Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations question on housing for crayfish?

We have a creek that runs through our property that my sons love getting crayfish from. We usually bring them up to the pond and toss them in. The pond is stocked with blue gill and LMB. Ive never seen a crayfish in the pond! A friend was at my place and saw I had a bunch of cinder blocks laying around. He asked why I didnt break them up and put them in a shallow part of the pond to try and make a home for the crayfish(rather then tossing them in and having them disappear quickly). Would this work? would the crayfish live longer, possibly set up camp, re-produce??

I am under the impression that cinder block/brick/rip rap type structure with crevices are excellent for keeping crayfish established. I have thrown many into a couple mounds at my pond

Like was said, they will work. Make piles of them, so the crayfish can get between the pieces. A pile will last longer than placing them on the pond bottom, which will sink into the bottom over time.

You want to make the piles in water that will stay oxygenated during the summer, not below the thermocline. If it was my pond, and had access to enough to make a few piles, I would also make some piles in deeper water to provide habitat in the winter if the crays want to migrate to deeper water.

The structure for cover is a must, yet the species of craw in your stream may not like calm water, or worse, like to burrow (potentially breaching a dam). If you don't see smoke stack mud mounds on your creek, they probably don't burrow. If the burrow, I'd keep my pond an unwelcoming to the craws as possible. Also, if the creek is nearby, adding the habitat alone will often bring in the crawfish.