Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Crawfish

Crayfish--- try'ed stocking several hundred pounds , kept them wet transporting , put them on the shore about a foot from the water but most went away from the pond so i kept putting them back , the one's that stayed in the pond were non active. the next day it looked all around the pond like someone had a big crawdad feast [ Racoons ] . don't think a single one survived. anyone with suggestions or a similar experience. Harvey

Harvey, put the crawfish in the water at various locations and in or very near vegetation. Egrets, herons and coons will get some of them when they move close to the bank but some will probably escape predation.

find away to put them in the middle of your pond this time around. There isn't going to be any raccoons or herons in the middle of your tanks.

Place them near trees, logs, rocks and other types of structure. You can take black abs pipe 1-2 inches, which will readily sink, cut in 6-12 inch lengths. They often seek shelter when placed into the pond and will use these pieces of pipe for security. Aclimate the crawfish to the temp of the pond water and this will help keep them from wanting to climb out. They do not like sudden temp. changes. They love hay. You can place bails in water shallow enough that it won't float away or tie cement blocks to the bail. They will get underneath the hay for protection and this will provide them with plenty of food.

I did the same thing last spring. I spread them around in different locations. The ones that I put in cover did well. I had put some in a location that didn't have much cover and the coons had a feast. The ones in rocks, eel grass, and cattails all seemed to do well.

The temp. of the water is probably the key . and the hay bails sounds like a good solution since little cover due to grass carp . I do have some rocks in the shallow water but the dad's did not use it . TEXAS715 is the eel grass an invasive plant ? what depth of water will it stop growing , im looking for a plant that grows only in water appx. two ft. deep . my shoreline is fairly shallow . Thanks all . Harvey

Some of your crayfish survived. Several hundred pounds is a lot of crayfish to eat. Crayfish are born survivors, 404 species of crayfish in the US live everywhere from canadian shield lakes to ditches to dry stream beds, to caves. Try taking a flashlight to look for them at night in the shallows, I bet you find a few.

Harvey
I read this post when it first came on and tried to figure out what would wipe out 700lb's of crayfish forget the mask man unless it was a bus load we raise and stock alot of crayfish and they are hard to keep in ponds up here . When we stock them they are placed in heavy vegetation if there is none then its up to you to place alpha or hay forage on top of them after you stock also stock in the shade not in direct sunlight. If you do not have the water hardness they will not molt. Always try to stock native to your area for best results. We have tried the southern strain and they last about a week up here we like the salt whites they grow fast and winter over.
Texas crayfish are there any native ones down there in streams and brooks.

I've been stocking crawfish for several years. I live in Central Texas. I have sources but I am always looking for better sources and cheaper prices. If anyone comes across a good source and price please let me know.

Scott - These crayfish were raised locally I picked them up myself. from what i've read here i made a lot of mistakes . not providing cover , put them in in full sun , probably to deep of water , no hay for cover . will try again with with all this info . yes we do have native dad's in creeks but would be to time consuming to try to catch them . Thanks to all for all the info Harvey

Forgot one question --- do you leave the hay bails intact or do you break them up . Harvey

Peel off 4" flakes and place in pond some of the flakes can have a rock on topto hold them in bottom the cray fih will burrow under . Do yourself a favor and stock a small portion at a time to see if they take I would give you advise but am not familiar with the waters down there up here if we do not stock native crayfish they do not take . I have seen more money wasted on southern strain of crayfish, they just do not take to the cold and humus water.