"if you create the habitat, crayfish from your nearby creek will likely stock themselves."

I found this little beauty crawling around my silt trap after one of those heavy rains we had recently.



It's a Northern Crayfish and like you said I never stocked any. The gully I dammed for the pond doesn't even have any permanent water so it's even more puzzling how he got here. There is another pond about 300 yards away on the neighbor's. Maybe he came from there.

I did net out a couple of 1" baby crayfish a couple of years ago too. Go figure.

East Central Missouri
1 1/4 acre pond, build fall 2011
1/8 acre baitfish pond build fall 2022
[Linked Image from lh6.ggpht.com]