Catching bait?

[Football Hunter]

Couple of friends caught some nice small mouth the other day at Center Hill on craw dads.They actually got bored and got out of the boat on the bank to stretch their legs and lucked into catching a few craw dads ,hooked em up,and it was on.

I remebered I had 2 fish traps like these,put in a hot dog,some dog food,bread,crackers,went back to check this morning,NOTHING!I figured it would be like deadliest catch! :)I know there are craw dads in the creek.

Im thinking a dead fish for bait maybe?I hope this works,chasing them around the creek is hard on my knee right now.Any othr thoughts?

 

[stik]

i have never had any luck trapping crawdads. the only effective way i have found is turning over rocks with a dip net downstream.

 

[trealtree]

You must use raw bacon, and it must be suspended inside the trap where they can not get to it through the cracks. Also I have never had much luck using a minnow trap for crawdads. the flat traps work better. Or a specialized crawfish trap.

I have this trap and it has worked for me.

http://terrybullard.com/

 

[Football Hunter]

You must use raw bacon, and it must be suspended inside the trap where they can not get to it through the cracks. Also I have never had much luck using a minnow trap for crawdads. the flat traps work better. Or a specialized crawfish trap.

I have this trap and it has worked for me.

http://terrybullard.com/

Thought about bacon,thats some sacrifice right there :)

 

[ShaneHallum]

I ALWAYS get my trout net, and catch a small bluegill put it on the stringer. Lay the net in the edge of the water with the bluegill centered on the net. The crawfish will work up to the bluegill and start eating it. Once it's covered with them, raise the net up out of the water. You can get a bucket full in just a few short minutes.

 

[Football Hunter]

Thanks Shane,will try that too

 

[AllOutdoors]

I just bait my minnow trap with bread rolled tightly. once it fills with minnows they attract the crawfish I guess. usaually by the second day it will be full of crawfish and all the minnows will have been eaten.

 

[Biggun4214]

Chicken skin.

 

[Football Hunter]

Oh well,someone stole them,dang!

 

[stik]

watch when catching crawdads for bait. some are endangered and protected.

 

[Taylor]

Folks here "rake" roadside ditches and mudholes for crawfish. Some of the mudbug rakes they make are pretty interesting. But that may just be a riverbottom thing...you may not have that option where you live. dunno.

 

[holstonangler]

you can poke a couple holes in a tuna can and put it in the trap. It works for me.

 

[Football Hunter]

you can poke a couple holes in a tuna can and put it in the trap. It works for me.

good idea

 

[B.D.]

I've always wanted to put out a bunch of crawdad traps on Old Hickory and go out in a jonboat to collect them in a storm and make a Youtube video called "Redneck Deadliest Catch." :)

bd

 

[Korben]

How deep should these traps be placed?

 

[buckdead]

If you want to catch a lot of crawfish in just a few minutes get ya seine and kid that likes to kick rocks. youll have more crawdads in 5 minutes than youll know what to do with.

 

[Crosshairy]

My dad and I used to seine small creeks with my uncle for trotline bait. You'd come up with about a 50/50 mix of creek minnows and crawdads if you had a creek with knee-deep water. Keep the water churned up by dragging your feet, and you'll catch quite a few. Keep a bucket nearby with water in it to dump your catch.

It's a LOT of fun to bring a youngster along, because of all the excitement over lifting the seine out of the water to see what you've caught.

I miss those times...and my uncle.

 

[A/M/G]

TTT

 

[Baxter83]

I used to use crackers in a trap.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

Never have a problem catching crawdads. I use the same traps as the one in the pic, baited with a hotdog.Location is critical, you have to put them near "crawdad country". I set mine beside submerged logs and undercut rocks.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

will give it a try

 

[catman529]

I have just kind of developed a skill I guess for catching 'dads...most times I can turn over a rock and grab one with my hand....although they do escape sometimes, so a dip net is more effective. Rule #1 keep the net or your hand behind the crawdad. If using a net, I usually use my free hand in front of the crawdad to spook it so it swims backward into the net. Great bait, caught a lot of fish with them, but for some time now I've had a preference for the stonerollers and other minnows caught in a cast net.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

If the creeks not to deep, a foot or shallower is ideal, wear some rubber boots, and slowly turn rocks over and wait for the water to clear, if they are under there and you flip them gentle, 9 times out of 10, they won't flee, put a dip net behind them and use your other hand to scare him into swimming backwards right into the net

 

[catman529]

Just what I do, blount county hunter. Works very well

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Just what I do, blount county hunter. Works very well

Yes it does, I have been doing it since I was 5, guarantee ill out catch a trap by triple the numbers within an hour, than a trap would catch sitting all night

 

[catman529]

yeah I haven't used a trap and don't see a need to unless all the water you have access to is deep. But sometimes deeper water with bigger rocks holds much bigger crawdads, but you don't always want them big unless you're eating them. I get enough success in the shallows just lifting rocks, no need for me to buy any traps. Caught a few bruisers in the shallows too. Rule of thumb for size - bigger rocks usually yield bigger crawfish. So I lift them more carefully because bigger 'dads are more wary.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Yep, the ideal crawldad for me is a 3 inch softshell that just recently molted, the fish seem to like them better, I'm not a fan of the big 4-6 inchers, never seem to have any luck with the big boys, but I'm not gonna lie, I have pulled some mini lobsters almost 8in long! Out of small creeks

 

[huntingsonny]

wend we were kids,we got a stick tied on some string tied on a chicken liver .they would come out latch on and shake em off in the bucket.

 

[catman529]

I've caught a couple nice fish off of the big crawdads but usually what I catch are 2-3 inches and they work just fine.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Yep 2-3 inch ones are the best, especially a soft shell crawldad that just shed its hard shell, its like an orgasm in a smallies mouth