Crayfish/Crawfish/Mudbugs under the ice???

[Albertajeff]

Hey, has anyone tried trapping these while ice fishing? My trap is under 10” diameter and will fit thru my auger hole. Has anyone tried this and been successful? Any ideas or thoughts?

[FlyTheory]

I’ve seen them crawling along the bottom on beamount pond through the ice. I bet they’re a bit slow with cold temps, but overnight soak would be a success

[Curtsyneil]

Why even bother what r u goin to use them for ?

[Red Bullets]

Crayfish will be in deep water on creeks, above beaver dams would be good. They rut in late October and breed in November and early December. At this time of the year they should be congregating in the deep water. Take a pail of clean cold water along and put the crayfish in the pail for an hour or two before dispatching them. You can only do this at the place of capture as soon as you catch them. You cannot take them home alive. They will purge in the pail.

[Albertajeff]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

Crayfish will be in deep water on creeks, above beaver dams would be good. They rut in late October and breed in November and early December. At this time of the year they should be congregating in the deep water. Take a pail of clean cold water along and put the crayfish in the pail for an hour or two before dispatching them. You can only do this at the place of capture as soon as you catch them. You cannot take them home alive. They will purge in the pail.

Thanks, I’ll give that a try. Glad to hear that it’s a good possibility there out then.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

Why even bother what r u goin to use them for ?

I have never targeted the ones in Alberta but we would catch crawfish when I lived in the lower mainland. They do taste good and can also make great sturgeon and trout bait

[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

Why even bother what r u goin to use them for ?

Crawfish boil?

[chucklesthe3rd]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

I have never targeted the ones in Alberta but we would catch crawfish when I lived in the lower mainland. They do taste good and can also make great sturgeon and trout bait

Sucks that you can't use them for bait, caught a fair amount of walleye and burbs coughing up parts of crayfish. Even caught a whitefish with a juvenile crayfish in it's stomach at travers.

[wildcat111]

Originally Posted by Albertajeff

Hey, has anyone tried trapping these while ice fishing? My trap is under 10” diameter and will fit thru my auger hole. Has anyone tried this and been successful? Any ideas or thoughts?

Try McGregor the lake is crawling with crayfish.

[ORV]

Originally Posted by wildcat111

Try McGregor the lake is crawling with crayfish.

X2 Yep slows a lot of fishing down
LOTS on south end
Not sure if its the same at Milo end yet.
We were going to try that over the holidays but not enough ice on the south end.
Open water at the bridge. That will change fast with the up coming forecast.

[Pelicanfisher]

Originally Posted by ORV

X2 Yep slows a lot of fishing down
LOTS on south end
Not sure if its the same at Milo end yet.
We were going to try that over the holidays but not enough ice on the south end.
Open water at the bridge. That will change fast with the up coming forecast.

I was at McGregor last week, north end just past the campground. There were a ton of crayfish. They were slow but plentiful. I was wondering too about trying to catch them seeing as there were NO fish around lol!

[WayneChristie]

I catch them on minnows when Im bored sometimes, they tend to hang on if you bring them up slow, tried boiling one but it was terrible nasty,

[AK47]

Originally Posted by wildcat111

Try McGregor the lake is crawling with crayfish.

Yep, bottom is littered with them.... With trap you can easily catch hundreds+. We caught few just letting minnow sit on the bottom and watch them latch on to it and not let go until we pull them through the hole. When fishing is slow at least they keep you entertained.

[AK47]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

I catch them on minnows when Im bored sometimes, they tend to hang on if you bring them up slow, tried boiling one but it was terrible nasty,

we boiled few, was not that bad...sometimes it is recommended to purge them with salt or just rinse multiple times prior boiling to get rid of mud taste. Too bad these local guys have narrow claws, not much meat in them, pretty much just the tail.