Signal Crayfish ?

[Bob Hornegold]

The River Lea/Navigation and surrounding Ponds and Lakes are becoming almost unfishable due to the explosion of Crayfish.

Keeping a bait on the bottom for any length of time is impossible.

The only chance you get is when there are Big fish in the area and the Crays disappear for a while.

Is there a answer ?

Bob

 

[Fred Bonney]

Attract the big fish, eat the crayfish and perhaps, use plastic baits?

 

[Bob Hornegold]

How about stocking the rivers with BIG FISH Chub, Barbel and Perch.

They could be bred in Still Waters, Grown on in a protected enviroment then when they have reached a decent size, stocked into Rivers and Canals.

Carp eat lots of Crayfish as well, so stockings of Double figure Carp would soon mop up a lot of the Crays ?

Bob

 

[noknot]

I can't see that helping really Bob.........

 

[beerweasel]

Trap them and eat them, they taste great.
Otters like them so maybe they will come to the rescue.

 

[noknot]

Mmmmmmmmmmm Thai red curry with crayfish, sounds awesome to me......:w

 

[Fred Bonney]

.......and there was I thinking that the Lea only had BIG FISH!

 

[S-Kippy]

The River Lea/Navigation and surrounding Ponds and Lakes are becoming almost unfishable due to the explosion of Crayfish.

Is there a answer ?

Bob

No....you either put up with it [if you can] or go elsewhere. I couldn't so I went elsewhere and no longer fish my favourite ever river...The Kennet. Broke my heart but I simply could not stand it.

I believe one or possibly more of the Scandanavian countries had some success by trapping crays,neutering the big males & then re-introducing them so that the breeding rate fell. I dont know by how much or whether it solved the problem entirely but it certainly helped.

Can't see our beloved EA doing that though. Signals are a far bigger problem than otters will ever be and on a par with cormorants IMO.In fact I think the decline of silver fish in particular is due to the combined effect of cormorant & crayfish predation not one or t'other in isolation. You can shoot cormorants but kill a signal cray and 1000 of his mates turn up for the funeral.

With crays eating the spawn and cormorants anything else once the current year classes of big fish die out [or get ottered] then a lot of rivers are doomed. Its only a matter of time sadly.

 

[Fred Bonney]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the EA were testing out something to neuter crayfish!

 

[xenon]

hope that is true Fred-they have long since passed the stage of being a menace and now threaten to wreck many waters. I no longer fish many places I used to because of them and I wish the Government/EA would wake up and do something!

 

[chav professor]

The crayfish issue is one that concerns me greatly....... It is nearly impossible to isolate invasive species, it is only a matter of time before crays will infest the majority of freshwater systems......

I bet if they threatened a game fishery and sea trout and salmon were effected, the EA would be chucking all our coarse fishing licence money at the problem.

The association with 'crayfish = big fish' may I suspect encourage some neanderthal to speed the process up.......

Why can't you use american signal crayfish for bait????????????????????? They make a lovely crunchy sound under foot.........

 

[S-Kippy]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the EA were testing out something to neuter crayfish!

I hope that's true too Fred because if not then the rivers have had it. These things are unstoppable without some sort of drastic & effective intervention. There are places on the Kennet [and other rivers I'm sure] where you'd need a winch to pull a trap out....and you could fill it virtually ad infinitum.

Christian....if you haven't got them in your neck of the woods yet then make the most of it and pray they dont get established. You have no idea what its like. Bob is absolutely right in that it renders the water pretty nigh unfishable to all but the most dedicated & single minded anglers. They are great big ba$tard things too,very aggresive and not easy to kill. I've crushed them to a pulp underfoot,kicked the remains in [technically an illegal introduction] and watched it swim off. They reckon cockroaches can survive a nuclear blast....I'd back signal crayfish to be there the next day feeding on them.

 

[chubby48]

they are taking over in a lot of places

 

[S-Kippy]

I've caught chub that have spewed up bits of signal but it takes a fair sized chub to take on a big signal. These things do not retreat.

 

[bails]

I have a cray fish infestation at water in my club. I have read that carp eat crayfish though. Surely pike would have a go?

 

[xenon]

just has a look on the EA website. Turns out to be an offence, should you catch one whilst fishing, to return it alive. Since I am not in the habit of carrying a brick with me i don't really know how to deal with them. Anyone out there got a method of dealing with the b******d's?

 

[Ric Elwin]

We've had them in my local canal for many years, and lots of them. What's surprised me is that the fish population has barely changed in that time, if it all. OK they are a nuisance, but other than that, is there any proof that they, on their own, have destroyed fisheries?

Cormorants though, are a different matter. They have virtually wiped out the population of Grayling from the Mersey basin, in just one cold winter.

 

[S-Kippy]

Crush them underfoot and fling the damned things as far away from the water as possible is as good as anything.

 

[waggy]

just has a look on the EA website. Turns out to be an offence, should you catch one whilst fishing, to return it alive. Since I am not in the habit of carrying a brick with me i don't really know how to deal with them. Anyone out there got a method of dealing with the b******d's?

Sort out some recipes; they're quite delicious apparently and were introduced in the early 70s, I believe, because of their rapid growth rate, high fecundity and greater finishing weight than our indigenes. Unfortunately the British public never really took to them all that well. Too fiddly to eat , I guess.
Perhaps some enterprising soul might catch and export them to France where they like these things if there are as many as some people say there are and it was worth someone's while to put a trapping circuit together. Might make a good auxiliary living for some of the eel fishermen nowadays.

 

[xenon]

looking at the price of crayfish sandwiches in M and S there might well be a good living to be made for someone out there!