Crayfish Traps/Trapping

[SevenTine]

Check out JK Enterprises in Cyrus, MN. They make great crayfish traps. I use fish heads for bait. I have one spot in a small dam that I can just set the traps along the walls with no bait and fill them up overnight. Open end downstream. I put a rock on top so they don't get carried on.

[pbooth]

As a kid, we would take a chunk of liver on a stick and a pail of cold water, and go down to the creek. Hold the stick in the creek and they would grab on pick the stick up and put in cold bucket of water they would release. We would spend hours catching crayfish, I'm sure the folks loved it!

Paul

[tjpitch5]

To make the traps, go to google and type in "wut2 crawdad trap". I used 1/2 inch hardware cloth. A 2' x 5' roll is plenty. Then pick up some plastic wire ties to hold everything together. This is pretty much the way I make them and the homemade traps catch a lot more crayfish than the few store bought traps I have.

As for bait, I get salmon fish heads from seafood stores in the spring before I have any heads in the freezer from fish I catch. The fattyness of salmon works well and one fish head cut up works for about 2 traps. When I clean fish I catch, the fish heads from anything else work just as good.

[crawdad]

I've had the best luck with the oily fish also. Have also used liver. The 3 traps I ordered online have done well. They're a little larger size, but I had about 80-100 nice size rusties in one trap in a one night soak in Ely. The design is pretty simple but well thought out. Better than my first homemade box style traps, but I'd like to make something similar to the purchased ones.

Bait boxes in the trap are key IMO.

[JacobMHD]

What do you look for when setting the traps?

[crawdad]

I like to check out possible areas at night for potential trapping. They will usually be up out of the rocks shallow feeding (the smaller ones) and the bigger aren't too much deeper. I've been hit and miss throwing the traps deep. During the summer nights the trap is best just submerged.If you see them during the day, even better population. Small, to large rocky shore with gravel/sand in the area also. They like to also feed on the algae and junk on old leaves/vegetation. Somewhere level to lay the trap. Otherwise, edge of currents for rivers (put a rock in the bottom!).

Talk to folks fishing in the area, maybe they've spotted a few. Very noticable (rusties, big) in Vermillion, and someone mentioned Mille Lacs. Some lakes in the Ely, Isabella area have rusties also, best to help get rid of them.

Hope that gives you some ideas....google terry bullard, he has a lot of helpful info on his page. He builds traps also.

[sutter]

Really glad to find some people who do this. I made 3 traps last year. Tried them 5 or 6 times in spring with no success and lost 3 out of 4 to current and snapping turtles. In June, I was introduced to the "meat on the end of a wire+minnow scoop" method. I started taking a bunch of them from the mississippi.

I made 3 more traps to try again this year. I've been waiting for the water to warm up this time. I think I'll try this week. Has anyone trapped yet this season?

[pikestabber]

I'm heading out on Saturday, but I don't claim to know anything about this besides what I have learned here and by word-of-mouth (I started this post in hopes of learning more!). In the interim, I have built six traps and recruited to other rookies who thought the idea sounded fun to try. I will post pics (if there are any to post!) next week and let people know what worked and what didn't.

[crawdad]

Remember to use small bait boxes! They cant pull the bait our of the trap that way, and it will keep them coming in....

[sutter]

I've made a couple trips to the river this week and brought home 40 or 50 rusties so far. I tried running traps during the day, but had no success. While the traps soaked, I used my bait and scoopnet approach and caught a few, but they were really tough to come by. 2 days later, I went back w/o traps and found them to be super-aggressive and easy to catch. Wish I'd run my traps that day. I'll be trying a nighttime trip soon.

[sutter]

I got these in an hour of dipping a chunk of meat under rocks and scooping them with a minnow net. There were 21 before letting them purge for 2 days. 3 died.

They sure are prettier once they're cooked.

[crawdad]

Hmm, can't see the pictures. They'll need fresh water (a big cooler) or an aerator if you want to keep them that long, or a place to climb out of the water. Found that out the hard way when I first tried keeping them overnight. Too many for the amount of water I had them in. I need to, and suggest you try, a holding cage so you can keep them fresh in a river or lake while your there. But if not, a big cooler with fresh water has worked if I keep them alive. Usually a quick purge where I'm trapping to clean the junk off, and into the boil pot they go. Have done the salting purge method, but I usually pull the intestine part out when I'm cleaning them anyway. Hope you get a few more, I will be out next week and get a few pics up of any success.

PikeStabber any reports?

[WyoChris]

Just caught like 20 bass tonight... a few of them smallmouth. I caught them on a plastic crawfish on a carolina rig. drag them along the rocks as the sun is going down and it works great

[swamptiger]

Anyone know how to tell the difference between a regular crayfish and a rusty crayfish? I know where there's a lot of crayfish, but I don't know what kind they are.

[crawdad]

google seagrant MN, then check out their aquatic invasive species, see rusty crayfish. They have oval brown spots on each side of their carapace, and usually black tips on the claws.

[pikestabber]

Hey, Crawdad:

We were only able to set one night, and it was mediocre at best...we caught a couple dozen nice Rusty's, so we had enough to sample by the campfire and learn that they are quite delicious! I spent all day finishing my traps on Saturday the (the 13th)...I have 6, now, and growing...and after a couple hours of walleye fishing, we ran out of time to properly scout for the mid-lake rock piles we were told to try, so we ended up trapping the shoreline rocks with limited success. I did find out my traps work and hold crayfish relatively well overnight, so we will definitely head back out soon for some extended trapping. I will post some pics soon and report anything new when I can.

[pikestabber]

[pikestabber]

[Daze Off]

Am thinking of trying this because I love crawfish but have a couple of questions - am thinking about buying a Frabill trap offered at BPS - it is 12''L x 12''W x 5''H with 1 adjustable (1''-12'') opening. Is this sufficient size? Do you just lay it in the water at some likely location? Would something like this catch enough for a meal or do you have to purchase multiple traps? What am I not asking that I should be?

Hope someone can help. Thought I would give it a try when we go up north on vacation in August for a few weeks.

[SunneyeDay]

Some of the most fun I ever had "fishing" was as a kid hunting for craw daddies on Leech. No traps- all we used was a snorkel and our bare hands. We just floated/ swam above a rock pile in about 2-3 ft of water and moved rocks around. The only hard part was trying not to get pinched!!!

That meat on a stick method sounds like fun- might have to try it next time I get the snorkel out.

[pikestabber]

Hmmm... Lots of variables there... I think the trap size is okay, but I would say you would want a few of them. Fresh bait must be used, too (fish heads and guts are good bait, or fresh cut sucker; some people swear by chicken gizzards), and I wouldn't stray too far from the rock piles as that's where they hang out. The Pelican Island area of Leech is supposed to be the best bet for that area. Leave your trap in overnight and plan to get it before it gets light out or your catch will start rapidly escaping...found that out the hard way!

[Daze Off]

Thanks for the tips - thought I would raid the fish cleaning bucket of the resort we stay at for bait options since I do not keep fish myself generally. We will be on Pleasant Lake not far from Leech but I have to think there are plenty of craws in it too as there are rocky areas.

Loved this thread!

[pikestabber]

Good Luck, Daze Off, hope you get enough for your meal. Let us know how it turns out!