Brian, my experience with crawdads: On 2 occasions, I have gone to the grocery store and bought about $100 worth of live, eating sized, crawdads and stocked them in a forage pond. I figured it was a no brainer. Prior to an extended drought, they occurred naturally in my creek. Nope! They all went up on the shore and committed suicide by coon.

So, after the last failure, I started reading what I could find out and it didn't answer my questions. So, I started communicating with some Louisiana crawfish raisers. They asked about environment, water quality, aeration, feeding, etc. All of the questions that I'm used to asking and answering about fish.

They told me that, although alive and edible, the grocery store ones are about 90% dying and need to be eaten quickly. They just ain't gonna live and aren't meant as stockers.

I may try it again but will order some fresh ones from the farm. They do quick delivery and I can start with fresh ones. Or, catch some locally and put them in clean, fertile water. I don't anticipate aerating or going to a lot of trouble. Do your homework before proceeding. I didn't and paid for it.

BTW, I also bought a bunch of bullfrog tadpoles and found that I also didn't know what I need to about those guys.

It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP Grandpa