st.croix Posted May 6, 2011 Posted May 6, 2011 I have been doing a lot of research on crayfish trapping lately because I know it is awesome bait and I know that no one on my lake ever fishes with live crayfish. I built my own trap to an exact replica of the more popular ones I have seen and read about online with the guards coming off the entrance so they can't climb back out and last night I set it up for the first time using fresh cut bluegill which also was said to be the #1 hands down best crayfish bait and I set it but a huge shoreline of rocks all the size of about a football. i know this spot holds crayfish because a few years ago when I was younger I would just go and flip the rocks and grab them when they backed into a corner and caught many that way. Anyway my trap was empty this morning and the fish in the bait box doesn't look like it has been touched or pulled at. do I need to leave it there for another night or 2 for them to get used to it and discover its there and safe? Like i said this is an exact replica of a trap you would buy so I wont blame that and I know for a fact this spot holds thousands of crayfish up and down the shore. I was expecting a trap full and all I got was what I put down haha. anyone have experience or tips? I can't imagine any better place for them to live but should I try it somewhere else? I have rivers, rocky shores and shallow seaweed and lily pads, pretty much the same as any other major lakes. Quote
therevolution Posted May 6, 2011 Posted May 6, 2011 there is no way on gods green earth that anyone could helpnyou with this question. your trap came up empty after 1 night in a an unspecified spot on an unspecified lake. let it sit a bit longer and if you get nothing try another spot. i wouldnt rely only on live bait when artificials will catch fish and there are many goof craw imitators on the market Quote
ynnhoj86 Posted May 6, 2011 Posted May 6, 2011 This is a awesome topic! Last weekend, we docked our boat to do a little shore fishing and I saw some crayfish. I caught him sneaking up on itn then we flipped some rocks and caught them when they were shocked. We decided to go eat lunch and dock our boat in the middle of the lake near a sand shallow beach bar in the lake. We put bobbers on our line and hooked the crayfish in the back. Threw out our line and waited. Literally, 30 seconds, both lines got hit so hard our poles almost fell in. Reeled in the line and some good size bass. We did it a couple more times and same awesome results! So fun for something so random, my fishing partner didn't believe it was gonna work. Quote
PondBoss Posted May 6, 2011 Posted May 6, 2011 Change up your bait. When I was a kid and fishing for crawdads we used bacon, and it was hard not to catch a bucket full in a short time. If you do manage to catch a bunch of them and decide not to use them all for bait, they cook up really nice too Quote
Super User WRB Posted May 6, 2011 Super User Posted May 6, 2011 Change up your bait. When I was a kid and fishing for crawdads we used bacon, and it was hard not to catch a bucket full in a short time. If you do manage to catch a bunch of them and decide not to use them all for bait, they cook up really nice too Michigan may still have cold water less than 50 degree's. Crayfish maybe still be burrowed in soft clay areas until the water warms above 55 degrees or so before they start to migrate into shallow water. The easiest way to know is get a flash light and walk the shore line or shallow streams looking for red eyes in the water and seeing if crayfish are in the area. You can put on waders and use a long handle fine mesh net to catch enough crayfish for fishing. Tom Quote
Fish Chris Posted May 6, 2011 Posted May 6, 2011 When I was a kid and fishing for crawdads we used bacon Yes, bacon is deadly for crawdads. In fact, I hardly ever used a trap. Instead, I just tied a couple strips of bacon onto the end of a 8 or 10 ft piece of mono, then weighted it down with 1/4-1/2 oz of lead. Tossed it out into an area with quite a few dads. Did this with 2 to 4 seperate lines, then, by the time I would get back to the first line (like less than five minutes) I'd slowly start pulling it to the shore. The key was, not to pick it up out of the water, as most of the dads would drop off. So instead, I pull it right up close enough to me, but still a few inches under the water, then gently scoop a long handled bait net underneath them. I'd usually get 5 to 10 crawdads per per pull. Going through my 2-4 lines, I'd get 75 to 125 dads in about 30 minutes. i wouldnt rely only on live bait when artificials will catch fish and there are many goof craw imitators on the market How do I type the fart sound LOL Whatever works man. And BTW, their is a TON to know about using live bait to it's full effectiveness > at least as much knowledge is required as is with artificials, if not more ! You just need to know that even with live bait, their are no guarantees in fishing. Don't go into using live bait, with unreasonable expectations. You might have a great trip with it.... but you can be skunked using it too. Peace, Fish Quote
Super User WRB Posted May 6, 2011 Super User Posted May 6, 2011 Read Bill Murphy's "In Pursuit of Giant Bass", he has a chapture dedicated to fishing bugs (crawdads). Tom PS; bacon works IF the crawdads are around the area. The string method works IF you are patient, pull slowly. Traps work as long as someone doesn't find the traps before you do. A simple trap is 1/2 hardware wire 36" long X 30" wide, rolled into a 9" diameter cylinder and wire the seem. Fold one end of the wire tube flat, opposite into a inward funnel with a 3" to 4" opening. Wire a few piece of bacon inside, tie a cord on the open end and you are in business. Just unfold the flat end and dump out the bugs. Lots of ways to catch, fish and eat crawdads. Quote
Super User Catt Posted May 6, 2011 Super User Posted May 6, 2011 Simplest crawfish trap is a crawfish net, these nets sell down here in Louisiana for about $2.50 each. We mark the top by tying some reflective ribbon to the top, place them in about 12-18” of water with bait tied in the middle. Using a pole of about 8’ with a screw in the side about 2” from one end you can easily lift the net by sliding the pole under the top. Swiftly lift the net causing the center to sag enough to keep the crawfish in and the empty them in you bait bucket. Pretty much any thing will work for bait but a fish head or piece of carcass is best. Quote
st.croix Posted May 7, 2011 Author Posted May 7, 2011 yeh thanks guys, I will try all of those different techniques. As far as water temp I never thought of that but you could be right. I put someones dock in the other day and froze I disagree off! I haven't put a temperature gauge in yet but I will now and see what its at. Schools of bluegill are starting to come up shallow and I seen a few walleye last night in about 2ft of water. I never thought of that so I'm sure once it gets to full warmth between 70 and 80 degrees I will have a lot better luck. Every where online said bacon and chicken and all that other stuff was no good and fresh cut fish is the best you can get but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try since so many of you are recommending it. I crank bass all day on the crawdads made by yum so I can only imagine what they will think of a live one with no where to hide. Then again like you said I may be surprised. I have never used live bait in my lake tho so I'm going to start giving it all a try. Minnows, worms and crayfish. I have also heard of the trick putting a line with bait on it and slowly pulling it up and passed that idea up because I couldn't believe that they would hang on to it once it starts moving. Quote
BassThumb Posted May 7, 2011 Posted May 7, 2011 I like to stab a can of cat food with a flathead screwdriver a few times and use that in a minnow/crawfish trap. A few filleted panfish carcasses work well but it's more messy and smelly than cat food. Quote
PondBoss Posted May 7, 2011 Posted May 7, 2011 I have also heard of the trick putting a line with bait on it and slowly pulling it up and passed that idea up because I couldn't believe that they would hang on to it once it starts moving. Quote
Fish Chris Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 They are pretty dead set on not letting go once they have some sort of food in their grasp. Totally.... unless you try to pick them up out of the water, then most will drop off, and you will only catch a few stubborn ones Fish Quote
tyrius. Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 there is no way on gods green earth that anyone could helpnyou with this question. your trap came up empty after 1 night in a an unspecified spot on an unspecified lake. let it sit a bit longer and if you get nothing try another spot. i wouldnt rely only on live bait when artificials will catch fish and there are many goof craw imitators on the market I wonder what you consider a "goof craw imitator"? The only thing close would be the Huddlebug, but it just looks like a craw. Doesn't swim like one. Quote
hatrix Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 I also use to use bacon to catch them when i was a kid. For the most part we would just flip rocks and grab them but some times the big ones had hiding spots we couldn't grab them in. We just tie bacon to a string and slowly pull them back till we can grab them with our hands. My mom told me that trick Quote
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