crawfish techniques

[sharpshooter223]

so next year i plan on setting a crawfish trap or two in different lakes in eastern washington. so i have seen the list of lakes, but not having seen enough i dont know where to set the traps. are there any good spots/underwater terrain in any given lake that tend to produce more craws than other spots. also what are some good cheap baits to bait traps with? and for my last question what kind of gear do you use for a rope/bouy system?

[swedefish4life1]

Invest in light (Rip Curl) light surf board diving gear top and bottom, good fins and mask and your in!!!:bounce: :bigsmurf: OH LOL A SNORKEL OR 2 MIGHT Much more productive then traps and keeps the Cardio and lungs fit as well!HELP ! :colors:

[Anonymous]

Unless the bottom, where you place your traps, has a good deal of cover you will find it necessary to leave your pots out overnight. On lakes with a relatively sandy or muddy bottom I will try and find a weed bed and place my pots in small clearings in the beds or on the edges. For lakes with rocky bottoms I try and find where the weeds and the rocks meet and place the pots in that area. If no weeds can be found find a flat area near large rocks and place them close to the cover.

As for bait, fresh is best, at least in my book. When I have them, fresh fish carcasses will be in my pots. Trout, perch, walleye, panfish, etc., just cut the bellies open if you filleted them whole and put them in the bait holder. If I don't have any fish available I turn to chicken or turkey. Thighs, legs and wings will get the job done and whatever is left over can go on the grill and be served with your boiled crayfish! I'm sure some folks use canned cat, dog or human food, but I haven't tried any these so I leave it up to those who have to let you in on what works best.

Now the float and line is going to be more a matter of choice as the State does not care about color. shape, size etc. As long as it is a proper float. with your name on it, your good to go. Line needs to weighted down to keep it from getting caught in boat props. I typically use a lighter line with one of my shrimp buoys and try to place my pots out of normal navigation areas. Some folks I know try and disguise their pot markers by using non-standard floats that one would not associate with a shellfish pot. I drop mine late in the afternoon/evening and pick them up as soon as the sun rises. If you leave them out during the day the chances that someone else will pull your pot(s) and or take your pots increases dramatically. Commercial crayfish harvesters typically tie their pots together and sink them along with a small buoy that is under the surface. They then drag anchor to snag the line and pull the pots. I don't believe that as a sport fisherman you can do the same as the regs state that the float must be visible at all times, except during extreme tidal conditions. My suggestion is to go cheap on the gear, use a rock or a brick to weigh your pot down, and drop as many as you are allowed (5). This way if one comes up missing you aren't out a good chunk of change.

[sharpshooter223]

well my plan is to go to a lake or lakes wherever that i can camp by the lake, use my pontoon boat to pontoon out a ways at sunset time and then drop them, pick them up at sunrise. so would a thin cord with a large catfish float or similar large float be sufficient? and then would catching a couple small bluegills, cutting them open and throwing them in work decently for bait?

[G-Man]

Sharpshooter,

Always check the regs to make sure you're within the law. I don't think that anyone on this site would knowingly give out bogus info, but it is your job to make sure the gear you use complies with the regs. As I read them, any float that you can permanently mark your name and address on and will stay visible at all times would be acceptable. If you don't have this link already bookmarked, you may want to do it now: WDFW Fishing and Shellfish Rules Our State reserves the right to make changes at any time and will not always post changes at the river, lake, stream, etc. You should be OK using the bluegills as long as they are within the regs of the lake your fishing, some lakes have a minimum size limit on bluegills.

[sharpshooter223]

yea, i make sure all fish are within the regs, i dont even plan to be setting traps on the lakes that have the restrictions on panfish, or if i do ill just have to find some frozen shad maybe? on dirty jobs when he was working with a crawfish harvester they were using shad so maybe that will work well here too. as for the float i had seen what the regs said and i even sent the game department an email asking about it but never got a very clear answer.

[Trent Hale]

Bacon! Works very well.

[sharpshooter223]

sounds like bacon would work with as oily as it is, but i think i might get my head stuck in my own trap trying to get at it

[juggalo]

lake peragin has a lot of crawdads and the resort owner recommends red ropes or red vines candy. I know it sounds crazy but it outfished all other bait last time I was there

[fishingboy]

try going to banks lake north end in electric city and grand coulee! at coulee playland resort good place to find crawdads in traps or by hand

[sharpshooter223]

my plan for this summer is to try out stan coffin lake and soda lake while i fish them, maybe the river around my area but im not so sure how much it holds, the smallie population is huge though so there could be more craws than i think. this year ill be focused on lakes within an hour - two hours drive around the columbia basin though so most stuff north of moses lake and west of yakima is out of the question.

[racfish]

A can of cat food works great for me.I like a terrain like a rocky bottom.My cage is tubular so it really goes anywhere and still works.I dont go for crawdads in Ea Wa. But we slay them in the Sammamish river and slough.

[sharpshooter223]

my plan is to buy some herring or some kippered fish like anchovies or just catch a panfish and stuff it into a bait cage. by the way, how many people really use bait cages, how much is it really needed?

[racfish]

For crabbing bait cages are a neccesity.For crays seeing I use a can of catfood its not necesary.For loose bait like you mentioned I'd use a bait cage .

[fishnazzi]

Spam with the pull top. Just pull it back half way and set trap,that oily goop in there seems to chum them up.........and who eats spam???? CRAWDADS

[saltyseadog]

iv heard of the same thng at pergrin red vines good bait

[Aaron]

Don't you guys ever go fishing?

I keep all the entrails, heads and tails of fish I catch. I put them in baggies in the freezer and whenever I go out for crawdads I cut a bunch of holes in the baggie before I put it in the pot and it never fails.

[sharpshooter223]

Spam with the pull top. Just pull it back half way and set trap,that oily goop in there seems to chum them up.........and who eats spam???? CRAWDADS

i like spam ok, i dont see why so many people hate it, but ill still keep that in mind come may. im thinking of some kind of overnight trip to stan coffin or soda lake. right now i need to go buy a crawfish trap, some rope, and something to act as a bouy (im thinking a large bobber will work well). If i can find a job soon then ill make it two traps, three if i do well with the first two.

[curado]

no bait needed dive for e'm that is what i do in lake stevens it is pretty fun whatch out for the babies thoughon the pincers

[Rich McVey]

Has anyone tried Tapps for craws?

So far we have not had success there. Location, bait or lack of craws, who knows...

Ive read an article a while back that mentions ways to upgrade traps to make them more pleasing to craws. Cloth around the trap and material over walk area of the entrance so they can walk in easier.

Has anyone modified their traps to improve results?