How to Rig a Soft Crawfish
Crawfish are known as crayfish, crawdabs or crawdads, depending upon the region that you live in. Soft crawfish are positive creature bait options for attracting catfish, panfish and smallmouth bass. Rigging soft crawfish correctly according to the fish you wish to attract, is the key to a successful experience. You may want to rig the crawfish dead, rig the tail only or rig it whole and alive. Peel the shell just before shedding to make a "softy," as suggested by BackwoodsHome.com. Once the crawfish has been shelled, it remains without a shell about 12 hours.
Instructions
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Catfish prefer dead crawfish Thread dead crawfish on hooks for catfish by inserting the hook into the tail of the crawfish. Catfish will swallow the crawfish whole.
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Hook the crawfish into the meaty portion of the tail. Alternatively, you can snap the tail off and use the tail to hide the hook. This method is also positive for attractive flathead catfish and walleye.
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Hook a live crawfish carefully by threading the hook through the back or the front. Thread the hook slowly as to not harm any internal organs. For bass, use scissors to cut one of the arms or legs shorter than the others. The bass will consider the crawfish as injured and find it more enticing.
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Squeeze the meat out of the large pincers. Thread the pincer meat onto the hook. You can also use this same squeezing method for tail meat. Pincer and tail meat can attract panfish.
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Tips & Warnings
Crawfish fishing is prohibited during winter months in many states, such as Washington, due to the protection of the reproduction capacity of the female crawfish. Check the crawfish fishing regulations in your state before catching crawfish to use as bait.
References
Resources
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