Crawfish coloring

[Kyhokie]

Found what was left of this unlucky fella the other day while fishing at my local pond. Just thought I'd share because the colors are amazing. THis is the same claw, just flipped over. Want to match the hatch so to speak, but I've never found a craw bait blue on top and red on bottom. May have to have some customs made. BTW, this old boy would have made a fine bisque. This claw is every bit of 3" long.

[Catt]

[Molay1292]

If that is the Falcon Lake color I was thinking the same thing.

[Torn Thumb]

That soft craw is smaller than the real claw. I've seen near-lobster sized crayfish in the local river and in a local kids only pond, believe it or not. They do get to be some wild color combos.

[MikeWright]

Beautiful 

[fishballer06]

Reminds me of the popular "California 420" color as of lately. Dark on one side, redish on the other. 

[bigbill]

Here the crawls have black backs with red sides the claws are two tone red n black.  In our bigger rivers the a tan color.

Something weird I've seen is like two hundred or more empty shells in the shallows in the river. I have no clue what ate them.

Ok I'm not sure about the life cycle of crawfish. Rebel offers there crawfish crankbaits in different colors. The hottest color for me is the chartruese color, bright red color.

[j bab]

That's really interesting, thanks for sharing.

Here's a wiggle wart kinda similar to that color, but not quite... I'm gonna keep looking, because now you're got me looking for that color too

edit: looks like the pic wont post, probably because it's a TW link. anyways the color is called coppernose craw or something

[Molay1292]

[long island basser]

Hungry fella.

[scaleface]

Here the craws are every color even purple .

[HeavyDluxe]

1 hour ago, long island basser said:

Hungry fella.

What's the bait/color in the fishy's mouth in the second picture.

 

New England here... for the most part, crawfish I see are a uniform, muddy pumpkin color. They'll get brighter in creeks but nothing like some posted here.

[timsford]

Here they are always shades of brown and green depending on the bottom type and water clarity, and all have orange tips on the claws and tails and other orange highlights. I use black and blue in muddy water but other than that, I either use those colors if they come stock, or buy green pumpkin or watermelon and dip in orange dye

[long island basser]

3 hours ago, HeavyDluxe said:

What's the bait/color in the fishy's mouth in the second picture.

 

 

Berkley Pit Boss- 4" Big Texan.

[Buckeye Ron]

When I was a kid seining craws out of the river they were always changing colors as the months progressed. Catching them right after a shed is different than a couple of days later when they are already "peelers",or starting to harden up a bit. Just one more way nature is so amazing.

[Torn Thumb]

7 hours ago, long island basser said:

Hungry fella.

Talk about matching the hatch. That thing is near identical in color to your bait.

[A-Jay]

Here's a Custom Pour compliments of Paul Krew Custom Hand Pourer Baits.

A-Jay

[Torn Thumb]

It's amazing what can be done with soft plastics. That's ridiculously awesome.

[Spankey]

I'm PA river rat and I see them take on different colors during the course of the year. It seem they are in a red shade for a short time. Have only found this out recently over the last few years. Have only been using reds over the last couple years, with success. have passed on this color for many many years. My loss.

[Catt]

Sometimes I wanna match...sometimes I wanna stand out!

If I aint throwing black & blue it's black/brown/amber with Rage Lobster Falcon Lake Craw or black neon.

I also throw Texas Rigged craw worm a lot!

[MassYak85]

8 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Here's a Custom Pour compliments of Paul Krew Custom Hand Pourer Baits.

A-Jay

That's awesome! 

Has anyone spent a season trapping crawfish to watch them go through color changes throughout the year/conditions? 

[scbassin]

Crawfish Colors

http://www.pixelpayback.com/craws/hoverbox/index.html

[Catt]

There are 350 species of crawfish

Crawfish vary widely in color because of their diet and environmental conditions, but the most exotic colors occur because of mutations in the genes that are responsible for pigment formation.

[WRB]

Crayfish (crawdads) can adapt coloration to blend into the whatever type of background they live in. For example dark red clay areas the craws are dark red, in light sand stone areas in the same lake the craws can be tan colors. Crayfish loose most of their coloration when they molt into new shells. One thing is for certain craws that stand out in nature don't live long!

Tom

[Columbia Craw]

The spring crayfish on the upper Columbia are almost black and the ends of the pincers are bright blue hence my thread name, Columbia Craw.  I take Rage Craws and dye the claws blue.  Not as impressive as A-Jay's baits but effective none the less.  My last trip on Clear Lake was an eye opener.  Crayfish were black and blood red. So I had a custom spinnerbait made up.