Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Crawfish ? - For Taste and Survivalbility

So I was looking at different crawfish that one might stock in a pond for eating and forage. The three that I came up with are:

Papershell Crayfish
Red Swamp Crayfish
Northern Crayfish

Which ones taste the best? Can you place more than one species in the pond or doe they kill each other off? If you had to pick one which would it be?

Standing by for interesting answers.

I stocked 10,000+ papershell in my pond about two years back.

I had other native craws in there, so I don't know if I created Craw Armageddon or not.

My jury is out on actually stocking crawfish vs. letting them occur naturally. I feel that if you put a rock in the water, sooner than later, there's going to be a crawdaddy under there.

So that makes me wonder...if you put more craws in, they have to have a place to live, or if there are not enough rocks, I suppose they could burron into the banks if they're of that sort.

Bump for more info.

I'd love to have crawdads in my 1/3 acre pond for both forage and occasionally catching them for grub. What kind should I stock (Papershell?) and what kind of structure do I need in there to provide them an adequate habitat? Just rocks? What size of rocks, or is that important?, and what depth should I be placing these rocks?

Cover for the crawfish is essential if you have LMB and/or CC in the pond. I put 300 in my pond a few years ago, and last year when I rehabbed it, not a one was to be found. Not too long after stocking them, I would catch CC with hardshell craws in their gullet.

I think most ponds, particularly those fed by at least a semi permanent water source or one that has a very near by natural water source will in all likelihood have native crayfish eventually find and then inhabit their pond.

We had a watering hole we put in on our hunting property for the deer that is about half way up a mountain side that is only fed by a small intermittent dry spring. The nearest permanent creek is over 3/4 of a mile away yet crayfish still managed to find it...

If you do stock crayfish, be sure to stock species that are native to your area. Some species are highly invasive and will destroy native crayfish populations and can cause other issues as well. No doubt that many species of fish enjoy eating crayfish and can certainly benefit from stocking them. Greg Grimes seems to be a big fan of stocking crayfish.

I agree with esshup that cover is essential. Large rocks, logs, and other nooks and crannies where they can take refuge. A self reproducing population of crayfish would certainly be a bonus in a pond...

Omaha wanted me to post here. I like crayfish stocking in the right situation. I stock red swamp from LA but not sure they would do well or not in NE? Only stocked them in AL, GA, SC. I like to stock them the most in new ponds therefore built up large numbers prior to bass eating them. I have not seen any negetavie effect of doing this with other forage fish.

The most success is in ponds with adequate hardness to allow them to molt exosklelton (they need lots of calcium), lots of country has no issue with this, typical GA pond with 4-10 pm hardness will, so lime heavily. Also other key is good cover prefferabaly some amount of rock.

I think crayfish will showup if you have the right environment but the numbers will never be as high as they are if properly stocked. We also stock them in many exisitng ponds and have moderate success. The way I look at it. Folks call and want to stock fatheads, golden shiners, etc in existing pond, the price comes out in the south at $10/lb or more and I try to talk them out of it. I can get crayfish in there for $3-$4/lb so even if eaten better investment (I know conversion rate is not as high for craws) and some chance of survivial to grow and reproduce.

However in our max bass growth plan they rank far down the list on things to stock in a new plan if budget is not there. Hope this helps with imho take on crayfish.

Thanks Greg. I think I'm going to add crayfish to my list of must gets when we begin stocking. If nothing else, it's cheap, as you pointed out, provides good initial forage, no negative effects, and could potentially reproduce and add another element to the pond.

Side question, I've attempted to trap them in the adjoining creek with no success. Instead, all I catch are creek chub. I'm thinking I'm using the wrong kind of bait. What "tricks" do you know of that I should be trying? Water depth, bait, etc.?

Bacon suspended in the trap works well for bait around here. Try to pick a pool just above or with rocks & leaves. Slant the trap end down so they can crawl right up in.

Omaha, I have found the best way to collect a good number of crayfish adapted to pond life is a flashlight and dip net... Just walk the edge of a local reservoir or lake that has some rocks but not too many. Shine the flash light into the shallows, you should see plenty of crayfish scooting around. With a dip net they are easy to catch at night. Having a second person hold the flash light makes it easier... Since you are catching crayfish from a lake, you know they are adapted to bodies of water with no current. Many crayfish species you catch from rivers of creeks cannot live in ponds. When trapping I use beef liver for crayfish...

That sounds fun too, something I bet my boy would enjoy. Where would I get a dip net with small enough mesh?

You could get a net at a Pet Store that sells fish.

I have only a cauhgt a few for fun not enough volume for resell so others advice is beter than mine. We do not bait at all, with a good pop. in a creek they should go in the crayfish trap.

I buy cheap $10 ones from a local mom and pop tackle store near my dad's house. Many local mom and pop shops usually carry fairly cheap but sturdy dip nets for casual use. You can also look at:

http://www.deltanetandtwine.com/main%20frameset.htm or

http://www.nicholsnetandtwine.com/products/net_03.htm

In a good location, you can easily catch 1 crayfish a minute or more. I recently collected 50 in less than an hour a couple weeks ago. A couple were females who were full of larvae on their swimmerettes. When those larvae mature, they'll be the brood stock for my new pond.

Hopefully the SMB will like all those new crawdaddies when they get stocked!

Good stuff. I requested a Delta catalog. They have a lot of useful stuff and a wide variety.

Also, crawdads did very well in my garden pond. My boy bought some at a bait shop just for the heck of it. Real tiny ones and they got pretty big by the time we cleaned it out for the winter.

I didn't put any crawdads in my pond when I built it last year, and because somebody here brought my attention to the fact that they will migrate to your pond, I looked real close this weekend. And sure enough, crawdad holes on the west side of my pond. I've got a creek about 1/4 miles from the pond. Must be where they came from.

Just put 10 LMB (9-12") in it this week end, so we'll see how long those crawdaddys last.

I don't know how crawdads do it. I used to have a creek full of them. Then the creek dried up in a long sustained drought. When the rains came no crawdads for about 5 years. Now, they are back but still not abundant. The creek is spring fed and starts about 50 yards from my place place so I don't figure they survived there.

Just like any animal, evolution has given them traits that allow them to expand into new habitat.

That's a very sage statement, CJ.

We're talking Steven Hawking meets Carl Sagan meets Cliff Clavin here.

Hawking? Sagan? Were they on Cheers with Cliffie???

Question about crawfish. I have a 135 gallon tank that I stock some native fish for our viewing pleasure and educational purposes. I have about a dozen crawfish in the tank. They seem to be doing very well, though one died the first day after another put him on his back and got on top of him, holding his claws with his own. This happened one other time and the one that was previously on the bottom (being "attacked"?) got up and seemed to be fine. Yesterday I noticed this happen again and the bottom crawfish is dead this morning. So, what's going on here?

WAG -- territorial behavior, possibly prior to mating?

Territorial behavior is most likely it. Among the same species and different species of crawfish.

Got another one today it looks like. Might end up with one alpha the way it's going.