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In reply to Post #1
An alternative rig has recently found favour with me and my mates thanks to the arrival of the Rig Marole Bore Ring. These are a blessing for the Wood Ball Rig as all you need do is simply screw a Bore Ring into the wood ball.
The ball can then be mounted on a Multi Rig or any other hook/rig arrangement you favour.
When you land a carp you can either change the ball and pop the one just removed back into the glug pot or simply touch up the hook point and chuck the same rig it out again! The balls retain their smell/attraction more or less indefinitely.
These wooden balls have been a God send for me an my mates so if you are faced with the prospect of being driven mad by the activities of crayfish, why not give them a try.
I hope this helps some of you put a few lumps on the bank this summer. 
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There seems to have been something of an explosion of crayfish in UK waters, while they proliferate in many EU countries. They can be a real PITA and as far as I know there is not a bait that they will not try to eat. Some have said that crays won't touch tiger nuts: I have seen them cover a bed of tigers so thickly you couldn't see the bottom and the crayfish ripped them to shreds in minutes.
I have watched the crays in a French lake devour a kilo of shelf life boilies in less than ten minutes and seen them crawl all over a carpet of pellets, groundbait and other feed.
So what can we do to stop these pests from ruining our day?
Here are my basics:
1. Bait: There is nothing they won't eat but there is one trick you can use which I picked up from Bill Cottam when he fished the Commons Lake Syndicate in France that I ran in the mid-90s. I'll come to that in a minute.
2. Hooklink: Only the stiffest, toughest nylon or fluoro will do as they can cut through ordinary nylon and low diameter fluoros in seconds.
3. NEVER use a soft braided hooklink as they will tie it in a tangle of knots as they mess around with the bait.
4. The same goes for Coated braids, the exception being Hydrolink 25lb which is stiff enough and tough enough to withstand the critters!
5. Light running leads are a no-no as they will drive you crazy with the alarms bleeping like a mad thing until the hookbait is gone. While they are attacking the hookbait they will drag it all over the place and there is every chance that the hook will be blunted or the hair tangled around the shank.
6. Use a heavy inline lead. We have found that they will eventually get fed up with trying to move the bait around if they cannot actually move it too far.
7. Use very short stiff rigs as this too will stop them from moving the lead/rig around too much.
8. Always bury the bait stop in the bait. If it is left outside of the hookbait as normal they will remove it in seconds and have the hookbait away just like that! You may also consider gluing the stop in place.
And so now we come to the bait itself. This was Bill's big edge on the Commons Lake and many other guys on the syndicate would tear their hair out as he got run after run while they got plagued by the crays. The answer is of course wooden balls.
These can be bought online or in craft shops. I bought 3 dozen of three different sizes in 1997 and I have still got most of them as you simply don't loose them as you would other hookbaits. Mine have been stored in a glug of Nutrabaits Fruit Special since they were first purchased and the attraction seems as good today as it was back then.
I used a 1mm wood drill to create a hole for the hair.
As for rigs, well as outlined above I use short stiff rigs and these days the hooklink material is 30lb Mirage. This is how I create a crayfish-proof rig. First I tie a four turn overhand knot in the end of the Mirage and pull it tight.
Next I thread the hooklink material through the drilled hole and pull the knot down so it is tight to the opening.
Now I pull hard on the other end of the hooklink material so that the knot enters the bore of the hole, and then I trim away the tag end. The 'hookbait' is now held securely in place by the knot.
Using a knotless knot I attach the hook. I like the Fox SR pattern with its beaked point as this resists damage on stones and gravel better than straight pointed hooks.
As mentioned I prefer a semi fixed inline lead for this rig for the reasons given above. You can see the short length of my hooklink in this photo.
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 #38 14 Oct 2023 at 4.44am | |   |
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So worked for me this
Gave me a right edge
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In reply to Post #23
thnx for sharing fishing umm al quwain
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#35 11 Jul 2021 at 5.25pm | | |
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In reply to Post #2
Just noticed that all the pix have gone. Give me a day or two, and I'll try to get them up again using another host.
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#34 14 Jun 2019 at 7.57pm | | |
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Question for crayfish lovers
Not a fan of artificial baits. What are people’s experiences with the artificial boilies. I have bought some of the ESP ones and gave them a bit of a glug.
Any confidence in these types of thing anybody?
I’m using some rock hard bottom baits that are lasting well but looking for a pop up option, these look ideal
Another question for a crayfish specialist. If carp eat them why are there so many 
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#33 23 May 2019 at 4.57pm | | |
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In reply to Post #32
Thanks Ken, I'll have a little play around in few months then when hopefully my balls are sinking lol
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#32 21 May 2019 at 3.16pm | | |
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In reply to Post #31
Can you create a balanced snowman rig by using one say 18mm saturated ball and another say 14mm unsoaked ball, and could you make a wafter or popup by drilling a bigger hole and inserting a Cork or a foam plug or would the crays be able to pull it out?
I have no idea. You'll need to experiment for yourself. Bear in mind that after prolonged soaking the wood becomes saturated with the glug and becomes a bottom bait or a wafter.
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#31 14 May 2019 at 11.33pm | | |
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Just a thick question or 2 lol. Can you create a balanced snowman rig by using one say 18mm saturated ball and another say 14mm unsoaked ball, and could you make a wafter or popup by drilling a bigger hole and inserting a Cork or a foam plug or would the crays be able to pull it out?
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#30 13 Jun 2018 at 8.44am | | |
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I'm fishing a lake at the moment that only seems to get krays in certain swims. Many times I have reeled in to find the braid hook link in a mass of knots. So I bought some 15mm wooden balls and will be giving this a shot. Thanks for the tips Ken 
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In reply to Post #2
The bore ring can be very handy. I have had crayfish cut dental floss or mono hairs.
The wooden balls I use have been soaked in Marine17 and Tunamino liquid.
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#28 15 Mar 2018 at 0.47am | | |
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In reply to Post #26
fishing wild boar lake, not sure if they have a cray problem but better to be prepared
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#27 15 Mar 2018 at 0.47am | | |
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In reply to Post #25
thx very much for reply am going in september and now have my balls in soak
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#26 15 Mar 2018 at 0.07am | | |
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In reply to Post #24
Which lake are you fishing, I did Fox two years ago and didn't have a single problem with the krays
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#25 14 Mar 2018 at 2.45pm | | |
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In reply to Post #24
The longer the better. Bear in mind that really prolonged soaking - and I am talkin months here - will affect the buoyancy and eventually they become bottom baits.
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