Crawfish Help!

[Jeremy S]

I'm planning on doing a lot more fishing as the weather gets nice and I was hoping to get a few crayfish traps to drop in the lake and pick up at the end of the day. If anyone on here is experienced with this I could use some help. I fish mainly South King county to northern Thurston. Are there any lakes that will work better than others? Also, how do I set up and what do I use to bait the trap/how much? Thanks.

[carpsniperg2]

what i use for traps is i take a milk jug cut the top part off reverse it and glue it together. then i put a rock on top of it and one in the mouth of it so they can crawl threw the hole i use bacon and cheese for bait cheap and never had a problem with catching them then just cut a hole in the top to get them out and then just put a rock on the top to close the hole but usally they canr swim that far up i have had 30 in one trap before i stoped fishing and have not caught them for a few years use to have a blast checking the traps hope this helps

[alecvg]

I use the little pots you can buy at sporting goods stores, less than ten bucks per pot, and work well.  I have had a can of tuna with holes punched in it work.  But if you have time, by far the best bait is some fish that have been rotting for a couple of days.  I found some dead ones in the lake that looked like they should not have been released, and once people saw me taken them, they would give me the little ones that didn't make it, or just the guts left to rot.  I had one pot, one night, was so full some crayfish couldn't get in, when I pulled it up, they were crawling on top of it, with the inside full.   

[littlemac]

I have only used the commercially available traps as well and used just about anything that disperses some oil, tuna, cat food in the can just punched a couple holes in the can.

Lake Stevens used to be a commercial fishery for crawdads. Now I doubt anyone fishes for them much here.

If you can get a lead on a good lake you'll have no problem getting them.

[PolarBear]

I use to catch them in a couple of Mason County lakes where a creek emptied into the lake.  I use one of those wire mesh traps with the entry way at both ends, a can of tuna or a fish head and guts from one recently caught.  Great smallmouth bait!

[sako223]

We use raw chicken to lure them. They make great live bait.

[HardCorpsHuntr]

"Poor mans lobster" is what my dad called them.

Some of my best childhood memories are catchin' crawdads with my family.  We used traps with bacon and chicken, flipped rocks and grabbed them, snorkeled, what ever!  We about topped a 5 gallon bucket on a few occasions.  Would catch a few trout on the trip and always ran into a couple of rattlers.  Also, shot my first gun on one of those trips too.  The location we went to was/is beautiful, but has now turned into a hangout for illegals and there is graffiti everywhere.

Very tasty meal.

Carpsniper has a great idea.  Start drinking milk

[Jeremy S]

what i use for traps is i take a milk jug cut the top part off reverse it and glue it together. then i put a rock on top of it and one in the mouth of it so they can crawl threw the hole i use bacon and cheese for bait cheap and never had a problem with catching them then just cut a hole in the top to get them out and then just put a rock on the top to close the hole but usally they canr swim that far up i have had 30 in one trap before i stoped fishing and have not caught them for a few years use to have a blast checking the traps hope this helps

So after I put the milk jug back together I should put a rock inside with the bait to weigh it down? I'm a little confused and I want to get it right. Thanks.  

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I had some experience with this a few years back, I suggest getting a shrimp pot, or making one yourself from 1/2 inch mesh (home depot, lowes)
I still have a couple minnow traps we used, but we had the problem of them crawling out if the opening was less than 6 inches from the bottom.
A couple times we pulled the trap after an overnight soak, and they would be falling out the sides.
Lake Washington, Sawyer, Sammamish have some big ones (Crawfish).
Usually, I would throw out the trap while I went fishing, and If I had a couple in the trap cool, but some lakes were definately better than others.

[RCDowning]

Does anyone have any good spots for Snohomish County?

[Jake Dogfish]

You’ve put your time in!  Waited two years for your first post replying to a 8 year old thread. 

Snohomish river has crawdads.  Lots of sloughs that you might be able to throw a trap or two overnight.