
 
We used to catch them with a cotton string and a small piece of bacon. You can lower that into the crawdad holes and pull them out slowly. Bait the traps with bacon, too. Never seen a better crawdad bait. We seine them for bait and eatin' now, but when I was a little kid, the string and bacon was big fun.

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Bye y'all
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B. Pierce
 
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