Crawdad's

[Nice_Bass]

Could we start a good in depth conversation about the life cycle and stages of crawfish/crayfish/mudbug/crawdad/freshwater lobster.  This could really help in knowing the what's and why's of when to throw baits where. 

[TJHfishin]

i think this could be very good because Ive noticed during some times of the year craw fish are different colors I have also heard that they only come out at night

[roadwarrior]

In the Mid South the babies are hatching. Crawdad

castles are those mounds along the waterline with

a hole in the middle. So...right now Rage Tail Baby

Craws are red hot!

8-)

[Nice_Bass]

In the Mid South the babies are hatching. Crawdad

castles are those mounds along the waterline with

a hole in the middle. So...right now Rage Tail Baby

Craws are red hot!

8-)

Agreed, still a sucker for the yum craw series though.  I may need to check out the rage on the rage craws though...

Anyhow, thats what I am talking about, putting science into action.  If most of us (maybe most of you do already) knew the cycles of crawdads like we did shad, we would all be a bit better off, or at least sound like we did.  Cheers.

[Redhed]

In the Mid South the babies are hatching. Crawdad

castles are those mounds along the waterline with

a hole in the middle. So...right now Rage Tail Baby

Craws are red hot!

i dont see many mounds our way. from what i have seen  a lot of is sunken holes not mounds. you can basically stick your hand in there and pull out a handful of crawdaddys.. wonder why that is?

8-)

[Catt]

Every thing you ever wanted to know about Crawfish 

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops_livestock/aquaculture/crawfish/

[Sam]

Follow Catt's advice.

Go on line and look up the data.

There are over 400 species of crawfish so pick one out.

The best crawfish are the ones cooked with some corn, potatoes, onions and great Cajun seasonings.

Nothing better on earth.  ;D   ;D   ;D

[Gorgebassman]

The best crawfish are the ones cooked with some corn, potatoes, onions and great Cajun seasonings.

Nothing better on earth.         

amen

[Nice_Bass]

Follow Catt's advice.

Go on line and look up the data.

There are over 400 species of crawfish so pick one out.

The best crawfish are the ones cooked with some corn, potatoes, onions and great Cajun seasonings.

Nothing better on earth. ;D ;D ;D

Been there done that, everything can be looked up on the web, that would defeat the purpose of a thread. 

Over four hundred species, but they all follow a similer cycle; catch-cook-rip,pull,suck,discard.   :'(

[Nice_Bass]

Speaking of, I need to go to lunch now- that or the creek behind my house so that I can catch a few of these for lunch! 

[OkobojiEagle]

Back to the diets of bass... if you can zero in on the color(s) of your local crawdads after molting that color would be a good choice.  Also, exaggerated pincher size is only a turn-on for the angler not the bass. 

steve

[Catt]

The what

Any crawfish imitating plastic, jig, crank bait, or lip less crank

The where

On any body of water, at any time of the year, any place on earth

The why

Because bass love Cajun Cuisine

Knowing the life cycle & stages of crawfish/crayfish/mudbug/crawdad/freshwater lobster is unimportant because bass will strike crawfish imitating lures even when there are no crawfish present in that body of water.

Knowing the current color of live crawfish in a particular body of water does not mean a bass will eat a crawfish lure of the same color; the bass may want some thing totally opposite.

I can tell ya one thing for certain, crawfish imitating plastics Texas Rig is the #1 under utilized lure in your Arsenal!

[roadwarrior]

This is what a crawdad castle looks like:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bp3.blogger.com/_9Q950MiMIgc/SHqrXgV5O7I/AAAAAAAAGCE/h16yYAstjIQ/s400/crawdadhole.jpg&imgrefurl=http://gradualdazzle.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html&usg=___o5vaJAn6WQpoad2z3Df1tUBwOs=&h=300&w=400&sz=51&hl=en&start=22&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=mk2dpj1b9F3P7M:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrawdad%2Bcastle%2Bpicture%26start%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Ds%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1

8-)

[Catt]

Molting is the periodic shedding of the old exoskeleton (shell) and takes place with each increase in size which can be 4-6 times a year; once the crawfish reaches maturity the molting process stops

Each individual crawfish will vary in color before, during, & after molting

[Nice_Bass]

The what

Any crawfish imitating plastic, jig, crank bait, or lip less crank

The where

On any body of water, at any time of the year, any place on earth

The why

Because bass love Cajun Cuisine

Knowing the life cycle & stages of crawfish/crayfish/mudbug/crawdad/freshwater lobster is unimportant because bass will strike crawfish imitating lures even when there are no crawfish present in that body of water.

Knowing the current color of live crawfish in a particular body of water does not mean a bass will eat a crawfish lure of the same color; the bass may want some thing totally opposite.

I can tell ya one thing for certain, crawfish imitating plastics Texas Rig is the #1 under utilized lure in your Arsenal!

Agreed on all accounts, if I am not throwing a jig, it is a t-rigged craw/worm, swimbait, or somthing finesse.  Just interested in what is going on in the world below the boat.  Thanks. 

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

In the Mid South the babies are hatching. Crawdad

castles are those mounds along the waterline with

a hole in the middle. So...right now Rage Tail Baby

Craws are red hot!

8-)

Agreed, still a sucker for the yum craw series though. I may need to check out the rage on the rage craws though...

Anyhow, thats what I am talking about, putting science into action. If most of us (maybe most of you do already) knew the cycles of crawdads like we did shad, we would all be a bit better off, or at least sound like we did. Cheers.

I have never seen as much action on any other trailer or crawdad imitating plastic as a Rage Lobster or Craw.Its unbelievable

[Taylor Fishin 4 life]

at night crawfish move up shallow along the banks in 1inch to 2 feet of water from what ive seen

[mr.mallard]

In the Mid South the babies are hatching. Crawdad

castles are those mounds along the waterline with

a hole in the middle. So...right now Rage Tail Baby

Craws are red hot!

i dont see many mounds our way. from what i have seen a lot of is sunken holes not mounds. you can basically stick your hand in there and pull out a handful of crawdaddys.. wonder why that is?

8-)

crawdads are like the mid south indians....they build mounds.

[tnbassfisher]

In the Mid South the babies are hatching. Crawdad

castles are those mounds along the waterline with

a hole in the middle. So...right now Rage Tail Baby

Craws are red hot!

8-)

Are you fishing those by themselves or as a trailer?

[Redhed]

In the Mid South the babies are hatching. Crawdad

castles are those mounds along the waterline with

a hole in the middle. So...right now Rage Tail Baby

Craws are red hot!

i dont see many mounds our way. from what i have seen a lot of is sunken holes not mounds. you can basically stick your hand in there and pull out a handful of crawdaddys.. wonder why that is?

8-)

crawdads are like the mid south indians....they build mounds.

i am sure they do i jsut have not seen many.. i see more "sunken"  holes with tons of them in there than mounds.. ill look closer. 

[WRB]

Posted this link a few times:

http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/country_pages/species_by_state.htm

The best method to know what your lake crawdads look like is trap them.

Catt mentioned crawdads molt and it's been my experience when fishing with crawdads years ago, the 3" size soft shell molts were by far the better for bait for bass.

In my area the crawdads tend to be red-brown, the molts are more green-brown, however each lake the coloration varies.

Some of the questions are; should we match the hatch or use more contrasting coloration? Does size matter when trying to use a crawdad replica lure? What about the claws; do they affect the bass? What type of bass prefer crawdads; smallmouth, largemouth or spots?

My favorite crawdad lure is the jig & pig (pork rind trailer). Jig skirt color is a contrasting black/purple/brown. What is interesting is; never caught a crawdad in the wild that had all those colors! However the pork trailer is 1 solid color; black, purple or brown used on the multiple colored jig. I believe the jig colors get the basses attention and the trailer profile and movement initiates the strike. It could also be that critter with contrasting coloration don't survive long because they are easier for the bass to locate.

Size does matter. I have also learned by experience that each lake has a size preference; a 3" trailer may work better than a 5" on certain lakes.

I also learned that bass prefer crawdads without big pincher's and avoid those with big pincher's or claws. When fish with live crawdads we removed the claws by squeezing the arm joint with needle nose pliers.

Largemouth bass tend to engulf the crawdad, crunch it and swallow it fairly fast. Smallmouth and spots tend to peck at the crawdad before biting down on it, then engulf it to swallow it. This different striking technique can require a different hook set timing.

One fact; bass eat crawdads everywhere they live.

WRB