Crawdads

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K&M

K&M

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This question is probably for Wayne, but if someone else can answer it, please jump in. We live on a river (the Florida river) in SW Colorado that eventually feeds into Lake Powell. So is it not reasonable to assume we can catch crawdads here on the Florida (whole lot easier for us to catch them here for some reason!) and use them at Lake Powell? We have tried about everything to catch Lake Powell crawdads, with very limited success. Back of coves, in gravel, around vegetation...you name it, we've tried it. What do you think, Wayne?
 
K&M said:
This question is probably for Wayne, but if someone else can answer it, please jump in. We live on a river (the Florida river) in SW Colorado that eventually feeds into Lake Powell. So is it not reasonable to assume we can catch crawdads here on the Florida (whole lot easier for us to catch them here for some reason!) and use them at Lake Powell? We have tried about everything to catch Lake Powell crawdads, with very limited success. Back of coves, in gravel, around vegetation...you name it, we've tried it. What do you think, Wayne?
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Shooting fish in a barrel vs shooting fish in an Olympic size swimming pool?
 
Transporting them live isn’t allowed in Arizona, so definitely don’t do it to Wahweap or Antelope. It may or may not be legal if you go to halls.
 
K&M -- you did not specify if you wanted to use live crayfish as bait, or dead. Hopefully you meant dead. Here are the regulations in Utah regarding the transport of live crayfish:

Utah regulations:
Utah Fishing guide book said:
You may only use live crayfish for bait if you are on the water where the crayfish were captured. It is unlawful to transport live crayfish away from the water where they were captured. (page 13)

You may not transport live crayfish away from the body of water where you captured them. (page 17)

Live fish and crayfish:
Any person who moves live fish [and crayfish] from one body of water to another is guilty of a class A misdemeanor and may be fined up to $2,500. You may not transport live fish or crayfish away from the water where they were caught. (page 21)

Help protect Utah fisheries As an angler, you’re the first line of defense for your favorite fisheries. Please call our hotline, 1-800-662- 3337, if you see someone who:
•Leaves a waterbody with live fish or crayfish
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https://wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks/2018_pdfs/2018_fishing.pdf


I hope this helps.
 
Thanks for all the good advice and reminders about the dead crawdad rules, etc. Sounds to me like we will leave the crawdad thing alone! It's just that we can't find our perfect crawdad soft bait (of course don't have any info on it...) anymore. It's amazing to us how elusive crawdads at Powell are when they are in about everything we catch!
 
I tried the crawdad thing also. We caught some locally and tried fishing with them at Powell about 25 years ago when we first started going down. 90 % of them died, and what we did get to fish with we were not all that successful. Tried using traps at Powell to catch them also with a lot of effort and no success. You can catch all the small mouth you want using plastics. If your kids have a hard time catching them on plastics get them some night crawlers, use a half crawler under a slip bobber. Worst thing about night crawlers is that they usually swallow the bait bad and makes catch and release difficult. As far as the plastics, Tube jigs - flip tail grubs and senkos/short plastic worms will catch them. Usually any thing in a greenish color and 3 to 3.5 inches long in the tubes and grubs works well. My favorites are Bass Pro Tender Tubes - 3" in a Scum - Zucchini or Chartreuse pepper colors. Senkos around 5 inches long in greenish or darker colors. Work the tube jigs close to the bottom bouncing of the rocks often. The more vertical you keep them the less you will hang up. I prefer the find the depth they like and drift with the wind down the bank vertical jigging very slowly right on the bottom. Throw the flip tail grubs next to the bank and swim them with a steady retrieve trying to keep the bait with in a few feet off of the bottom. The Senkos can be fished similar to the tube jigs or on a drop shot rig. Look for Rock piles - Submerged boulders - Points - submerged humps to fish off of. Good Luck!
 
Flipper said:
I tried the crawdad thing also. We caught some locally and tried fishing with them at Powell about 25 years ago when we first started going down. 90 % of them died, and what we did get to fish with we were not all that successful. Tried using traps at Powell to catch them also with a lot of effort and no success. You can catch all the small mouth you want using plastics. If your kids have a hard time catching them on plastics get them some night crawlers, use a half crawler under a slip bobber. Worst thing about night crawlers is that they usually swallow the bait bad and makes catch and release difficult. As far as the plastics, Tube jigs - flip tail grubs and senkos/short plastic worms will catch them. Usually any thing in a greenish color and 3 to 3.5 inches long in the tubes and grubs works well. My favorites are Bass Pro Tender Tubes - 3" in a Scum - Zucchini or Chartreuse pepper colors. Senkos around 5 inches long in greenish or darker colors. Work the tube jigs close to the bottom bouncing of the rocks often. The more vertical you keep them the less you will hang up. I prefer the find the depth they like and drift with the wind down the bank vertical jigging very slowly right on the bottom. Throw the flip tail grubs next to the bank and swim them with a steady retrieve trying to keep the bait with in a few feet off of the bottom. The Senkos can be fished similar to the tube jigs or on a drop shot rig. Look for Rock piles - Submerged boulders - Points - submerged humps to fish off of. Good Luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks, Flipper! Lots of good advice!
 
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