crawdads/crayfish?

[jeepster]

ive seen em everywhere... there are tons of em in the lake behind my house and the samish is crawling with em... is there anybody out there who knows anything about them? if i go to the samish tomrrow im half tempted to take my pots.... is there anything about them like toxins similar to red tide, or stuff i should know? are they safe to eat this time of year... are they even active?

[Special T]

as in the lake or the river? they are tasty buggers eat them up! taste like lobster!

[deadyote]

Just know that ther actully is a season!!!  Why, I don't know because we could never come close to catching enough to even put a small dent in them, but the WDFW says so?   But it ended on Oct 31st.  Yeah, there are a ton around here.  I have caught a few that reached 8" long in a lake up north.  I find them in all waters and great eating also.  If you wait till the season opens, throw your pots and eat like a king.

[krout81]

never heard of anything..  Boil them just like lobsters and crab.  They turn red yummmy dont be skimpy on how many you catch
Rules are

CrAYFISH (Crawfi sh)
ALL WATERS NATIVE SPECIES 1st Mon. in May-Oct. 31
Min. size 3¼" from tip of rostrum (nose) to tip of tail. Daily limit 10 lbs in shell. All
females with eggs or young attached must be immediately returned to the water
unharmed. No Shellfi sh/Seaweed license is required. See gear rules on page 139.
NONNATIVE
SPECIES
1st Mon. in May-Oct. 31
Must be kept in a separate container. Must be dead before being removed
from riparian area (immediate vicinity of water body). No daily limit, size, or sex
restrictions. No Shellfi sh/Seaweed license is required. See gear rules page 139.

[high country]

I use smallmouth bass parts for bait, 13 feet of water in the rocks...

this is 4 traps set for 4 hours.....good times!

[FC]

Crawdads are better than lobster IMO, boil them up and eat with garlic butter.

[singleshot12]

What kind of baits do most people use to catch them?  Would a chicken leg work?

[lewy]

chicken works great

[Holg3107]

Use Chicken Livers stuffed in cheap panty hose. Sounds funny but it works great. I grew up in Colorado catching these delicous little guys. Their claws get stuck in the panty hose and you just lift em out of the water and into your bucket. I got a really weird look from a guy at the grocery store one day, we were headed out to elk camp and we camp right on the river so I went to the store to grab 2 things of panty hose and a few tampons to use for hanging scents (also works well just dip it into your scent and hang it from a tree, already has a string) needless to say had quite the awekward conversation with the store clerk.

[singleshot12]

Chicken livers hmm.. I would have a hard time using chicken liver for bait since liver pate is my favorite to eat 

[C-Money]

My Captain caught some and brought them to work for us to try. Wow! They are good! I am wanting to try for some this summer!

[singleshot12]

I know most of the lakes have them, any suggestions on depth or best areas in the lake?

[Holg3107]

I would focus on loose rock points/banks that are adjacent to mud flats. We always targeted the edges of dam/dike areas. anywhere there is rocks you will be succesful. I have not done any crawfishing in rivers si no idea about what, where, or how to in that situation.

[Special T]

SWEET another kind of water species i can attack with out paying the WDFW!!! Now i can shoot carp and catch crayfish! 

[Heredoggydoggy]

For some reason, while the trap is in the water, they can't find their way out.  Pull the trap out of the water and throw it up on the shore and instantly they will be jumping out of the trap and marching back to the water.  Strange little critters.