Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait crayfish stocking, yes or no?

I am sure there are threads out there already so need to beat the horse so point me in the right direction...

My smallmouth are doing really well, stocked 3-4" in 2013 and they are 12-14" by fall 2014. pounding the fatheads and shiners good. Looking to diversify forage a little so was wondering if I should add crayfish from a nearby stream. I have a forage pond where I would start them to get numbers up before adding to fish pond.

I remember David Davidson article about crayfish several years ago but if I remember correctly that was more southern water. What are the pros and cons about adding crayfish?

thanks, waiting for spring

Hey Kurt,

You and I are neighbors. I am over by Belvidere. My plan is to stock papershells, if I can find them, this spring. From what I've read here, they seemed to be a good choice. I will be interested to see what the other guys answer.

Edit: Do you know of a good guy for digging/expanding ponds in our area?

Bill D.

I advise collecting some of the local crayfish and either freezing or dropping in alcohol and take very detailed photos from top and underside and posting to the forum. Bill should be able to ID them, and you can make a determination on whether they belong or not. Some species are notorious for burrowing and can potentially threaten integrity of shoreline, dykes, dams, etc. If we determine your species are not aggressive burrowing types you could stock with confidence armed with the ability to verify ID for that species. I recommend crayfish stocking in SMB fisheries to add another forage source. My SMB benefit significantly from crayfish presence, as do my YP.

Please post when u find a papershell supplier, Please. I have native crawfish and they build chimney's around my bottom land and I figure they will make it to my pond but unless they come in great numbers, they wont survive very long. Overtons suggested I get a couple of tow sacks of the craws to be added this spring, and I don't want any building holes in my dam. And from my research it looks like papershells may come from California. But did not find a supplier when I was doing the initial research.

The only one that I know of that reliably has them is Smith Creek in New York. They ship. http://www.smithcreekfishfarm.com/live-pond-fish.cfm

Crayfish go away for winter, correct? Is there a way to get catch them before spring? If not, I'll catch and post come spring time.

I didn't know perch liked crayfish so I will assume if these are good crayfish, I should stock in perch pond too.

Finally, what about walleye, do they eat crayfish? just wondering. I stocked walleye 2013 3-5" and fall 2014 some were over 15".

thanks

Here is an old thread on crayfish.

Types of crayfish

Thanks for the post esshup.

In my case, I have a water table pond. Other than maybe getting "smoke stacks" along the shore, does it matter if I just run over to the nearby stream and catch whatever species is there for stocking the pond?

Some crayfish species possess additional characteristics which could be negative aside from just burrowing - they can denude a pond of vegetation and create turbid water once the vegetation is gone. I've experienced this process first hand. Best to ID crayfish positively if you aren't familiar with the process, researching their characteristics, then determine whether to stock or not. Also, aside from errors made during identification and introducing an invasive species, collecting wild fish/invertebrates to stock in a pond can introduce disease or invasive vegetation. These are important details to consider before deciding to stock anything from the wild into your pond environment. I advise being deliberate and thoughtful when doing so and utilize the forum as a resource to help.

Thanks TJ. I kind of thought there had to more to it so I thought I would "poke the Tiger" to get a response.

Unfortunately, I may not be up to me. Due to my pond's near proximity to Beaver Creek, a biologist at Keystone told me it is very possible whatever specie(s) of crawfish that are in the creek will migrate into the pond. The frogs from the creek moved in last summer.

I want crayfish in my pond,,, and when I was young they were easy to get in the stream and rivers in the local area in which I still live. Last year in early spring I set my trap and never got one. Some on pond boss said it might have been too early in the season. So again I tried in summer and then in the fall and never got one. I baited the trap with multiple bait in the trap such as chicken livers, fish pellets & cat food. Very strange. I used a modified minnow trap with the openings enlarged. I did get minnows. So this year I am going to set some traps in a couple of lakes in the area and see what happens.

We added crayfish to our perch pond two years ago. I was shocked to see how fast they multiply. They must have had some egg with them at the time of stocking. If we catch by hand the small 1.5" crayfish and drop them on a hook the perch will take the bait like a dog trying to run away with a bone. They just smash the line like nothing ells.

We caught these local from our local creek in the summer as the creek beds start to dry out. Just rolling over rocks let the current pull the cloud away and look for the crayfish trying to find another rock to crawl under.

This bleach container has the end cut out and 3/8th inch holes drilled in the back. PLace this behind the crayfish on the creek bottom and wave your hand at him. He will swim right in. Lift up the scooper let water drain and plunk him into a bucked or rubber maid tote.

With three boys and my self we had a hundred or more in no time.

Cheers Don.

Dono, thanks for pics of crawfish scoop-great idea. Eh.
Our 1/4 ac pond has many, many crawfish which certainly provide lots of forage for the LMB, YP, SMB that live in it. In the 5 years that we've owned the place, I only have records of 3 LMB that didn't have a craw in their stomach when opened up. That's out of slightly over 100 that we've examined and consumed. Only 1 bass stomach had a fish in it, unrecognizable due to its state of digestion.
I can say that I believe crawfish provide the bulk of the calories for the bass. Our craws don't chimney. They dig very short burrows in the bottom mud, especially under rocks and logs on the bottom. They also hang in the Elodea.
That said, I introduced some BG last summer as the LMB certainly need more to eat than just craws and the few YP they can catch. LMB up to 8 inches are fat and rounded; any over 10 inches are thin, underweight, and also uncommon, BTW.
Other fish in the pond include RBT, BRNT, a few BCP (no evidence of ever spawning), 2 GSF, 5 GC, and what I'll call a RNTC-round tailed chub, a fish native to Colorado River drainage. Everyone except the GC probably feast on craws.
Without crawfish, my pond would prolly be less productive.
I'll be adding PK shrimp this year, too. My expectation is that the shrimp will be more important than the craws over time.