Now is the time to get the native Missouri crawdads installed in the pond. Here, in month or two they will hatch their eggs and boost the population. Should you trap from a nearby creek, look for females carrying eggs under their tails...these are the ones that give you the bang for the buck. Please use the links Augie supplied to ID any specimens you transplant. Your pond will need plenty of rip-rap rock (golf ball to football size) along the bank for their habitat in order to sustain a population long term. I have rocked about 25% of my banks with hopes that it will be enough. Rock from above the shoreline down at least into 18 inches of water at a minimum. I could not found a hatchery source for crawdads, but luckily my creek supplied all that I needed. I did not get lucky enough to trap any egg carrying females before the hatch and just trapped for two summers and built the population up that way. I am sure that I put in way more than necessary, but running the creek took me back to being a kid and I had fun doing it.
