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

Was wondering if there is a particular type of Crawfish that would work well in my NW Ohio pond. If so where is the best place to source them?

Pond is 2.5 acres with plenty of deep and shallow areas. Gets lots of weeds in the summer months. Stocked fish include HSB, LMB, BG, YP

I suppose my goal would just be to have a bonus form of life in the pond and if any of the other fish would benefit from them, all the better. I would also consider eating the crawfish if they proved to be sustainable and able to be caught / trapped for harvest.

Papershell crayfish seem to be the consensus choice. https://smithcreekfishfarm.com/products/paper-shell-crayfish-100-count

Note the papershell will not IMO get to a convenient size for harvest and table use. If you want harvestable eating size crayfish look for and stock northern virle crayfish. Contact TJ for good experience with these crays. Search the this forum for his posts about using them.

Since you currently have mature LMB and YP, I don't think you will get good survival and long term establishment of papershell without having at least 100ft to 200ft in 2.5 ac of coarse rubble or broken concrete lining the shoreline. One has to have lots of good shallow water habitat to maintain annual broodstock of papershells. Papershells will not utilize deep water regular bottom areas because not enough periphyton occurs there as food sources.

When I talked to Smith Creek Farms last year they were not shipping out of state.

Good info esshop. I really need to trap some and move them to my shallow duck ponds to work on the curly leaf pondweed. They all but eliminated it in the SMB/YP pond (at least that seems to be the reason, but its impossible for me to know for sure).

Very good info! I will do some research on TJs posts

RAH, a 10 PPB dose of Fluridone will kill the Curly Leaf Pond weed and not harm any native plants. They need 40-45 PPB dose to be affected. If you can get it in the pond early enough before the CLPW sets it's turions you will knock out next years crop too.

esshup - My only herbicide use near the ponds is "wiping" for willow trees since they initially sprout by the hundreds and then whittle down to just a couple volunteers/year over time. I use herbicides in other areas like Tordon cut-stump treatments on invasive shrub honeysuckle, but have mostly been successful with biological control in the ponds. The "weeds" in the twin duck ponds don't really bother me, but I am curious how papershell crayfish might affect it. At least this might test my hypothesis that they controlled the curly leaf pondweed in the SMB/YP pond. Not at all against using chemical controls according to the label, but rather find trying biological controls to be fun in my native habitat areas. We need some pests for the Asian honeysuckle! Has been great seeing how mites/viral-disease has decimated multiflora rose in my area,

Asian Honeysuckle, Autumn Olive, Green Briar, and Blackberries are a constant problem up here, growing everywhere. Multiflora Rose is also a problem but a smaller one than those I listed.

I have a couple of customer ponds that have a high enough population of crayfish, and steep enough banks that getting underwater plants established are a problem. Not enough of the pond bottom is exposed to sunlight, and any plants that are planted don't last but a few months, if that.

Olive is also a problem here, and I am currently cutting green brier, but they say it helps turkeys. I have no issue with blackberry except it has thorns, so it gets trimmed back along trails.