This past Wednesday's Bob Lusk facebook program Bob brought up that he knew a guy that was stocking small Freshwater prawns directly into his pond. I had not herd of such things. I had herd people would raise these small prawns in grow out ponds and then after they grew to adults and then add to the pond. Bob talked a little about it. Said he would come back to it but do to time constraints did not get back to the subject. They would catch a lmb that would have grown prawns in the throats when they would catch an lmb. My interest in this makes me want to ask more about what the guy is doing and cost of adding them monthly (as I understood it). Maybe adding 1,000 per acre per month, I think that is what Bob said. Other than transportation cost , they can't be expensive based on the small size of the prawns when bought. Any one know of this guy? Or what he is doing? Bob, if you around, maybe you can jump in. Might make a good short story for the PB Magazine.

I wouldn't mind trying that. Especially, thanks to the birds, I'm again starting with an almost blank slate. But, I wouldn't know where to get them or if they need specialized environments.

Is there an advantage to prawns versus crayfish? Are they THAT much bigger than say a big Northern Crayfish like these?

Northern Crayfish are handsome crays to behold ... and those two look like they would wash down nicely with some of that Colorado Koolaid.

WBJ, I also like the mud bugs and have a few in the pond because I see holes around the ponds edge and I usually add a few most years. it cost me around a hundred bucks per bag of MB's when I add large ones to the pond. I was thinking the FWP's when purchased as really small ones might be a hundred bucks might buy a thousand or two. And right now I have a lot of bushy pondweed and APW along with FA for the prawns to hide in and grow.

Dave, I think the supplier is in Weatherford, or Graham, Mineral Wells or in that area of the state. I would have to look it up once again to see where he is located.

i was wondering the cost the guy is spending each month he stocks them along with how many and does he have them delivered to the house via fed ex or how does he get them each month? Does he see a difference in the lmb/bg now that he adds them versus when he did not have them? i would like to know all the inside info about adding them directly into the pond.

Last year I would drive to Louisiana and buy Crawfish several times. I finally ended up working a deal out with the fisherman direct vs the middle man. He would not size them (pull out the small ones) which makes it easier and faster for him. On average you get 30-50 crawfish per pound depending on the size you get. They are sold by the sack. Each sack is approximately 40lbs. I stocked about 15,000 last year in my pond and it was not uncommon to catch a decent bass and have a big crawfish still visible poking out of its stomach after it’s eaten it. They LOVE them. I did check to see what types of crawfish are native to my state (MO) before I did this. The Red Swamp Crawfish is what you get in LA and they are native to MO so I was good there. In transportation them, I got pretty good at it. I got the large plastic totes from Walmart. You can fit 2 sacks in one tote. Put the sacks in the tote then put one bag of ice on top of them still in the plastic bag. The. Sprinkle half a bag of ice around the sides. You will need to stop about every 5 hours to drain the melt water from the totes. Most important part: about 30 min before you are going to release them is time to revive them. I stop at a truck stop that’s a half hour away from my pond to do this on my way home. What to do. Cut the bags open and let the crawfish loose into the totes. They are very slow and won’t move much. Now rinse them with water. I fill the tote with the water spicket by the pumps. Then drain them completely. What I’m really doing is warming them up and reviving them. I load them back up now rinsed and released into the totes for about 30 min. When I get to my pond I can now just dump them in and they take off in the water and I have a 99% survival rate. This was perfected over several trips and learning experiences. My first batch I only had about 50% survival. I since then came up with the ice levels I recommended, and the revival process.

On your phone go to your App Store and search for the Crawfish App. It’s meant for folks wanting to eat them but lol my bass want to eat them too. You can search your area for live crawfish. Most likely you’ll need to search for areas around the south though (Louisiana, Mississippi, even Arkansas. Best prices by a lot are around New Orleans and Barton Rouge. In the post above I discussed how to transport the and how many they are sold and average quantities. If you have any questions I’d be happy to help. I’m