How do you catch crawdads? Do you eat them?

[AGarbers]

So whats the best trap to leave behind in the water to catch them and come back daily to empty it? I'm going to Pelee Island Canada (in the middle of lake Erie) in July for my annual family vacation. A couple years ago my FIL and I were invited out on a boat by my neighbor and we were using his crawdads to get monsters. He mentioned that he drops his trap in a nearby ditch/canal. Most of the island was swampland when first populated, and a series of canals and ditches drain the island with the help of pumphouses.

We cant get that cottage anymore so I want to take a trap this year to get the bigger fish that tend to ignore my nightcrawlers and lures. Suggestions?

Walmart and Bass Pro sell Frabill traps. If you look on Youtube you will find countless videos on how to make your own with wire mesh. However, after getting bloody fingers making my own and paying $10 a piece at BPS, from now on I will pony up the cash at BPS.

 

[Miketodd]

I love me some crawdads. However, I haven't had any from Indiana. Growing up in North Florida, my buddies and I used to catch them by the ton (not really). Now you got me thinkin I need to find some small creeks and streams here in Newton County. I love them steamed with some old bay or cajun seasoning or boiled with shrimp, potatoes and corn in a good ole fashion low country boil!

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

Do you remeber what types of areas you found them in? Rocky, sandy, muddy, log jam?

Mostly Rocky. The Ichituknee and Suwanee Rivers are where I did a lot of snorkel snatches. The craw dads would usually be around the edges of the rocks. I stayed near the surface of the water and looked for them in 3-6 feet of water. When you see them, just take a breath and dive down to snatch them up quickly.

Sometimes you can find them in the bare sandy spots, but most of the bigger ones stay in the rocks.

 

[throttletony]

raw chicken in homemade trap or a minnow net works great for me

This or bacon.
A simple DIY or store-bought net works well https://www.google.com/search?q=cra...-YGoBA&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAw&biw=1680&bih=874&dpr=1

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

When I was young, we used to use a seine net to catch them in White River in Delaware Co. We'd find a fast-moving riffle, a foot deep or so, and two of us would hold the net apart, leaning it back at a good angle, making sure to keep the bottom edge on the river bottom. Then the other kid would take a stick and walk in front of the net scratching around on the bottom. After a few minutes, we'd raise the net and pick off the crawdads and put them in a bucket with wet newspaper.

I'm sure a baited trap would be the easiest way to do it, but the seine net caught lots of them in a fairly short time.

 

[paperboy]

Nothin' better than a good 'oil crawfish boil.......toss in some red potatoes, chunks of corn, sliced oranges, seasoning and you've got one awesome meal!!!!!!

 

[sbz]

Used to eat them all the time been a lot of years, hmm may have to catch some, and make the fiance try them.

 

[peberly400]

If anyone around the warsaw area is willing to teach a noobie, I am wanting to learn how and where to lay crawdad traps. Also wanting to get into frog giging if anyone has any experience in that.

 

[timber1033]

When I was younger I did the same thing using my hands, they were fast.

 

[redfox033]

I build 4 traps this winter for $15. My son and I are going try catching some for a Sunday dinner!!!

 

[churchmouse]

Used to be real easy to catch in the creeks around here. I never ate-em though. We would give them to some of the folks that lived along the creek bed that let us cut through their yards to short cut down the creek. They loved-em.
Hang a piece of bacon or just about any bait on a hook. Drop it in where they hang out. It only took a short minute and you would have one hanging on the bait with its claws. Raise it out and net the little bugger off the bait. Repeat. To much fun.
Way to much work trapping them.

 

[Greenedog]

A buddy of mine orders live crawdads from LA Crawfish once in a while in the spring and I love them. They're a little pricey though; he paid over $200 for 55 pounds this past spring. I finally went out yesterday and caught some Hoosierdaddys and they're not bad at all! Just wish we could have caught more of the bigger ones.
[video=youtube;Dki4NyNpiFY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dki4NyNpiFY[/video]