crawfish on paste - is this normal?

[peytr]

As I posted in another thread I fished with a cheese paste yesterday and much to my surprise cought two crawfish. When switching to bread punch I got none.

I never experienced this before: do you people get crawfish on paste?
I don't like the invasive species on the rivers (the Goby species) and now have these infesting the small 'polder' waterways.

Best regards,

Peter

 

[David Rogers 3]

Sadly, yes - the signal crayfish in my local waters will eat whatever you put on a hook. They're keener on worms and maggots than corn or bread, but they'll have a go at anything and everything.

 

[no-one in particular]

I think they may be like eels, There scent is tuned to anything animal/meat based and cheese is that. If I put meat, cheese on the hook it will always attract eels, they will sometimes take sweetcorn or bread but not very often. The only difference to that was when I used a banana based paste that had gone bad and black, the eels loved that. But then you could argue it had become animal based "bacteria".
It wouldn't surprise me crayfish have the same kind of metabolism/scent indicators, they are scavengers/predators or at least I would think they are with those claws. Crabs in the sea are the same, I cannot recall if they went for bread when i have used it but certainly anything meaty, similar creature scavenger type, they must have evolved highly sensitive scents to sniff out anything meaty going bad or decomposing.
I would guess to avoid them try mixing your paste with something else but what!? And as Dave has said before, they will go for anything especially if they are crammed full of them but, something less attractive might mean you get less bothered by them, like I do with eels. The rivers I fish only sweetcorn or plain bread other wise I am guaranteed eels, nuisances.

 

[rayner]

Personally I've never suffered from the crayfish problem.
I'm sure I read somewhere I can't remember where or when that if you put a punctured can of dog food in the water then that will attract the crays out of your swim.

 

[mikench]

Neither have I but if there are plenty put some paste in a crayfish net away from your swim and reap the dividends. The tails are delicious with mayo.

 

[S-Kippy]

You are fortunate indeed if signals have not reached you yet....but rest assurred they will.

I've heard about the tin of dogfood trick but never tried it. TBH on some waters I know you'd need a dead cow to get enough of the damned things away from your bait. As for traps its a nice idea but you'd need a tractor to lift them out and some of these things are hay-uge.....and very, very aggressive.

 

[no-one in particular]

I encountered them once on the Basingstoke canal around Aldershot, it was teeming with them. The only way I avoided them was to fish 6 inches below the surface on the float, needless to say I did not catch anything.

 

[rayner]

If there are that many I would have to place a trap and stuff the fishing.

 

[S-Kippy]

Good luck with that. I certainly wouldn't mess with a trap full of signals. Like I said some of them are huge, they are very aggresive and have claws like bolt cutters.....they are not nice things and once they are in a water you'll never get rid of them.

 

[markcw]

I used to fish a commercial that suffered with crayfish, even had them on sweetcorn, they can pull the elastic out if using light elastic.
I found the best way to remove them from the hook was to leave them dangling then let them have it with a bankstick,
A bit like a crayfish piñata

 

[S-Kippy]

I hate the damn things....even more than cormorants. Ruined my favourite river which I havent fished for 10-12 years and doubt I'll ever fish again.

 

[mikench]

There are some large traps available and if you boil water in a pan and drop them in they die instantly. I had the chance to do this in the states and we fished for crays specifically. It’s also done in Sweden. The more we eat the better it shall be.

 

[peytr]

Thanks for all info. I went back today and tried again for an hour. Again I caught two on the paste. I already hate them because it used to be such a pleasant place to fish.

After the crawfish arrived the fish went. Yesterday I think I observed the same. Pity, I hope the population wil stabilise at lower numbers because now you cannot fish the small river for more than half an hour at one spot.

We'll have to start cooking and eating these and hope we can help decimate their numbers.

 

[David Rogers 3]

You might want to check this, if staying on the right side of the law concerns you: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/permission-to-trap-crayfish-eels-elvers-salmon-and-sea-trout

 

[xenon]

Thanks for all info. I went back today and tried again for an hour. Again I caught two on the paste. I already hate them because it used to be such a pleasant place to fish.

After the crawfish arrived the fish went. Yesterday I think I observed the same. Pity, I hope the population wil stabilise at lower numbers because now you cannot fish the small river for more than half an hour at one spot.

We'll have to start cooking and eating these and hope we can help decimate their numbers.

I think, being an invasive species that it is the law that any you catch need to be done in and not returned to the water?

 

[S-Kippy]

I think, being an invasive species that it is the law that any you catch need to be done in and not returned to the water?

Correct....and they are not that easy to kill either.

 

[xenon]

Correct....and they are not that easy to kill either.

True-I once had a few on the Grand Union at Croxley-Thought a swiss army knife between the head and the body should be enough to give the good news-not a bit of it, like a bloody zombie apocalypse.

 

[markcw]

Correct....and they are not that easy to kill either.

They are with a bankstick or heel of a boot

 

[Keith M]

Stamping with heel will kill them but don’t kick the corpse into the water otherwise there will probably have eggs on them.

We had Turkish crays which are large like the Signals but the Turkish crays have slimmer but longer and more pointed claws.
The Turkish ones and the signals can’t survive together as one of them (I can’t remember which one) has a common virus which kills off the other.

We spent years laying traps for the crays and someone from one of the universities used to help and take some away as they were trying to find a way of killing them without affecting the other wild life in the water; but alas they didn’t come up with anything.

You couldn’t eat them either because of a fungus on them I tried but they tasted rubbish probably because the one I cooked might have had the fungus, which wasn’t visible on it.

They used to crawl into the banks and damage them, and on a warm night they used to climb out of the water and sit on the tree roots.

Strangely after having them for over 15 to 20 years they just fizzled out one year, and touch wood they didn’t come back, however we might still get the signals one day. It could have been because someone emptied some Wells catfish into the lake illegally one night which might have eaten them all, but we are now having to remove all of the catfish that we catch.

We insist that everyone dips their nets, slings and mats for 10 minutes before they can fish on pain of expulsion or death

Keith

 

[markcw]

Keith are your net dips changed daily ,?