What to use to catch crayfish in a crayfish trap - features of baits and what to use

Catching crayfish is quite an exciting activity that requires persistence, a certain amount of endurance and intelligence.

One way to catch crayfish is to use a crayfish trap. This is one of the most productive of legal methods. This device is a structure made of strong wire, a reliable cord and a metal mesh.

Its upper part is narrower than the lower one. You can make such a trap yourself, or you can purchase it at a store that specializes in selling fishing tackle.

The trap works as follows. The cancer gets into it, attracted by the aroma of the bait, but it is no longer able to get out. This way, a large number of these arthropods can be caught in the trap, making it a fairly effective way to catch them. However, for fishing to be successful, you need to take care of the bait.

What to use to catch crayfish in a crayfish trap?

Cancer lives in clean waters. It is almost impossible to catch it in muddy water. Its main place of residence is a river or lake, where there is no strong current and the water can settle. Cancer also loves rocky bottoms, because it is easier to find secluded places to hide there.

Cancer is a carnivore, so it won’t be possible to interest it in plant food, but with animals it’s a completely different matter. Moreover, it is worth noting that these animals are scavengers, that is, they themselves do not hunt, but feed on what has died and, accordingly, began to exude the corresponding aroma.

However, you shouldn’t go overboard here; cancer won’t covet outright rottenness and rot and certainly won’t climb into a trap for it if there’s a fresher alternative.

In order to attract prey to the crayfish trap, you need to cut the carcass, which serves as bait, so that the smell spreads. To create a tasty smell, many fishermen add Borodino bread, greased with garlic, to the bait.

What bait should I use to catch crayfish?

Fish, meat, frogs or grasshoppers are suitable as bait to be placed in the crayfish trap. This is a natural food for this scavenger, since similar products can end up in the water. Experienced fishermen have different opinions.

Some believe that fishing with rotten bait is the most successful, while others are of the opinion that fresh food is more attractive to crayfish.

The only thing that needs to be said is that in times of famine, crayfish will like any food, but if they have the opportunity to choose, then fresher meat is preferable for them.

In addition, you can use mollusks as bait, preferably those that live in the reservoir, and therefore are included in the usual diet for crayfish.

The most popular bait for catching crayfish is fish

You can use fresh fish caught in the same reservoir. Freshly frozen capelin or saury bought in a store is also suitable for this purpose.

In order for the aroma of fresh fish to spread as strongly as possible, it is necessary to make cuts with a knife parallel to its ridge. There is a misconception that crayfish are attracted to the smell of rotten fish.

Rotten meat can attract cancer only in cold water. In the summer, cancer is much more willing to accept the aroma of fresh fish. He especially likes bream, roach, silver bream, and crucian carp.

The scales of the crucian carp are first removed with a special device.

If the fish is still alive, it is kept in the sun for about an hour, and only then used as bait.

To prevent our bait from floating up, it is imperative to pierce the air bubble of the fish.

And if catching crayfish is carried out in the current, the fish should be secured to the net using a fishing line or a pin.

Distribution of bait by fishing period

Bait for crayfish in spring

For spring fishing for crayfish, it is best to use fish meat, namely fillet or a small whole fish, cut in such a way that the meat can emit a smell. Crucian carp, gobies and fry of other fish can be used as bait.

You can catch such fish yourself or buy it frozen at the market.

Lure for crayfish in summer

In summer, when there is a relative abundance of food in reservoirs, meat can be used as bait. In this case, the bait for catching crayfish on a crayfish can be offal such as pieces of liver and stomach; you can also use parts of animal heads, for example, cheeks or ears.

All this can also be purchased without any problems in any market.

Bait for crayfish in autumn and winter

In autumn and winter, when it has already gotten colder, the amount of food in the reservoir drops and the colder the air, the more hungry all the inhabitants of the reservoir, including scavengers, starve. At this time of year, you can use bait such as garlic bread.

A piece of rye bread with unpeeled garlic cloves pressed into it must be wrapped in gauze, otherwise the bread will become soggy or the crayfish caught in the trap will simply take it away. Also at this time of year you can use meat and fish, only stale ones.

Features of baits when catching crayfish using crayfish traps

The most common bait is fish. Since it is easy to prepare, it is inexpensive and you can even catch it yourself in the body of water where the crayfish lives.

The fish should be firm and give off a strong odor, which will attract crayfish.

In order for the smell to be stronger, the carcass should be cut and the scales should also be peeled off a little with a toothpick.

One small fish is enough for successful fishing.

The semolina may also be alive. You can find a shell or snail in a pond and put it in a shell trap. You can also use amphibians, in particular frogs, as live bait, but not all fishermen are confident in the effectiveness of this fishing method.

Another popular bait is garlic bread. The fact is that garlic itself has a pungent odor, which perfectly attracts crayfish, and bread in this case is a filler.

What does cancer eat?

Cancer is a night hunter. During the day, it rests in shelters, located under snags, stones, and in burrows dug in the area of steep clay banks. In the warm season, it mainly lives at shallow depths, and with the onset of cold weather it moves to deep areas.

Contrary to popular belief, cancer is not a classic predator. Almost 90% of its diet consists of plant foods. These are various algae, such as pondweed, elodea, horsetail, nettle and even water lily. In winter, it eats fallen and submerged tree leaves at the bottom of the reservoir.

Contrary to popular belief, the diet of crayfish is based on plant foods.

Meat foods in the cancer diet include:

shellfish;
frogs and tadpoles;
insects and their larvae;
worms

Cancer also readily eats carrion. Carrion emits a strong odor, which arthropods sense at a considerable distance because they have a good sense of smell.

DIY bait

In addition to choosing a bait when fishing for crayfish using a crayfish, you need to prepare it correctly.

If the choice falls on a fish carcass, then it is necessary to squeeze out the air bubble, which replaces the fish’s lungs, otherwise it will float, which will not contribute to catching crayfish. The fish needs to be cut and the scales picked a little.

A piece of meat or offal smells so good to an arthropod, so there is no need to cut it. For greater safety, it can be wrapped in gauze.

Bread with garlic, grated or simply with a pressed clove, must be wrapped in gauze. If this is not done, then, as mentioned above, the bait will become soggy or will be carried away by the crayfish lured into the trap.

How to catch crayfish using a crayfish trap?

There are two main types of crayfish:

Open type. The main difference in the design of traps of this particular type is simplicity.
Thanks to this, a fisherman can easily build such a crayfish trap with his own hands. Metal mesh and wood can be used as materials for making such a device. The basis is a wooden, sometimes metal, circle with a diameter of fifty to seventy centimeters. A metal mesh is attached to the circle on one side so that the trap looks like a colander; on the other side, a cord is attached, with the help of which the crayfish is raised and lowered to the bottom of the reservoir;
Closed type. This trap is a more effective way of catching arthropods than an open one, since it is much more difficult for arthropods to get out of it. The design of this shell is more complex, but it is also more convenient; for example, it can be folded, which greatly facilitates its transportation and storage.

Best time to fish

The best time to effectively hunt crayfish is at night. At this calm time of day, when other aquatic inhabitants are less active, arthropods emerge from their burrows in search of food.
Rarely, there are bodies of water where they can actively forage in the early morning. Crayfish are hunted all year round, however, in some regions there are bans on catching them in certain months. There are also restrictions on catching animals of certain sizes.

In some areas, you cannot hunt arthropods with your hands or with oversized traps. You need to clarify this data directly in your region, otherwise you can incur a considerable fine for violating the law.

What time to catch crayfish with crayfish?

During the main ice period, February and January, the crayfish prefers to stay in muddy burrows. Accordingly, it is almost never caught.

In March and April, it only awakens from hibernation, so you shouldn’t expect a big catch either.

In May and June, the crayfish is also poorly caught, since at this time it molts, shedding its old shell, and separates the eggs.

Crayfish fishing will be successful between July and December. In July-August, the crayfish, having shed its shell, becomes active and, as a result, explores the reservoir in search of food.

In September-October, the crayfish gains weight and egg deposits begin to form in females. In November-December, the crayfish becomes fatty, and caviar deposits have already accumulated under the new shell.

However, it is worth saying here that these dates are very approximate, since they are influenced by factors such as air temperature in a given period, the beginning of ice formation on the surface of the reservoir, etc.

Fishing technique

Often reeds grow near the shores of a reservoir, which complicates the installation of a trap. It is best to lower the crayfish into the water from a boat.

In order to subsequently find the crayfish trap, you can tie a piece of foam plastic to the cord, or you can tie the trap to a stick, which in turn will be fixed to the shore.

The fishing technique is extremely simple. The pre-prepared trap slowly sinks to the bottom of the reservoir. If there are several crayfish traps, they should be installed at a distance of at least ten meters from each other. The trap can be checked three hours after installation.

The most popular lures

As you can see, both animal and plant baits can be used to catch crayfish. The former are preferable in autumn and winter. The latter should be used in the warm period, from late spring to August. However, this condition is not necessary.

Who eats peas

From plant attachments you can use:

bread;
makukha;
peas;
corn;
cake

Animal bait can be taken fresh or spoiled. The most popular are:

liver;
meat;
fish;
offal;
worms;
frog;
snails and mollusks.

Animal and plant bait can be combined, selecting the best combinations that can attract the attention of underwater inhabitants. Below we will look at several catchy recipes that attract cancer.

From the top

The groundbait made on the basis of makukha turns out to be quite workable. The ingredients we need are sunflower cake, bread, dill.

The manufacturing process is as follows:

Cut the pressed sunflower cake into medium-sized pieces.
Add pieces of rye bread to them.
Finely chop fresh dill and mix with the rest of the ingredients. In the absence of it, we use dried seasoning.
All that remains is to thoroughly mix the ingredients and place them in cheesecloth.

At the pond, we put the gauze in a crayfish catcher and send it into the water. You can tie it with a rope to a stick, which we stick into the bottom at the intended hunting location. The appetizing smell of dill will quickly gather all the living creatures in the area.