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

Morning! Here in South MS it's relatively easy to get a bag of live crawfish in the spring for cheap.

Has anyone used these in their pond as supplement forage? Is this a good idea? Any downsides?

My bass are too small right now(5 months old), but just brainstorming for the future.

I'll let the experts weigh in because I am curious as well. After last year's "Crawpocolipse" crawfish prices have gone down, but right now a 30 lb sack of crawfish is still $90-$100, which is fine for 3-4 friends to boil Saturday evening. But I am not sure the protein/weight ratio is worth the money. But I would say, if someone gave me a sack, I would throw them in there. But I can buy some high protein feed and think that may yield better results to the forage base and ultimately to the bass. Just my $.02. Also crawfish like to burrow and can lead to problems if you have a clay liner, or at least that's what I have heard.

I would think it’s for the long term, that some survivors will reproduce and add to the forage diversity in the pond. I may be wrong….

Yes, this would be the goal. I've got some good places with high densities of rock piles/brick that would make good habitat and hiding places. If I can diversify the food chain, more baby bluegill will make it to 3-4 inches!

How large the 5 month old LMB?

Next PB issue will cover this in detail ! Do you have much rock and or plants in the pond? Craws can be a big plus but it depends on the situation. There is a lot more (science) to this than most think.

I was going to ask some questions about your crawfish habitat - glad to hear that you do have some habitat.

In my experience, for non-burrowing crawfish, they like "platy" rocks for the good crevices the best.

However, I think the most important thing for you to determine before stocking is the actual species of crawfish. The traits you want (not deep burrowing & good reproduction) are not necessarily the traits that the guys that sell edible crawfish are selecting for.

If you do find out the actual species available, then there are several experts on the forum that can evaluate their potential effects (both positive and negative) on your pond.

I looked at stocking crawfish but was afraid of introducing an invasive. Instead,,, I added a bunch of rock to the shoreline and hoped the native population would increase. Last summer every bass I cleaned had a crawdad in it. So I suppose it worked.

I have no idea; I plan on getting out to the property the week of the 17th and doing some sampling.

I see what you did! The anticipation factor just went up a notch!

My personal experience, after 3 tries, is that they become quick groceries rather than a long term prey.

We have good luck adding them when the pond is new and the proper habitat is in place.

Piles of rock of mixed sizes (not spread-out rock) as well as sufficient plants will help. Its about protecting the craws through a couple of breeding cycles. For that they need cover. This is supplemental forage - not your forage base. The best part is craws are available at times when other forage is in a time gap (i.e. before the current BG hatch has grown enough to feed year old bass).

Mine are about 10-12". Just a estimate hard to tell looking down on then. Finally seen 2 today. Stocked them last oct 2nd. 2-3" fingerlings.

Any idea what the species of crawfish in the local creeks near you Hot? Might be worth a look to see if you have a population that you can utilize without having to purchase.

My experience last year was that the local craws were very happy to much on fish food out of a fish trap. Just wrap the fish food in some pantyhose.

I will admit that I felt a little odd going into wally world to be me a set of knee highs, but fish first IMO.