Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Crayfish

Mr.Hello I have seen some comments that some crayfish can decimate aquatic vegetation. Is that true in your case? In the one picture I see some aquatic vegetation in the basket but was wondering about the over-all pond vegetation with that many crayfish?

The pond is void of vegetation. Is it due to the crayfish? I can not confirm as it is a very turbid pond. Probably due in part to the crayfish. But also due to wind action, and cattle.

The pond did have water primrose for years, but I think the -31 temps we had a few years ago really took its toll.

We have another pond that is pretty much void of vegetations as well.

Both of these do not seem to be that deep but do have a few fish in it.

We have one that is full of mussels to.

Now our smaller pond is a little better and was stocked in 2009, it now is starting to turn muddy, but I think it is due to all the CC I put in it not knowing what I do now as I found pond boss after the fact.

So we will have to see how this pans out.

I am sure it is a native species here in Oklahoma but as to which one I am not sure as there many. I do like to eat crayfish though and would be nice if there could safely be consumed.

I do not think the red crayfish we do eat are legal to stock in Oklahoma but if they were I would not mind putting them in this pond and feed them out to eat.

Any crayfish are edible. Purge them in fresh water if they come from muddy water. There is an article in this months Fur-Fish-Game magazine about just that (eating crayfish).

I may just have to try to find a copy of Fur-Fish-Gam to pick up.

Thanks

Zep, over the years I have tried stocking crawdads several times. I bought them "live" from the grocery stores. However, within days they were on the bank and had committed suicide by coons.

So, I got on the web and found a Louisiana crawdad farmer. He told me that the bugs were alive when bought but weren't healthy due to handling and icing. In other words, they wiggled and crawled but were mostly dead. He recommended that I buy from him or another bug farmer and have them shipped overnight. He also asked whether the pond where I stocked them was aerated. Nope. I thought they could adapt to just about anything. Evidently not.

Thanks Dave. A few weeks a go I ordered a bunch from a local dealer, then found out they were the red swamp crayfish that many suggest not to stock. So I cancelled my order. When I had my pond surveyed back in April a couple light colored crayfish came up so I guess there are at least a few in my pond already, although I have yet to see any since the survey.

Why are the swamp crayfish not suggested to be stocked?

Also does anyone know if they are legal in Oklahoma?

Thanks

"An easy source of crayfish is the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) sold for human food. Production is a major industry in rice fields. Although Orconectes prefers to feed on vegetation, the red swamp crayfish can be carnivorous and eat insect larvae, tadpoles, snails and small fish. Such food habits would not be an asset in most fish ponds. Red swamp crayfish have been introduced into many areas. An undesirable attribute of the genus and a relative, Cambarus, is the habit of burrowing. Burrowing activity can damage water control structures, dams and levees. P. clarkii is an intermediate host for parasitic helminthes of vertebrates. Because of adverse affects, efforts for eradication have been attempted in some areas"
Crayfish - asset or liability?

Aggressive red swamp crayfish invades Wisconsin


"The burrowing activity has damaged levees, dams"
Red swamp crawfish (Aquatic Invasive Species)

Not Wanted

"The damage and destruction these crawfish cause is the reason it is illegal to possess both live crayfish and angling equipment simultaneously on any inland Wisconsin water"
Rusty Crayfish - Invasive Species


teehjaeh57
"I believe the Red Swamp is known for it's invasive burrowing habits which are not ideal for ponds runing the risk of creating leaky fissures in the dam, and the Rustys are not preferred forage due to their aggressive nature and have been known to denude a pond entirely of vegetation. Be aware of the consequences - Rustys are illegal to stock in many states, too. They will outcompete and potentially extirpate native species. These get over your spillway, down the creeks, and across the state in which you live".
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=294300&page=2

I guess I ought to check on just what kind of bugs Krogers carries. I may have dodged a bullet.

I used to have a lot of them in my creek. Then a couple of dry years ended that. They have never gotten reestablished.

Dave....lets keep discussing/investigating.

I really want crayfish in my pond, but I dont want to do anything to harm my pond. Eventually I think we may be able to find a happy medium. It would seem with a very healthy black bass population the crayfish would not be able to become "invasive" because the bass would keep them in check. I think crawfish are one of the favorite foods of black bass. At this time I don't have enough bass in my pond so I am reluctant to add any crayfish. But I am working to get the black bass where they need to be. Maybe then I can add the best type of crayfish because I believe I have read some types are much better to stock than others.

These links you may find interesting:

Crawfish Stockings

Crayfish Stocking

Zep if you have a small pond (.3 acres or less) around your property, take a seine net and drag it through it. You should catch some that. The bass will take care of any abundance. You want to give them a head start as the bass would eliminate almost all once they are dominant predator in the pond.

As previously stated I have no experience in successfully stocking them. It seems to me that the pond would need a lot of cover for them to hide in and get established. A lot of rock piles and heavy vegetation areas might work. Rip rap along a dam should be beneficial.

Without cover the existing fish would probably decimate them pretty quickly. I would love to have them. However, I'm not sure they would be any better than a heavy dose of tilapia. Some Southern pond owners stock trout in the winter which reportedly give bass a huge boost.

I tried stocking them in a small forage pond. I figured that they would establish without predators and I could seine when they grew. Although I envisioned a continuing protein source it just didn't work out due to me buying the wrong bugs.

Like a lot of my "experiments" I went the wrong way. I'm sure the coons appreciated my efforts.

I guess this would depend on how clear or turbid your water is, as the pond that we caught the crawfish from is extremely turbid and it does have some nice LMB in it, but since the feed more by site maybe they have issues finding many of them.

That or there are just way too many in the pond. If I thought RES would live in the pond ok I would stock them as I am sure they would love the babies and could possibly grow to nice size, but the pond really needs to be dug out and started over, but the funds just do not allow at this time.

I wish we knew someone that had the equipment that could at least dig out 5-8 feet down and let it fill back up. May not be the best way to do it but at least most of the muck would be gone and we could decide then what to add to this pond.

It is just a shame to know how these were was nice ponds full of fish, and even though not recommended were full of nice Crappie.

I hope one day we will have the time, ability, and funds to fix the 2 old ponds on the land, and will be sure to document it on here.