Crawfish

[greenandgold73]

Anywhere around Tallahassee to set crawfish traps? Thank you.

[big bend gyrene]

Greenandgold73, hope you don't mind if I throw a request for some general local tips in too?

When I was a boy growing up in South Carolina I would place a minnow trap with pieces of hot dogs into a small creek behind our house and catch a trap full, or simply flip rocks over in the creek and hand pick them out.

Have tried dropping a minnow trap into my pond edge here in Florida but haven't caught a single crawdad, though I know they're nearby as I see shells on my dock where it looks like coons carry them to eat them.

ANYBODY on the forum trap them around Tallahassee, and if so what general tips can you share on selecting ideal trap placement. ANY tips provided will be MUCH appreciated!

[greenandgold73]

Would love to find some places I could drop a few traps in a creek or pond around Tally with out someone taking it. If anyone out there has property with a creek or pond I could set a few traps in I would gladly share some if i bagged some. I am a school teacher so I have passed all the background checks Might even try to drop a trap while I am fishing at Talquin next time I go fishing there.

[Danibeth]

something to keep in mind baitwise....I learned this weekend that crawfish seem to really like banana peels. Was at a friends place this past weekend and his 9 year old son LOVES crawfishing and setting and keeping the traps. He was doing some research and found somewhere that banana peels work well....he tried it and WOW did it work. So, another option for traps. I'd like to throw a couple out and may do that soon. Give it a try anyway.

[micci_man]

I catch them with a trap in a creek down the road from the house and fish them in the Wacissa river for red eye's. I use canned cat food, fish flavor. You can feed them carrots to keep them alive. I'll have to try the banana for bait. The creek goes under a county road but you can't see the trap when it's set.

[big bend gyrene]

Did a little homework on the banana, and supposedly the banana mimics the scent of female crawfish, drawing in males.

And again, love it if anyone could speak to ideal trap placement. I've been sinking mine at my pond's edge just under my dock where the water is about a foot deep but without any luck. Tried in deeper water at the end of the dock, also without luck. I've got drainage ditches running down the road that leads to the pond. Wonder if they would be better? Also see crawfish burrows in the swampy woodland edge next to the road leading to the pond. Know because of the tunnels and shells being left on the dock by racoons that they're around... just no luck with the traps thus far, so again any placement tips much appreciated. Will be experimenting with different baits (and banana) too just to see how it affects the equation.

[zload]

Never trapped them but we used to "rake" them out of ditches when going to catch warmouth at the Okeefenokee swamp so maybe try the ditches, if it was a good year it took very little time to rake up a 100 or so. We just used a fire rake and drug it through the ditch edge grass into the water and back up the side we were on. I think the guys who sold them used something more along the lines of a sand flea rake but we used what we had.

[micci_man]

Don't have exacts. I just toss it in the creek. Sometimes the water is 2-3' deep and sometimes Dry. I stake it down with a 12" spike on a 6' piece of string. If there are crawdads there then your bait may be the problem. I read baits with fish oils are best so I crack the lid on canned cat food and toss it in the trap. It seems to take 3-4 days before I get 6 or more in it. A buddy of mine tosses his in areas that holds water more than not (ditches etc) and gets them too.

[Steve Sutton]

Somethings to consider when you know you have crawfish but aren't catching them. There are 30 plus species of Crawfish in the panhandle and each one of them has a different feeding strategy. As well some are significantly less omnivorous than others. The fact that you're seeing tunnels and the little mud comes indicates you do have terrestrial species which are far less likely to range than the open water species and also are far less likely to seek out the type of bait that are normally used.

The open water species are the ones that you can expect to catch ill but just because you see evidence of "crawfish"'doesn't mean you have the right type.

Not sure if this is what is going on with your lack of success but it certainly could
Be one of the reasons you're seeing evidence but but catching nothing.

Are you catching them to eat or for bait?


Steve