About Crayfish Traps

Crayfish are scavengers which lie under rocks and in the nooks and crannies along shorelines. It is easy to trap them with the right bait and equipment. A cylinder of wire mesh, a funnel or old piece of panty hose or sock, and you can make a single-entry, no-exit trap. Stake a line of traps under water and pull them up daily to empty your catch and replace the bait. Release any fish or otters which manage to get into your trap.

Considerations

Many commercial crayfish farmers believe that growing them along with rice helps the crayfish gain size more quickly. Crayfish will browse the outer shoots of young rice plants when other food is not readily available. However, baiting a trap with vegetable matter will not succeed nearly as well as using chicken livers, tuna or balls of slightly spoiled meat.

Fish fingerlings, young otters and young catfish will often catch themselves in your trap. Most of the fish fingerlings will work themselves out unharmed. Leaving a door in the trap that can be pushed open by the otter will spare it hours of panic. Catfish will need to be released by hand.

Size

Crayfish smaller than 4 to 6 inches long should be thrown back. Smaller crayfish do not have enough meat to justify harvesting them other than as supplemental animal feed. Crayfish rarely grow larger than 7 inches long due to competition and cannibalism. Crayfish traps do not need to be larger than 10 to 12 inches or wider than 4 inches. Anything wider or longer will trap curious catfish or otters.

Environmental Impact

Crayfish trapping is easier on the environment than dredging or netting. Small enough traps will capture only crayfish, with the occasional curious catfish or young otter. Nets, on the other hand, will catch anything and everything. Even if the fish and other animals are released after capture, many will die of stress or other injuries received while trying to free themselves. Dredging stirs up bottom sediment, adding to the burden of downstream water treatment plants.

Function

Crayfish traps are passive. The crayfish walks into an increasingly narrower tube, falls into the bottom of the trap, and is prevented from leaving by not being able to reach or locate the opening. Like lobster pots in miniature, there is usually a stretchy, socklike passage inward which requires more dexterity to open in reverse than the crayfish can muster.

Expert Insight

According to Gypsy Wilburn, "Unless you are trapping crayfish for commercial production or are in an area where the water is algae covered or the water's edge is overgrown so that it is difficult to reach, by the time you make, bait, set and check your traps, you could just harvest them by hand. Wade in, turn over rocks, pick out the large ones, and leave the rest. This helps you avoid collecting undersized or egg-laden crayfish. Besides, it's fun."