Crawfish bait?

[RUGER]

So what is the best bait to use to bait up a minnow / crawfish trap?

 

[Big Pop]

I've used about anything. Fish carcass, hot dogs, out of date meat, something that won't fall apart very easy.

 

[WTM]

fish head in a bait cage. if you dont use a bait cage the crawfish will eat it from outside the trap.

 

[TNCharlie]

Cans of dog food or cat food punched full of holes. Chicken bones that still have some meat on them.

Those little hosiery anklets that women wear make good bait bags for meat pieces, etc.

 

[diamond hunter]

chicken is good,leave it out a couple days.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

fish head in a bait cage. if you dont use a bait cage the crawfish will eat it from outside the trap.

This is pretty much the way I do it except I don't use a bait cage. I just use a piece of wire to suspend the bait in the middle of the trap.

 

[Smo]

Chicken neck works great in the trap.

I hear the small crawfish make great perch bait....

The large ones ain't bad grilled.

 

[RUGER]

I hear the small crawfish make great perch bait....

.

Thus the reason I ask. :D ;)

I bet a big ole bream will whack 'em too.

 

[Smo]

Kinda' the reason I thought. LOL


I knew a Guy in Wayne Co. back int the 80's that waded creeks and fished for perch.

I'm not sure if they were yellow perch or not. He used small crawfish.

I'm thing White Oak creek might be a good spot .

 

[Mike Belt]

I used to set a bunch of trot lines and throw lines and I was always seining ditches for crawfish. The little bitty ones do indeed make great bream bait.

 

[WTM]

lol i thought you might be going to Lake co to catch some to eat. you using them for fishing, dip them out of a drainage ditch with a small mesh dip net or a crawfish drag like we use(upside down flat dipnet). easy to make with some rebar, 1/4" hardware cloth and a handle.

or you could forgo all that trouble and go buy a $5 bag of shrimp at walmart and cut them up in pieces.

there are no fish in white oak, all the perch and bream are around paris landing and north.

 

[Biggun4214]

Just remember it is illegal to move live crawfish from one watershed to another.

 

[TheLBLman]

Just remember it is illegal to move live crawfish from one watershed to another.

I take it that means even if you're using them as bait?

Best place I have to catch crawdads, I suppose would be about equal distance to either Lake Barkley or KY Lake, but since technically the area drains into KY Lake, would be illegal to use these crawdads on Barkley? :cry:
Never mind both lakes are connected by a canal.

 

[landman]

I grew up fishing in a creek the run thru one of my grandfathers farms, I've got red eye bass, bream, bass, crappie all on craw dads

 

[RUGER]

Just remember it is illegal to move live crawfish from one watershed to another.

Well that kinda defeats the purpose lol
Thanks for the info.


Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk

 

[CATCHDAWG]

Just remember it is illegal to move live crawfish from one watershed to another.

Well that kinda defeats the purpose lol
Thanks for the info.


Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk

Surely there's a creek that drains into wherever your fishing? We'll set a trap first thing, go fish a while then go back to the trap. Once you learn where to catch the bait, it usually doesn't take very long to have a handful of crawdads.

 

[landman]

I've seen where you can buy them online and have live ones shipped to your door

 

[CATCHDAWG]

I've seen where you can buy them online and have live ones shipped to your door

They have to be native to the watershed he's fishing. A watershed is a big place, the trap location can be ten miles away as long as the water eventually ends up where your fishing.

 

[Mike Belt]

Almost any ditch or drainage will hold crawfish. It can be running through a pasture, along side of a field, or even something along side of the road that holds old rain water. Get you a small seine and it doesn't take but a few minutes to drag it through one. Much faster than a trap and you'll catch all you need and then some.

 

[WTM]

Just remember it is illegal to move live crawfish from one watershed to another.

can you reference a proclamation on the above statement because according to the fishing guide it
states fish, salamanders, or crawfish can not be released LIVE into waters in which they werent harvested. this applies to all bait but if you imlale on a hook its pretty much dead.

there are only 3 streams listed for the above you referenced, french, holston and clinch.

 

[Biggun4214]

Just remember it is illegal to move live crawfish from one watershed to another.

can you reference a proclamation on the above statement because according to the fishing guide it
states fish, salamanders, or crawfish can not be released LIVE into waters in which they werent harvested. this applies to all bait but if you imlale on a hook its pretty much dead.

there are only 3 streams listed for the above you referenced, french, holston and clinch.

I looked at the proclamation and you are correct. I work both the Holston and French Broad Rivers. In Proclamation 16-44 it also lists several waters and their tributaries where crawfish can't be possessed not even adjacent stream banks.

 

[RUGER]

Ok so now I am confused. LOL

So would using them for bait at KY lake be illegal if they were trapped elsewhere?

 

[WTM]

Ok so now I am confused. LOL

So would using them for bait at KY lake be illegal if they were trapped elsewhere?

as long as you dont empty your bait bucket and release them live, as long as they are not imported or exported from another state, as long as they are not endangered by proclamation and as long as they are not harvested from one of the streams listed in the fishing guide under section 6 bait.

 

[hillbillyfab]

So as long as I do this I'm ok?

 

[scn]

From the Bait Proclamation 19-06:

SECTION VII. AMPHIBIANS AND CRAYFISH
Only Northern Dusky and Spotted Dusky salamanders (Desmognathus fuscus and Desmognathus
conantt) and native crayfish species that are not identified by the TFWC as endangered, threatened, or in
need of management may be harvested by licensed sport anglers for use as bait. Amphibians and
crayfish species shall not be sold or purchased for bait. Amphibians and crayfish shall not be imported
into Tennessee or exported from Tennessee by anyone for bait. Crayfish and salamanders may be
harvested with legal gear listed in Section VI. The harvest, use, and possession of crayfish is prohibited in
the following streams, in all their tributaries, and on all adjacent banks:
1. Mill Creek in Davidson and Williamson counties;
2. East Fork Stones River in Cannon County;
3. Hurricane Creek in Cumberland, Fentress, Overton, and Putnam counties;
4. Roaring Paunch Creek in Scott County;
5. South Chickamauga Creek in Hamilton County;
6. Caney Fork River in Cumberland County and Van Buren counties;
7. Robinson Creek, Beason Creek (upstream of confluence of North Fork and South Fork), and Owl
Creek (upstream of Highway 142) in Hardin and McNairy counties;
8. Flint River in Lincoln County ;
9. Long Fork, White Oak Creek, and Salt Lick Creek in Macon County. Garrett Creek, Little Trammel
Creek, and Middle Fork Drakes Creek in Sumner County;
10. Shoal Creek system in Lawrence and Wayne counties ;
11. Puncheon Branch in Giles County;
12. Cypress Creek system in Wayne County;
13. Gassaway Creek, Little Gassaway Creek, Laurel Creek, and Rogers Branch in Polk County;
14. Hiwassee River and tributaries upstream of Apalachia powerhouse in Polk County;
15. Conasauga River system in Bradley and Polk counties;
16. Big Brush Creek system in Sequatchie County;
17. Bullpen Branch in Cannon County;
18. Mountain Creek in Warren County;
19. Mill Creek, Fortyeight Creek upstream of Hwy. 64, Johnson Mill Branch, Chalk Creek, and
Second Creek in Wayne County;
20. Pompeys Branch, McKelvey Branch, and Holly Branch in Hardin County;
21 . Blood River system in Henry County; and
22. North Fork Obion River in Henry County.
Crayfish harvested for bait from the following streams shall not be possessed away from the waterbody
from which they were harvested:
1. French Broad River and its tributaries outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
2. Holston River and its tributaries;
3. Clinch River and its tributaries;
4. Clear Fork and its tributaries in Claiborne and Campbell counties; and
5. Big South Fork of the Cumberland River in Scott County

 

[scn]

Pretty much the same language in the Sport Fishing Proclamation 19-05:

SECTION VIII. CRAYFISH
A. Licensed sport anglers can harvest for use as food any crayfish species not identified by the
TFWC as endangered, threatened, or in need of management.
Proc. No. 19-05
Page 11 of 18
B. The harvest, use, and possession of crayfish is prohibited in the following streams, in all their
tributaries, and on all adjacent banks:
1. Mill Creek in Davidson and Williamson counties;
2. East Fork Stones River in Cannon County;
3. Hurricane Creek in Cumberland, Fentress, Overton, and Putnam counties;
4. Roaring Paunch Creek in Scott County;
5. South Chickamauga Creek in Hamilton County;
6. Caney Fork River in Cumberland and Van Buren counties;
7. Robinson Creek, Beason Creek (upstream of confluence of North Fork and South Fork),
and Owl Creek (upstream of Highway 142) in Hardin and McNairy counties;
8. Flint River in Lincoln County;
9. Long Fork, White Oak Creek, and Salt Lick Creek in Macon County. Garrett Creek, Little
Trammel Creek, and Middle Fork Drakes Creek in Sumner County;
10. Shoal Creek in Lawrence and Wayne counties;
11. Puncheon Branch in Giles County;
12. Cypress Creek in Wayne County;
13. Gassaway Creek, Little Gassaway Creek, Laurel Creek, and Rogers Branch in Polk
County;
14. Hiwassee River and tributaries upstream of Apalachia powerhouse in Polk County;
15. Conasauga River in Bradley and Polk counties;
16. Big Brush Creek in Sequatchie County;
17. Bullpen Branch in Cannon County;
18. Mountain Creek in Warren County;
19. Mill Creek, Fortyeight Creek upstream of Hwy. 64, Johnson Mill Branch, Chalk Creek, and
Second Creek in Wayne County;
20. Pompeys Branch, McKelvey Branch, and Holly Branch in Hardin County;
21. Blood River in Henry County; and
22. North Fork Obion River in Henry County.
C. Crayfish harvested from the following streams and their tributaries shall not be possessed alive
away from the waterbody from which they were harvested:
1. French Broad River and its tributaries outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
2. Holston River and its tributaries;
3. Clinch River and its tributaries;
4. Clear Fork and its tributaries in Claiborne and Campbell counties; and
5. Big South Fork of the Cumberland River in Scott County.
D. Licensed sport anglers can harvest crayfish as food by legal gear defined in the bait
proclamation. Live crayfish shall not be released alive.