How to Make Crawfish Traps With Plastic Bottles

Catch a few dozen crawfish for a Louisiana-style crawfish boil.

Whether you call them crawfish, crawdads or crayfish, these little guys are tasty! Lucky for us they are easy to catch, easy to cook and easy to eat. If you have a waterway near you, rig up one of these traps and see if you can catch a few.

Things You'll Need

• 2-liter soda bottle
• Razorblade or scalpel
• Bread bag twist ties
• Thin rope
• Bait
• Awl (optional)

Instructions

1. Using the razorblade, cut the top off one soda bottle beneath the cap. Try and make an opening a couple inches in diameter. Be careful using the razorblade, as the soda bottle will be a little slick and the razorblade can easily slip.

2. A few inches below the cut you just made, cut through the bottle again to cut off a funnel shape.

3. Hold the soda bottle and place the funnel piece into it so that the small part of the funnel is inside the soda bottle and the wide opening of the funnel is even with the cut edge of the soda bottle. Basically, it should look like you pushed the top of the soda bottle inside itself.

4. Now, poke some holes through the bottle and right through the funnel. These holes should be about 1/4 inch from the cut edge. These holes may be easier to make with an awl, if you have one. If using a razorblade, make sure you don't cut a slit angled toward the cut edge. The plastic bottle may keep ripping if you do that and the hole might rip open. If using the razorblade, cut horizontally.

5. Fit the bread bag twist ties through the holes in the soda bottle and funnel. Make sure they will keep the two pieces together. If not, put in a few more holes and use more twist ties. This will be the part you open and shut to put in the bait and get the crawdads out.

6. Find something to use as bait. Pieces of fish work really well. Some people like to open a can of cat food halfway and set that in there. Others swear by a can of tuna. Use what you have and change it up until you get to whatever seems to work the best for you. Undo the twist ties and set the bait inside then close the trap back up.

7. Go out to a freshwater stream, pond or lake. Look for an area a few feet deep or less with not too much of current. Lots of water weeds will help hide the trap from the crawfish, as will rocks. Try to think of where these shy creatures would hide and set the trap there.

8. Tie the rope around the trap and then set the cage into the water. Make sure the inside of the bottle fills with water. The opening will allow water in, which will equalize the pressure, but you will still have to hold the bottle down in the water until it fills. After the trap is set on the bottom of the stream, tie off the other end of the rope to something nearby so that the trap doesn't get lost.

9. Now, wait. Leave the trap in the water for an hour or so or even overnight. Crawfish come out mainly in the evenings and night, so leaving the trap in all night should net you some good results.

10. After waiting a while, pull your trap up. There should be a few of these marvelous little bug-eyed creatures inside. If not, move the trap to another area or try a different bait until you get the hang of it. Just about every waterway in the US has crawdads in it; the trick is making them want to go in your trap by putting your trap in the areas they frequent and baiting it with something they like.

Tips & Warnings

• If making a trap sounds like too much work but you still want to catch a few, just buy a trap. Crawfish traps are readily available for purchase from most sporting goods stores as well as online.

• Check your local fishing requirements for details on catching practices. Many states require you to have a fishing license and others limit where you can place traps. Don't break the law -- no matter how good crawdaddies taste.