jimbo30 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 The stream at the back of our field appears to be teeming with crayfish!! Have collected quite an assortment of body bits over the last few evenings while walking the dogs. Have identified them as signal crayfish so legal to catch with one of those permits from enviro agency. Has anybody tried catching them from streams before? Best tactic/bait ideally. Also do you need to purge them in any way to remove toxins? Regards james Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.philmypower. Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 I caught a load last year tasted like mud, they will go for most baits but I caught mine using fish and luncheon meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankeedoodlepigeon Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Small-Fish-Shrimp-Crab-Crayfish-Trap-Cage-Net-Black-/300574373479?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item45fba0f667 http://www.terrybullard.com/tips&tricks.html I was looking at doing it last week but found in the river I was going to fish in has native crayfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.philmypower. Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Could you not just release the protected ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankeedoodlepigeon Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 I will look in to that further tomorrow. I think they took all the non native crayfish out of the River Wye when I did a quick Google on it. I could be wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treestalker Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 I wade up the river at night with my headlight and just pick them off the bottom. I'm assuming your stream is shallow enough? As for purging them I kill them and just twist off the centre tail section and carefully pull the gut out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 I catch them every week whilst the water is warm. You can use almost anything, but I use old bacon, chicken nuggets or fish fingers. On the river Lee, as long as you stay with the nets you do not need a licence, but if you are leaving traps unattended a licence is required. My brother uses a 26" cycle wheel with the spokes removed and a piece of garden netting, held in place via the spoke holes with cable ties. I place the crayfish in water over night not too deep, and with space for the crayfish to move around, and throw them in boiling water the next morning. My 9 year old grandson and I netted 108 in 1 hour using 4 10" nets. Good fishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 For a very simple method you can just use a piece of string with bacon tied to it, and a weight/stone. As you get more confident you can have lots of lines out, and just walk the river bank lifting the crayfish out by pulling in the line, it's a handy idea to have a net when doing this as on leaving the water the crayfish will sometimes let go. I've caught hundreds in this way, and it's quite a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 The stream at the back of our field appears to be teeming with crayfish!! Have collected quite an assortment of body bits over the last few evenings while walking the dogs. Have identified them as signal crayfish so legal to catch with one of those permits from enviro agency. Has anybody tried catching them from streams before? Best tactic/bait ideally. Also do you need to purge them in any way to remove toxins? Regards james A french guy that I worked with used to cut a rake of green hazel or chestnut and bind it at the ends to give a bundle about 6 inches dia. Before he rolled it up he used to put bacon offcuts, liver or offal in amongst it all, weight it down and leave it overnight. In the morning the crays would have all their claws buried in the bundle and you'd undo it and remove them. Its a lot of fussing about when you could just set a pot trap instead. Hope you post some pics up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) I catch them every week whilst the water is warm. You can use almost anything, but I use old bacon, chicken nuggets or fish fingers. On the river Lee, as long as you stay with the nets you do not need a licence, but if you are leaving traps unattended a licence is required. My brother uses a 26" cycle wheel with the spokes removed and a piece of garden netting, held in place via the spoke holes with cable ties. I place the crayfish in water over night not too deep, and with space for the crayfish to move around, and throw them in boiling water the next morning. My 9 year old grandson and I netted 108 in 1 hour using 4 10" nets. Good fishing. I've seen a few in the river Lea where I am. Never really considered catching them, but you've got me interested Maybe a bottle of your favourite tipple for an afternoon of guidance, Terry? Edited July 21, 2011 by Billy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) I've seen a few in the river Lea where I am. Never really considered catching them, but you've got me interested Maybe a bottle of your favourite tipple for an afternoon of guidance, Terry? Just give me a call and some dates and we can have an afternoon out, it is good fun, we can do it at Hertford next to the pub, that way the beer is on tap at any time, or over near you. Look forward to an afternoon out with you. Cheers Terry Edited July 21, 2011 by bakerboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 Just give me a call and some dates and we can have an afternoon out, it is good fun, we can do it at Hertford next to the pub, that way the beer is on tap at any time, or over near you. Look forward to an afternoon out with you. Cheers Terry Top man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 I catch them every week whilst the water is warm. You can use almost anything, but I use old bacon, chicken nuggets or fish fingers. On the river Lee, as long as you stay with the nets you do not need a licence, but if you are leaving traps unattended a licence is required. My brother uses a 26" cycle wheel with the spokes removed and a piece of garden netting, held in place via the spoke holes with cable ties. I place the crayfish in water over night not too deep, and with space for the crayfish to move around, and throw them in boiling water the next morning. My 9 year old grandson and I netted 108 in 1 hour using 4 10" nets. Good fishing. I'd love to see some photos Terry, this sort of thing's right up my street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'd love to see some photos Terry, this sort of thing's right up my street. http://s908.photobucket.com/albums/ac283/terrybakerboy/crayfish/ Pictures of some I caught earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 http://s908.photobucket.com/albums/ac283/terrybakerboy/crayfish/ Pictures of some I caught earlier. This one's a winner for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 This one's a winner for me On the larger crayfish you can eat the claw meat as well which quite tasty, on the smaller one it is a bit of a faff to get the little bit of meat that is there out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 On the larger crayfish you can eat the claw meat as well which quite tasty, on the smaller one it is a bit of a faff to get the little bit of meat that is there out. CHUFFING HELL TEL!! That is absolutely outstanding. Christ on a bike, they're like chuffing lobsters. Thats blown me away. Do the same stretches of water produce constantly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) CHUFFING HELL TEL!! That is absolutely outstanding. Christ on a bike, they're like chuffing lobsters. Thats blown me away. Do the same stretches of water produce constantly? Once the waters get warm they are plentyful, not so when the water cools down. In Hertford the kids sell them to the Chinese Restaurants. August Bank holiday see's Crayfish Fest at the Barge Pub at Hertford a great day out, and bl%dy good beer as well I brought my crayfish nets from "Terry's Tackle 07836311616" a very helpful company, I think they are based in the West country, I may be wrong and the nets were about £3.00 each. If you want to find Crayfish, just ask your local Fishermen, they hate them as they take the bait and ruin the Fishing. I have edited this as the website is no longer used Edited July 21, 2011 by bakerboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 WOW! I'm going to give this a whirl as soon as I find a water. I fished a trout water behind the Eden project and the advice was not to keep your catch in the water because of the Crays. I had a rainbow tethered to a small jetty and it was well off the bottom. Half hour later there was a squadron of crays advancing in line astern heading right for my fish. There weren't as big as the ones in the piccy though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 WOW! I'm going to give this a whirl as soon as I find a water. I fished a trout water behind the Eden project and the advice was not to keep your catch in the water because of the Crays. I had a rainbow tethered to a small jetty and it was well off the bottom. Half hour later there was a squadron of crays advancing in line astern heading right for my fish. There weren't as big as the ones in the piccy though. The second rank were, they send the little ones out first, remember if you have a P in the water make sure you do not dangle to close to the surface, the "Devon **** Dangle Catcher Crayfish" are known to jump out of the water for a tasty morsel, more so if it looks like a worm, or something similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 The second rank were, they send the little ones out first, remember if you have a P in the water make sure you do not dangle to close to the surface, the "Devon **** Dangle Catcher Crayfish" are known to jump out of the water for a tasty morsel, more so if it looks like a worm, or something similar I'd be fine, unless they're partial to a walnut whip that is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonk69 Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 hi fella i worked for the environment agency for ten years, we used to trap the at one of our pumping stations, the fisheries guys had the most success on sections of banana, tried all the baits and banana out produced all other baits, cheers matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonk69 Posted August 2, 2011 Report Share Posted August 2, 2011 did you have any joy with the crayfish baits fella, did you try banana? cheers matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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