CRAYFISH??????

I AM NEW TO THIS FORUM AND I WANTED TO TAKE MY KIDS TO GO CATCH SOME CRAYFISH WITH THEM I LIVE IN EAST BOSTON MASS ANY PONDS AROUND MY AREA THAT WOULD HAVE CRAYFISH.

THANKS

almost all rocky streams and ponds will have craws in em

any tips or what kind of equipment should be used ?

Shiner trap should catchem along with shiners.
Available at wal-mart or tackle shops.

if your looking for a little more work just go around and flip over rocks like you would do in freshwater looking for crabs haha just be were of the pinchers

thanks fellas

Once it warms up go at night with a flash light and you should be able to get a few.

catch some bluegills or hornpout. Stake them in the ground and go back at night. Bingo more than you could use and EAT Yummie.

As children we used to just turn over rocks in the stream. You have to do it slowly. Sometimes it helps to have one of those little aquarium nets that you can use to sneak up behind them.

any tips or what kind of equipment should be used ?

all you need is your hands and a good set of eyes, its actually pretty fun, every now and then you stumble upon a really beefy one, or one with a crazy colored shell, makes things interesting

when i was a kid we would go along the pier wave breakers - the big rocks and shine in there with a flashlight - their eyes reflect like cats

then with a net harvest them - but that was italy - principle shlould be the same

I remember when the kman and I were teens and getting into bass fishing, we went up to a stream right near his house. We must have gotten about a dozen a d brought them to his house. We set up a container with a screen on top and were trying figure out how in the heck were we supposed to hook these things? They were feisty little buggers, especially one that was particularly big and mean. Well we were all worried for nothing because as it turns out, the neighborhood racoons made a buffet out of our crayfish that night and didn't leave us with any to use for bait. I know I've never tried using live crayfish since then.

This is one way we hook them.. 2 at a time.
I even try foam under the bottom and try to float them on the top of the water.

yeah i personally like to just go out after work (midnight) with a flashlight and waders and flip rocks and tires and what ever other s*** is littering the bottom especially just at the edge of shore, but i have had good luck with a crayfish trap (like a minnow trap but square not round and has a different opening) and put either a few dead shiners in it as bait or some cat food. as for hooking them ive tryed different ways of hooking them to see what keeps em alive longest and i once tryed putting a small elastic band around one once and wacky rigging it threw the band but once i had one fly off i stopped that crap and went back to just hooking them near the tail under one of the last rib bones and back up on the other side of the same bone just barely skin hooking so as not to sever the big vein near the tail and the rib bone keeps the hook from pulling out when casting

I recall as a kid in North Central Texas we would tie a piece of bacon to a kite string and attach an old washer to sink the bacon....the critters would pinch it with their claws and would not let go...had a great time when I was a young kid doing this..I am sure your kids would enjoy as well..

PJ