Crawdad Trapping

[grundle]

After reading all of the threads on crawdads and the great eatin' they make I have decided to construct my own trap and give it a whirl. I will probably end up making two "versions" just to see the differences in catches etc.

I have already constructed the main cage (which is a cylinder) and am now working on the funnel entrances. The first trap I am making will be all metal. I am using zip ties to hold everything in place, and they work much better than I though, but it just isnt' aesthetically pleasing to my eye :P

My version 2.0 will have a metal cylinder for the main cage. I want to sodder it together so you don't have those twist-ties everywhere. I am not sure that plain electronic soddering will be strong enough to hold it into place, but it is worth a try. I couldn't find my iron to try it this time around so it is a moot point. The actual funnels are going to be made out of netting instead of metal. Some guys claim that this results in better catches because of the color, or the material etc. etc. I really don't know so I thought I would give it a try and see if it matters at all.

Finally I gotta find some places to drop my traps. There is a tiny crick by my house that i can actually step across. I am not too sure it would have enough of them guys to make a difference. There is a park with a decent size pond and it is stocked with fish. I will probably try there. I was wondering if the depth of your trap makes a difference. Do they congregate towards the shore line or are they farther out in the depths of a body of water?

I'll post some pictures when I have finished my prototypes, and any catches (if I catch anything) as well :P Being in the midwest I don't know how prevalent they are. I know they are around because I would try and catch them when I was little, and it seems they are just about everywhere when I was researching it on the net

[Tahyo]

Not sure where you live at grundle, but in sw La. when we would go "Crawfishing" in the marshes, the water where we set was not very deep, maybe just less than knee deep, so I can only tell you from that experience.

We had two types of traps or "nets". One was the cylinder type, only we made our's square on all sides with the funnels made from chicken wire and the other was a flat cloth net that had a thick wire "pyramid" that went to each corner of the net. In the center of the net we tied chicken necks. You'd set them out in places then come back later and with a long cane pole lift the net. The weight of the crawfish would make the net sag and you'd just dump the crawfish in a #3 washtub.. Didn't have time to look for one on google for you.

[Ole WV Coot]

Easy to catch, do like Tahyo said and I have caught them even with a feedsack cut down one side and kicking under the creek bank. I don't think they care what the trap looks like neither.

[Tahyo]

Easy to catch, do like Tahyo said and I have caught them even with a feedsack cut down one side and kicking under the creek bank. I don't think they care what the trap looks like neither.

One time in La., we had a pretty good spring rain storm that caused the water to come up over the highway. We were on the way to school when we noticed that the crawfish were crossing the highway out of the marsh by the thousands. We ran back to his house, grabbed a couple of crab nets (dip nets), skipped school and we literally caught 200 lbs. We were just throwing them in the back of his truck. We had a crawfish boil that was next to none. We invited tons of people...even people we didn't even like. Never saw anything like that since, although I have heard it happened a couple times in the same place after I moved from there.

[Rick]

You could always braze it if that's what you want to do. You can use coat hangers to braze with.

Think like your prey. Would you rather be out in deeper water where those lunker head bass are and be eaten or take your chances in the shallows? You'll find them in shallow water. If the pond has a ingress or egress stream don't forget to look there.

[grundle]

Tahyo, think you could google up a pic of that trap you were talking about? I am willing to try anything ;)

[Sam Reeves]

Some of my fondest memories where sitting in the middle of the creek and catching crayfish with my hands. I was about twelve. I might just do that again sometime just for the hell of it.

[Tahyo]

Tahyo, think you could google up a pic of that trap you were talking about? I am willing to try anything ;)

Go to Google and type in crawfish traps
then click on the image link top left.

after that type in crawfish nets
and then click on the image link top left.

You should get some fairly good pictures. There seems to be quite a few different ones.

I have to go for a while, leave a message here if it does not work and I'll get you some pictures.

[Tahyo]

Grundle, did you find some images of traps and nets? If not let me know and I'll get some for you.

[grundle]

Yeah I found a bunch before I even made this thread, but I am a little uncertain about the types you specified in your post. I think I might have a good idea of what you were talking about but I was hoping you could point me to a pic just to clarify what you use in your neck of the woods.

[Tahyo]

This is about the closest I could find to the ones we use to make. Any of those round ones should work fine. You don't need to solder. Just tie off with wire.
Sorry there is no real detail to this. The whole thing to making crawfish traps is make it so they can get in but can't get out. Make sure you make some sort of way to easily get them out. A simple wire door tied off with wire. Usually the most simple method is the most effective.

http://www.southerner.net/fast/gaudet3s.jpg

Commercial crawfish farmers use this kind. (pyramid type 3rd one down)
http://www.louisianasportnets.com/crawfish.htm



This is the crawfish nets we use to set out.
http://www.memphisnet.net/category/nets_crawfish&h=123&w=130&sz=6&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=cGWZ2pvhkcbimM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=91&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrawfish%2Bnets%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26 safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_en___US209%26sa%3DN

[snakeman]

We have 2 kinds that I see. The most common are really fast and really mean. I threw bacon bits in the creek and waited and a few little ones came out. I've never tried to trap them.

[bulrush]

We have a stream by my house in a park. The stream widens out into about 10 feet wide and 1 foot deep at deepest. Crayfish hide in there. I just take a minnow net, skim the bottom, and pull up 1 or 2 at a time.

200 yards away is a pond in front of an apartment complex, full of rocks. We caught some there too. The crayfish love to hide under the rocks, but they come out at night. As soon as the sun goes down over the tree tops I can see them coming out.