First time trapping for mud bugs

HortoTheSlayer

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2018
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Boise Idaho
Tried my hand at Crawfish trapping out here in Idaho. To my surprise apparently a lot the canals, creeks, ponds, lakes and rivers out here hold crawfish and some are pretty big! My wife came across a facebook page from a company called Crayster that makes and sells traps and we noticed they would be at the local gun show last weekend. We went to check it out and I ended up picking up a trap. The dudes were super cool and gave me some info on where to try tossing in. The first day I only had a small window so I tossed into a creek and saw a few checking out the trap but never committed..the next night I tried a creek that ran through a local park but not long after I arrived the cops came and told me I couldn't be in the park after dark..finally the following night I found a spot along the Boise river that I wanted to try. I let my trap soak overnight and pulled it before sun up the next day. It wasn't a big haul like I've seen some people's posts on the Crayster FB group but it was still cool to pull some out. I landed 6 crawfish and decided to add them to a gumbo I had planned to make. Came out pretty good and a couple had big enough claws to get some claw meat out of them. Got intel on another spot that I will be trying come Sunday evening. Looking forward to being able to do a small boil for the fam out here. Some people are able to put 100lbs of them into their freezers after the season..so If I can get even a couple pounds I'd be happy. Just another way to enjoy being in the outdoors out here!

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Sausage, chicken, shrimp and Crawfish Gumbo!
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We would just tear off the tail and eat them, dipped in butter of course. Make sure you check them for worms, kind of disgusting, some I got out of the Kern river were full of worms. UGH
 
Great giong. George

When I used to catch them individually, I used liver on a string...In traps, I used chicken legs or most any kind of meat...The best by far in small streams is nets...They like the banks with grass...Lift the whole grass mat and they'll be all over it.
 
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Yea I've heard lots of different things to use as bait from bacon to cat food lol I found a salmon head for $2 at the grocery store and used some chunks off of it. I'll be experimenting with different things so see what works best.
Take a new can, punch a few small holes in it, don't open it. Put trap in your spot. Works for us in the creek on our property. Kids make me catch them. :laughing:
 
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Caught a few more the other day out of a pond. These ones were bigger then the last ones. They are a different species of crawdads. The northern invasive crawfish. Pretty cool looking with blue claws. The bugs measured around 7" in length. Used some pieces of salmon head and a can of cat food for bait. Going to try the Snake River next! Hoping for a bigger haul.

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You need a tank to keep them in until you can do a crawfish boil
Thats a good idea! I can fatten them up until then! I hear the Snake is loaded with them. I heard a guy just pulled out close to 400 in less then 2 hrs. Not sure how many traps he was running but still a crazy amount in thst short of time
 
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Nice work! When I was a kid we tied a slice of bacon on a string and threw it in the park creek. They wouldn't let go and we would just pull them out!
 
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Good work. Are they all that big or is it just the smaller ones slip out?
Thanks! With the type of trap I have its hard for any to get out. Once they're in they're stuck. Apparently they get even bigger then that in the snake river. They come out with 4-5" claws outta there. The smaller ones I first caught came out of the boise river. I pulled those last big ones out of a pond by a business park lol
 
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