How to Deter Signal Crayfish?

[peterjg]

I have been trying different methods of getting the blasted signal crayfish out of my swim(s) on the Kennet. I have tried pierced cat food tins on string in the edge - this works only to a very limited extent. Tried big cubes of luncheon meat and those big marrow sized dog food sausages - this works in attracting the crayfish but it does not last as long as required.

I must admit that it galls to actually feed the crayfish but they are a pain when legering. I have thought of using boilies or big hard pellets but this will work out expensive. What I need is something cheap, readily available and that is hard so the crayfish don't eat it too quickly. I fish a very little fished bit of the river and feed upstream to draw the crayfish out of the swim.

Any ideas of what I can use?

 

[rayner]

Try the sausage dog meat as you have already mentioned wrapped in a cloth bag.
My wife uses a small zipped net bag in the washing machine to prevent bra wires from getting through the holes in the tub.
A meat or fish type of bait may work well in one of those.

 

[peter crabtree]

You could try this Peter....

Fox Arma Mesh | North East Tackle Supplies

 

[Clodhopper]

I seem to recall reading an article once about someone who baited their crayfish traps with bacon.

Perhaps the rind would suffice?

 

[mikench]

Set up baited traps around your swim to catch the little blighters and then boil them, let them cool, add mayo and cayenne pepper and enjoy. Clean them first of course !

 

[S-Kippy]

I'm afraid I don't think there is a practical solution. These damned things are why I stopped fishing the Kennet but I simply cannot fish through them. A dead sheep staked out upstream might keep them occupied for an hour or two.

Artificial bait perhaps ?

 

[mikench]

Lots of traps in a concerted effort will help! I am often amazed that man who can wipeout any and all animal species, cannot eradicate signal cray fish, mink etc etc!

 

[peter crabtree]

Lots of traps in a concerted effort will help(

How many traps and licensed trappers do you think we need nationwide?

 

[mickrigney]

A great tip from Bill Cottam's book Behind The Rods. Hobby Craft sell wooden balls (pardon the pun) and Bill soaked them in a flavour and had great success carp fishing with them. He even fished where the "crays" were most prolific and caught carp with no interference from "Reggie". Worth a try.

 

[mikench]

Probably millions! However my comments were directed,as requested , to a particular swim ie a very small area of water. I may be deluded and incorrect.

In my opinion if man can almost eradicate bison, salmon, cod, game birds etc we can with a little thought and applied effort eradicate signal crayfish.

If every fisherman on every waterway afflicted and on every occasion set traps the numbers would be radically reduced. The cynic in me would aver that if a bounty was set for each crayfish caught , they would disappear within 6 months

 

[Neil Maidment]

Here's an alternative view!

I've used nothing but meat in several different forms and guises on a river not too far from the Kennett As evidenced by the bursting traps set by the employed trapper, there are huge numbers of the things in there. But I can honestly say I've only had a handful over the last several seasons. I've had a lot more than a handful of barbel in that same period.

My favourite presentation is large torn off pieces on a simple hair and I'm happy for it to sit out there for up to an hour. Yes I often get lots of taps and knocks and sometimes they grab it with enough force for the centrepin ratchet to click over a few times. But when that rod tip activity stops my attention and concentration is at it's highest.

Each to their own but I have absolute confidence in the way I fish that particular venue which has been built on several years of very succesful barbel fishing.

---------- Post added at 19:18 ---------- Previous post was at 19:07 ----------

Probably millions! However my comments were directed,as requested , to a particular swim ie a very small area of water. I may be deluded and incorrect.

In my opinion if man can almost eradicate bison, salmon, cod, game birds etc we can with a little thought and applied effort eradicate signal crayfish.

If every fisherman on every waterway afflicted and on every occasion set traps the numbers would be radically reduced. The cynic in me would aver that if a bounty was set for each crayfish caught , they would disappear within 6 months

I reckon it will take a long, long time! There are traps set every 20mtrs or so on the entire length of the section of a little river I fish as they are up and down on adjoining sections. That has been the case for the last several seasons at least. At the appropriate time they are emptied and reset very regularly and the trappers "catch" is still increasing at quite a rate. The volume taken away for trade across the Channel was a total shock to me, simply astounding!

 

[mikench]

I am sure you are correct Neil. If they were inedible and thus useless I can see the problem is insurmountable , however they are delicious to eat and popular and dare I say expensive. I have not come across them in myfishing but would happily take as many as I could catch. Think of them as a prawn or small lobster and the attraction seems obvious to me; an inexhaustible supply of valuable and tasty protein!

Perhaps a cunning plan by fishing magic members is possible

 

[Neil Maidment]

Every single crayfish this guy gets from the several stretches of river, canal and lake he is licensed to trap very quickly ends up on the other side of the Channel via extra large articulated trucks. The European market is huge for the things and he makes a handsome living.

 

[mikench]

I am sure he does! Crayfish tails here in France are very popular but expensive as they are in the UK. I have no idea what it takes to obtain a licence to trap nor, it should be said , why on earth you need to be licensed to remove a foreign species which is causing havoc in our waterways.

Something for my retirement perhaps!

 

[Peter Jacobs]

For a couple of years I lived and worked in southern Mississippi where Crayfish are truly abundant.

We would buy them, fresh, from stalls and the markets for around a buck sixty a pound!

Here in the UK we get poor frozen examples for £10.90 for 500g . . . . .

Whole crayfish in 500g packs delivered to your door

Friends and family back in the southern States simply don't believe me when I tell them the prices we pay here.

Typically over there you have a Crawfish Broil with a huge cauldron of water with a spice mix you buy at any market, into that you throw literally hundreds of "mudbugs" (as they call them), together with small potatoes and pieces of corn on the cobb an boil the lot until the veggies are soft-ish.

The cauldron is drained, and newspaper put on a garden table, and the 'bugs', the spuds and corn pieces thrown onto the table and everyone digs in, fingers only, no cutlery . . .

Maybe we should simply embrace the damn things, catch and cook every one we "land" as they are really very tasty little devils . . . . . I like mine with a little lemon mayo on the side

 

[S-Kippy]

Embrace them ? I'd like to embrace them with a road roller.

It would not be so bad if they were not so prolific and so destructive. I dread to think what they are doing to the rivers....I don't think you can blame the lack of silverfish entirely on had breeding years and cormorants. Once these damned things are in they are in to stay and the consequences are dire. I fear the signal infested rivers of the south will crash once there is nothing left big enough to eat them. I was talking to a bloke on the Wey during the week who fishes the Kennet and the guy that traps this particular stretch is taking roughly 500 of the damned things out every week. There are still enough left to cause problems when fishing. Goodness knows how many there are in there.

It is all very well saying trap the buqqers and eat them but you'd need a tractor to lift the trap out and I doubt the effects on the overall population would be noticeable. We are stuck with these bloody things until they have eaten everything in the rivers and are forced to eat themselves as theres nothing else left.

If you are fortunate enough to live in an area that they've not reached yet then make the most of it.....they will be along shortly.

The Kennet is (was) my favourite ever river. I loved it but I've not fished it for over 10 years now and I doubt i ever will again. All because of signals.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Embrace them ? I'd like to embrace them with a road roller.

I meant only from a culinary point of view . . . .

From an angling viewpoint I too think they are a ruddy disaster, and one that I fail to see an effective solution against.

I think Ray Roberts has a great piccie showing a catch of Crayfish from one of his local stretches; hopefully he will post it on here.

 

[mikench]

I agree with with what Peter has said. Call me naive but if you had half a dozen funnel type traps which you put in your swim(s) you may not only stop them taking your bait but could have a nice little supper at the end of the day.

They are delicious! I have eaten them as Peter has described in and around n'awlins y'all and it was a treat. No wonder Americans think we are crackers: we put fish back and ignore the crayfish!

I feel there is a market for some small but well designed traps which could be marketed to fisherman. This could be almost like a keep net which you empty periodically throughout the day. I doubt you would ever eradicate them completely but if they provide free protein and their numbers could be kept in check, it is at least progress.

You would not say no to a lobster!

http://thecrayfishcompany.com/crayfish-traps.html

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5AvXjJRjq_4

 

[no-one in particular]

I fished in Aldershot once just behind Ash Station, I think it was the Wey, hundreds of them so I had to float fish very shallow, about 12 inches and this stopped their attention but I did not catch a fish. Also the Birmingham canal just out of Aldershot and hundreds in there as well but it was shallow. Oddly fished the canal the other end near Weybridge and no sign of them but this canal connects to the River Wey which flows into the Thames (I think that's right). That was some time ago so I do not know what the state of play is now; I think they ruin fishing.

 

[mikench]

Here is a useful site; Signal crayfish, Trapping and Catching - Wild Food - Natural Bushcraft - The True Spirit of Bushcraft

Aren't we all Ray Mears' at heart.