Crawfish Burrows In My Yard

Hi everyone, I have alot of crawfish mounds in my yard and was wondering is there some sort of way to catch these guys...I want to keep one in my tank. Can i catch him with my soda bottle trap if I bait sardines in it? I hear at night they come up and look for food so I thought...hey why not try...of course I am going to ask the pros here on the board if it's ever been done? Or am I wasting my time? Because if I can pull it off, I will be able to trap alot of crawfish.

Thanks for your time.

Haven't tried it myself, but here's a technique I've heard: get a lacy hair scrunchy and tie it to some fishing line. Use a stick to poke it down into the burrow. The crayfish will attack the scrunchy and become so entangled that you can pull him out.

Or you could just use a shovel. Sometimes the crawdads will come sit at the entrance to the burrow, especially at night. You can go out with a light and try to spot them; when you see one, quickly jab the shovel at an angle so that it closes off the burrow below him. Then you can easily scoop him up (provided you weren't too slow or aimed poorly and cut him in half instead).

But burrowing crayfish are not the same species as the ones you usually find in the water. You're better off finding true aquatic crayfish for your tank. You can catch them in minnow traps sometimes, or you can use traps designed for crayfish (they're essentially like minnow traps, but they're square or at least flat-bottomed to make it easier for crawdads to crawl in). You can bait them with sardines, dry cat food, or really anything meaty.

Edited by Newt, 13 March 2008 - 11:36 PM.

DIG!!!!!!!!! it is the most effective way period. Yeah it will tear up some yard but it appears to be the most effective way to catch them. Other ways I've used successfully are poor alot of water down the burrow and when it gets to the surface (and it can take ALOT of water) pump it like you would giving someone chest compressions. You can also set up cloth fences to direct them towards a pit trap or just catch them by hand. Many burrowers are active at night so on a cool humid night get out with a headlamp or flashlight and you will probably see them around the burrows. Speaking of burrows, alot of burrows doesn't necessarily mean alot of crayfish, many are connected to a single chamber.

If you plan on keeping it I would suggest you not keep with in a fully aquatic tank. A smaller plastic critter tank with some gravel and a few rocks with water almost up to the surface of the gravel will work or a more elaborate design if you prefer in a larger tank. I suggest getting some pictures and sending them to Chris Skelton for identification if you catch any.

Yeah I found out that we have an underground spring in our front yard so that may explain there presence. I will definitely try those methods mentioned earlier...Also I did some google digging and found people have caught them in the soda bottle traps by baiting meats and stuff like you said....I think i will fill the whole up and try the scrunchie method...will report back with results.. Oh! and I will post pics if I get any

I've found that the entanglement method can be somewhat destructive, even lethal. If you get a claw bent back pulling it out of the burrow it's not going to let go.

dig, dig, dig. dang things seem to almost always be past armpit-deep. I cut the heck out of my hands digging through iced-up mud trying to get Cambarus dubius on the Appalachian Plateau a couple of winters back. It made me consider the following (if only for the briefest of moments...):

www.rodenator.com/press01.htm

the thought of playing mudbug lacrosse wasn't enough to warrant it. there's no substitute for digging.

I've found that the entanglement method can be somewhat destructive, even lethal. If you get a claw bent back pulling it out of the burrow it's not going to let go.

Hmm thank you for your input. I think I will try the water method...and tonight before I go to bed I will bait my bottle and leave it by the greater amount of burrows, I am assuming this is where the crawfish comes up the most at maybe he'll take a stroll into my bottle for an oscar`meyer or a sardine...

dig, dig, dig. dang things seem to almost always be past armpit-deep. I cut the heck out of my hands digging through iced-up mud trying to get Cambarus dubius on the Appalachian Plateau a couple of winters back. It made me consider the following (if only for the briefest of moments...):

www.rodenator.com/press01.htm

the thought of playing mudbug lacrosse wasn't enough to warrant it. there's no substitute for digging.

I could imagine you feeling that way with icy mud cutting your hands...Ouch! but i can't believe they are usually down that deep. I think I'm gonna try to bait the bottle and fill the holes up and hopefully tomorrow morning I will have crawfish in my bottle or by the end of the day I hope to be able to run one out of it's hole. I read somewhere that some dropped alka seltzer down a hole to flush them out... but I am not sure about that. I don't wanna harm them. Al else fails, I shall dig the yard up..

Ok I threw some hotdogs on a string down some crawfish holes...and I baited the bottle. One way or another I should have a crawfish by tonight.

as a kid we would go out at night withe a piece of bacon tied to a piece of string. Sometimes you could see the crawdad in the hole and drop the bacon right to him. Othert time a stick would help get rthe bacon deep enough. He would grab on and with slow steady pressure you could coax him out. As soon as he is outside the hole cover the hole so he can't get back in there and you have him. I wouldn't want to try and catch 50 of them this way but it was good entertainment on summer evenings.

as a kid we would go out at night withe a piece of bacon tied to a piece of string. Sometimes you could see the crawdad in the hole and drop the bacon right to him. Othert time a stick would help get rthe bacon deep enough. He would grab on and with slow steady pressure you could coax him out. As soon as he is outside the hole cover the hole so he can't get back in there and you have him. I wouldn't want to try and catch 50 of them this way but it was good entertainment on summer evenings.

Crafty little buggers stole my hotdog... perhaps a little night recon is in order.

They have eluded me thus far! but I shall catch these mysterious crays if it's the last thing I do.