I have removed near 300 craws from my 1/4 acre pond this year by using my cloverleaf trap and fish food in a old sock (twist tied off) as a bait. They range in size from 3 to 5 inches, mostly in the 4 to 5" range. Odd that I don't catch any less than 3 inches. I get the best luck by far by setting the trap in the evening and letting it soak all night and changing the bait every time. I get anywhere from 10 to 30 per night. It seems that the catch rate dies off after a couple nights in a row, but will increase again after a couple days without the trap in the water. I think they are territorial and it may take a couple days for new ones to move back in where I place the trap. I only put the trap in by the dock out of ease as my pond's banks are "au naturel" and full of chiggers. I have a cage that I use to store them until they can be relocated...mostly to dinner tables. I am not a big fan of crawdad boils as I don't care much for the spices and my wife does not like to look at them whole, so...we give them a 5 minute boil, whole, then peel the tail meat out, rinse well, egg and batter and pan fry them with some oil...very similar to shrimp, but with little less seafood flavor and a less tender...still a good side to a dinner.
I plan to trap until the water clears up or I the catch rate drops dramatically...surely you can not completely trap the little buggars out.
