Crayfish--how early is too early?

[pikestabber]

Not for everyone, I know, but I built a bunch of traps last year and got into trapping Rusty crayfish (northern part of the state). I wasn't able to start until mid-June, and by then the females tails were full of eggs already. Off-putting to say the least... So, how early can you trap these guys before they fill up with eggs? Right after ice-out? Mid-April to early May? Depth? Other info?

Thanks.

[goblueM]

i have heard they are still active in colder temps but move deeper, like 15 feet or more

personally i cannot verify that, i've done all my trapping June-Sept

[pikestabber]

goblueM, do you run into the tails full of eggs in June? I assume that you trap crayfish to eat them, as I do, so do you prep them any differently if they are full of eggs? We tried boiling them, and I am sure there is nothing wrong with them, but we found the eggs off-putting. Do you run into this problem later in the year?

[goblueM]

i haven't really encountered too many with eggs on em, must be trapping later or something. the few i've caught it wasn't too hard to remove the eggs, just a pain in the you know what