Post by: pickardjw on June 28, 2022, 12:45:47 PM
Did a test drop last weekend and found out one thing. The weed line can be quite a ways out from shore, or at least enough to where it would be in potential boat traffic areas. How would you handle that situation?
Post by: dilleytech on June 29, 2022, 09:02:26 AM
Post by: KFhunter on June 29, 2022, 09:08:21 AM
Post by: dilleytech on June 29, 2022, 10:41:03 AM
I had several traps stolen on a lake you can't get a boat too, I just didn't figure on someone casting a fishing lure to snag my floats and reel them in close enough to grab from shore :bash:
Crawfishing is such a uncommon thing people see floats on a line and they think what’s that? So they pull it in. And a lot of people are trash so they take them. If I can’t tie them off all sneaky like I won’t fish that spot. And target spot I don’t think someone will fish. It’s about craw boil time
Post by: Jake Dogfish on June 29, 2022, 11:00:23 AM
Had to pull up and fish another part of the lake. :iamwithstupid:
Post by: KFhunter on June 29, 2022, 11:41:17 AM
I had several traps stolen on a lake you can't get a boat too, I just didn't figure on someone casting a fishing lure to snag my floats and reel them in close enough to grab from shore :bash:
Crawfishing is such a uncommon thing people see floats on a line and they think what’s that? So they pull it in. And a lot of people are trash so they take them. If I can’t tie them off all sneaky like I won’t fish that spot. And target spot I don’t think someone will fish. It’s about craw boil time
:yeah:
I use green paracord now and tie off or use a grapple to rake the line off the bottom, don't be like me folks and use floats for all to see unless you're directly tending them, but if your tending them you don't need floats
Post by: pickardjw on June 29, 2022, 12:07:33 PM
Post by: MeepDog on June 29, 2022, 12:57:49 PM
Post by: Norman89 on June 29, 2022, 09:53:33 PM
I ran a couple pots last year in the Columbia and Snake but had terrible catch rates. I'm not sure what I did wrong. I put them in shallow water near rocks with fish for bait yet somehow I ended up catching more shrimp than crawdads. I didn't even know shrimp existed in the rivers. Any pointers about the big rivers and what time of year?the snake is by far my most productive water, chicken for bait set just like you did
Post by: pickardjw on June 30, 2022, 09:56:38 AM
I think next week I'll start setting some overnight in spots I can reach from shore. Check em in the morning on the way to work.
Post by: ThurstonCokid on June 30, 2022, 10:52:46 AM
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: elkrack on June 30, 2022, 12:12:45 PM
Post by: Jake Dogfish on June 30, 2022, 01:54:55 PM
Nothing on a couple of sets in 20'-30' yesterday evening, rocky bottom. Soaked for 2 1/2 hours or so. Cat food for bait...if I was better at Kokanee fishing I might have better bait for next time but no luck on that front either!I don’t think signal crawfish like cat food. Oily fish works best.
I think next week I'll start setting some overnight in spots I can reach from shore. Check em in the morning on the way to work.
Post by: dilleytech on July 01, 2022, 09:09:57 AM
Hoping to set a few this evening for a soak while I kokanee fish if the pleasure boaters stay at the docks. Can you catch them up in the weeds? Most of what I've read seemed to say to drop pots at the edge of the weed line. That's usually 20'-30' of water where I'm setting.
When I craw I throw my pots between the weeds and the bank. Or in the weeds. Further out I got the worse I do. 10-20’ off shore seems best. Rocks and weed combo is good .
Post by: dilleytech on July 01, 2022, 09:12:09 AM
I had several traps stolen on a lake you can't get a boat too, I just didn't figure on someone casting a fishing lure to snag my floats and reel them in close enough to grab from shore :bash:
Crawfishing is such a uncommon thing people see floats on a line and they think what’s that? So they pull it in. And a lot of people are trash so they take them. If I can’t tie them off all sneaky like I won’t fish that spot. And target spot I don’t think someone will fish. It’s about craw boil time
:yeah:
I use green paracord now and tie off or use a grapple to rake the line off the bottom, don't be like me folks and use floats for all to see unless you're directly tending them
it's come to my attention that I can't do this, so disregard bad advice, I've got the legal floats so I guess I'll just attend to them while fishing for walleye's or something else
You can attach a small note to your line with your information and put a rock over it.
Post by: dilleytech on July 01, 2022, 09:14:12 AM
Nothing on a couple of sets in 20'-30' yesterday evening, rocky bottom. Soaked for 2 1/2 hours or so. Cat food for bait...if I was better at Kokanee fishing I might have better bait for next time but no luck on that front either!I don’t think signal crawfish like cat food. Oily fish works best.
I think next week I'll start setting some overnight in spots I can reach from shore. Check em in the morning on the way to work.
I have used cat food with minimal success. Fish carcass works much better. Except small mouth carcs. They don’t seem to like those..
Post by: pickardjw on July 16, 2022, 04:38:55 PM
Post by: AL WORRELLS KID on July 18, 2022, 12:03:02 PM
Then how is it that a Commercial Fisher from Lake Forest Park who has been crawfishing in Lake Washington for the past 12 years hides his floats underwater and dredges them to the surface using an Anchor? Are the rules different if you Fish Commercial?
Setting 120 pots in three locations around the north end of Lake Washington. (In order to keep others from poaching his pots, he sets them under water with no markers and uses an anchor to dredge up his chain of pots. It took him less than two hours to pull, clean and reset the pots using an electric winch.
His day’s work equals about 70 pounds of crawfish, destined to his client, the Pike Place Fish Market.
“We give out about 12 permits per year for commercial crawfish fishing,” said Jon Anderson, a state Fish and Wildlife fish program manager. “The few on Lake Washington are the only ones who do it regularly during the season. About five others do it a few times a year and the rest didn’t even put a pot in the water.
Seattle Times (Originally published October 10, 2006)
Post by: trophyhunt on July 18, 2022, 12:22:58 PM
How bout catching them with a fishing pole?! My kids were fishing and one of their friends caught this craw. Monster!!thats how we'd catch them as kids. In a local small creek we'd tie hot dogs to our fishing line on our pole, with some pinch on weights. We'd lower them in, wait till we saw them on the dog and pull them up, shake them in a bucket and go for more. We would always get our bucket full.
Post by: Jake Dogfish on July 18, 2022, 02:08:22 PM
If Unlike crab and shrimp, no colored buoys are required by sport fishers, (but they need to be marked on the surface by some type of flotation device.)Yes sport fishers are required to have a float. Commercial does not.
Then how is it that a Commercial Fisher from Lake Forest Park who has been crawfishing in Lake Washington for the past 12 years hides his floats underwater and dredges them to the surface using an Anchor? Are the rules different if you Fish Commercial?
Setting 120 pots in three locations around the north end of Lake Washington. (In order to keep others from poaching his pots, he sets them under water with no markers and uses an anchor to dredge up his chain of pots. It took him less than two hours to pull, clean and reset the pots using an electric winch.
His day’s work equals about 70 pounds of crawfish, destined to his client, the Pike Place Fish Market.
“We give out about 12 permits per year for commercial crawfish fishing,” said Jon Anderson, a state Fish and Wildlife fish program manager. “The few on Lake Washington are the only ones who do it regularly during the season. About five others do it a few times a year and the rest didn’t even put a pot in the water.
Seattle Times (Originally published October 10, 2006)
As for bait, different species of crawfish eat different baits. Signal crawfish like fish.
Post by: mcrawfordaf on July 18, 2022, 02:09:56 PM
Set three pots today to soak between 6:30 and 1, used a Kokanee carcass cut up from Wednesday. One pot in the rocks off a point, two in the weeds. All about 10’ of water. Zero takers…might had to dedicate to some overnight soaks. Also think I need to weight the traps down with rocks inside. Make sure they’re not moving around on the bottom at all.
You see a lot hiding under rocks and I think that makes it misleading as to where they are hangin gout in abundance. Near the mouth of the Columbia we always had really good results with a trap line along a muddy bank and salmon heads. They burrow into the soft mud of the bank to nest. I think they can also survive in the mud if water levels drop as well.
Post by: KFhunter on August 01, 2022, 08:11:00 PM
I see it jumped up a couple bux, still a good deal
Post by: KFhunter on August 01, 2022, 08:18:09 PM
different species of crawfish eat different baits. Signal crawfish like fish.
I save my perch heads and carcasses from ice fishing and freeze them up for crawfishin
Post by: Phillip.beaudry on August 01, 2022, 10:14:39 PM
Post by: KFhunter on August 01, 2022, 10:33:45 PM
the bottom of the trap is solid and hooks in prongs, the top clam shells together and you secure it with the clip (normally) but in WA what you do is replace the clip with sisal twine (rot line) then if the trap is lost the line rots and the trap falls apart
Post by: KFhunter on August 01, 2022, 10:53:38 PM
Post by: Phillip.beaudry on August 01, 2022, 11:01:38 PM
Post by: LayMdown on August 02, 2022, 05:08:50 PM
Post by: Jake Dogfish on August 02, 2022, 06:39:03 PM
on my terry bullard traps I remove the door hinges and replace with rot line, so the whole door would fall off if the trap goes derelictThat’s a good way to do it, a lot better than how I rigged my Bullard trap. :tup:
I think he passed away a couple years ago and they don’t make them anymore.
Post by: KFhunter on August 02, 2022, 07:20:53 PM
I thought I'd have a bunch of Rustys, maybe they don't like perch?
Post by: Ridgeratt on August 02, 2022, 07:36:59 PM
Post by: KFhunter on August 02, 2022, 08:04:10 PM
Nice tube of bugs KF. :tup:
Weren't me, was an internet pic I used to show where I tie the rot line
Post by: KFhunter on August 04, 2022, 06:55:06 PM
Crab, Shrimp, & Crawfish
• Every shellfish pot, ring net, or star trap left
unattended in Washington waters must have its
own buoy line and a separate buoy that is permanently and legibly marked with the owner’s
first name, last name, and permanent address
(telephone number is voluntary).
It is ILLEGAL to set or pull unattended shellfish gear with a
buoy that does not have your name on it, and
only one name and address may appear on
each buoy. <---attended gear can whatever you want on it ;)
Any angler may assist the person
whose name is on the buoy while he or she
is pulling the pot. No fisher may set, or pull
shellfish gear from a vessel, in Marine Areas 1-13,
from one hour after official sunset to one hour
before official sunrise. All shellfish gear must
be removed from the water on closed days.
• Buoys must be constructed of durable material.
It is unlawful to use bleach, antifreeze, or detergent bottles, paint cans or any other container.
Buoys must be visible on the surface at all times <---if left unattended
except during extreme tidal conditions. Personal flags and staff, if attached to buoys, can
be of any color. Buoy lines must be weighted
sufficiently to prevent them from floating on
the surface.
• All crab, shrimp, and crawfish pots must be
equipped with a biodegradable device (rot/
escape cord) which must be affixed to the pot
in at least one of the following ways:
1. Securing the pot lid hook or tie down strap
with a single loop of rot cord; or
2. Sewing a 3" by 5" escape panel in the upper
half of pot closed with rot cord; or
3. Attaching the pot lid or one pot side (serving as a pot lid) with no more than three
single loops of rot cord.
Cord used must be untreated 100% cotton,
hemp, jute, or sisal no larger than thread size
120 (1⁄8"). This cord, when attached as described
above, must be able to rot away and allow crab,
shrimp, crawfish and fish to escape freely if the
pot is lost. A derelict crab pot without proper
escape cord can attract and kill crabs for years
after the pot has been lost.
Post by: KFhunter on August 04, 2022, 07:32:07 PM
Some jackwagon cast from shore and hooked them.
So I'll tie them off on shore, and the trick is to not leave them "unattended" per the rules.
how far away can you get before it's "unattended"?
Post by: Shrimper on August 04, 2022, 08:06:21 PM
Post by: Shrimper on August 04, 2022, 08:09:36 PM
Post by: KFhunter on August 04, 2022, 08:12:09 PM
Ya'll grow em bigger on that side of the state
Post by: Shrimper on August 04, 2022, 08:13:35 PM
Post by: KFhunter on August 04, 2022, 08:15:16 PM
here ya go
Post by: KFhunter on August 04, 2022, 08:16:15 PM
Post by: Shrimper on August 04, 2022, 08:30:04 PM
Post by: Phillip.beaudry on August 05, 2022, 12:01:05 AM
Post by: Phillip.beaudry on August 10, 2022, 06:57:43 PM
Post by: Angry Perch on August 11, 2022, 07:44:42 AM
I don't see a good way to keep our pots from being thieved with these rules, I already lost 3 Terry Bullard traps because I had proper floats.
Some jackwagon cast from shore and hooked them.
So I'll tie them off on shore, and the trick is to not leave them "unattended" per the rules.
how far away can you get before it's "unattended"?
Is a buoy still a buoy if it sinks?
Post by: pickardjw on August 12, 2022, 08:02:07 PM
I think crawfishin might be harder than salmon fishin up here!
Post by: KFhunter on August 12, 2022, 10:32:25 PM
used 4 different baits, 2 cat food, corn and smelt
I forgot the cut bait in my freezer :chuckle:
Post by: pickardjw on August 24, 2022, 11:02:46 AM
Might have to try some sets further north on the lake once I'm up there regularly for Coho season...
Post by: NRA4LIFE on August 24, 2022, 11:07:09 AM
Post by: doyourtime89 on August 25, 2022, 06:23:09 PM
Post by: Phillip.beaudry on August 25, 2022, 07:44:17 PM
Post by: Angry Perch on August 26, 2022, 08:08:55 AM
Nice haul
Dang! Are those local(ish)?
Post by: Jake Dogfish on August 31, 2022, 12:35:51 PM
Nice haul
Dang! Are those local(ish)?
I doubt it. Probably Snake or Columbia.
Post by: 206 on August 31, 2022, 03:55:46 PM
Nice haul
You shouldn't be eating those out of our fishin hole though. :chuckle: