How to Catch Crayfish

Sunny days, dirty knees, muddy faces and fun, that's what crayfish or crawdad fishing, is all about. No matter what method you use, crawdad fishing is easy and fun for the whole family. Here is how to catch crayfish.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Gather your fishing materials. Bait can be any kind of meat cut in small pieces. Hot dogs and bacon are favorites. At its simplest crawdad fishing can be done with a piece of bait tied to a length of twine. But to catch larger amounts, a long handled, hand-held net or a trap works best.

2. Find a fishing hole. Crawdads are found all across the United States, in ponds, lakes, streams and rivers. Crawdads are most active at night so it is best to fish for them in the late evening or at night.

3. Bait your line, net or trap and drop it down into the water. Leave the bait undisturbed for about thirty minutes. When you pull up the line, net or trap your crawdads will come up too.

4. Pick the crawdads out of the net or trap and place them in a dampened burlap bag or other container with a dampened towel. This will keep the crawdads alive and fresh until you are ready to cook and eat them.

Tips & Warnings

• Crayfish or crawdad traps can be found in sporting goods or fishing stores.
• Young children love the string and bacon method of fishing for crawdads. Nothing is more fun to see than a child's face when they catch their first crawdad on a string.
• A fishing license is required in some states for crayfishing so check your states fishing laws before starting.

Resources

• Field guides for crayfish.
• A crawdad article.

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