# Crawdads



## blueshooter (Oct 10, 2009)

gonna take my kids to catch some crayfish this weekend
just wondering if it would be better to go to Scofield Res. or Strawberry
Which has more crayfish? They are about the same distance of a drive


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## twinkielk15 (Jan 17, 2011)

I'd go to Strawberry. Never had much luck at Scofield.


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## A-Weezy (Jun 27, 2011)

Fished strawberry a few weeks ago and caughts tons of dads. Everywhere we went had craws all over. Chicken creek, renegade, ladders, the marina. Good luck


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## blueshooter (Oct 10, 2009)

thanks, sounds like a plan Strawberry it is


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## blueshooter (Oct 10, 2009)

came back with about 15 gallons worth of them and had a great crayfish boil with plenty in the freezer


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## fishnducks311 (Nov 9, 2010)

Is it better to just buy a crawdad trap then make something up? What's a good bait for them?


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## Moostickles (Mar 11, 2010)

blueshooter said:


> came back with about 15 gallons worth of them and had a great crayfish boil with plenty in the freezer


Looks great, makes me hungry!

Just an FYI though, you have to make sure the crawdads are dead before leaving the lake. Fish & Game would _love_ to stick you with a hefty fine for transporting live animals from their body of water. If they were dead, I apologize, typically we only see the tails in pictures when they are cooked at home.

I hate to see good-intentioned sportsmen get a ticket for stuff like that...

But again, if they were dead when you took them home, just ignore this post... :mrgreen:

(If they weren't dead, just don't admit anything publicly on this forum!!!)


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## blueshooter (Oct 10, 2009)

they were dead and on ice just too much work to de-tail them all at the lake I started to do just that but it took too long.


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## chet (Sep 7, 2007)

what kind of trap?
what kind of bait?
what time of day?
how long did you let the trap soak?

I built a trap last week, used some chicken, let it soak for several hours, only caught 2 stinkin dads!!!!


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

traps are pretty inexpensive... mine were only 10 bucks or so. put your stinking bait inside, a piece of string to a gallon milk jug with my name on it, toss it overboard and go fishing. come back in an hour, empty, reset and go fishing again. life is pretty simple. making a trap seems to be a lot of work. when using chicken - its best to let it set in the sun for a day or more so it really stinks. when done trapping, dump back so the remaining dads can eat and get big.


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## Moostickles (Mar 11, 2010)

chet said:


> what kind of trap?
> what kind of bait?
> what time of day?
> how long did you let the trap soak?
> ...


I've found the barrel style traps to be much more effective than the box style; however, you will catch way more if you leave the traps at home and use a chicken leg on a rope and a dip net. Plus, in my opinion, it's a lot more fun too.

Chuck the leg out about 15 feet, leave it for 5 minutes and then pull it in slowly. As soon as the pile of dads clamped on the leg are within range, scoop them up with the net. In addition to the leg on a rope, we tie a small piece of meat onto some fishing line and you can drop it in front of any dads you see in the water and they will grab onto it.

We can usually fill a little over one 5-gallon bucket an hour doing it this way.


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## muleylove (Aug 6, 2012)

I use my kitchen tongues...you can sneak up on the unsuspecting dads easier that way


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

muleylove said:


> I use my kitchen tongues


Isn't that rather painful when they pinch you? :?: -Ov-


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## muleylove (Aug 6, 2012)

Catherder said:


> muleylove said:
> 
> 
> > I use my kitchen tongues
> ...


It is painful when they pinch you!! Using tongues means you don't get pinched either


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

muleylove said:


> Catherder said:
> 
> 
> > muleylove said:
> ...


Well, OK, but my tongue would seem to be too sensitive to try it. It aches an awful lot when it gets canker sores and I would think a crawdad holding on to it would be worse. 

(Said completely "tongue-in-cheek")


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## muleylove (Aug 6, 2012)

Catherder said:


> muleylove said:
> 
> 
> > Catherder said:
> ...


Ok well if you don't wanna try it that way maybe use some tongs


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## wyoguy (Mar 4, 2010)

chet said:


> what kind of trap?
> what kind of bait?
> what time of day?
> how long did you let the trap soak?
> ...


We have had great luck using a ear of corn after it's been eaten,or a can of cat/dog food with the lid just cracked so they can't eat it all


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

What I've found is they will stay in a trap as long as there is food to be had. If they are escaping you need more food or you need to check the trap more frequently.

As for shape, I've hands down had more luck with square ones than round ones. I build my own now, they are simple and cheap to make. I've posted the plans on the other crawfish thread, if someone wants it and cant find it send me a PM.


-DallanC


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