Hi, can anyone offer the best way to avoid the cray's, I have never needed to worry about them before as the lakes I have been on don't have them in 
Wooden balls
As it happens I've just put some into soak for a few months to help them take the liquid up and sink 👍
As it happens I've just put some into soak for a few months to help them take the liquid up and sink 👍
In reply to Post #1
They will eat anything, including tigers and pop ups. Avoid fishing over big beds of bait especially pellets. Wrapping your baits in tights helps, there is a thread on wooden balls as a hookbait. They are less active at night. Use a rig that will re set itself easier too, something stiff
They will eat anything, including tigers and pop ups. Avoid fishing over big beds of bait especially pellets. Wrapping your baits in tights helps, there is a thread on wooden balls as a hookbait. They are less active at night. Use a rig that will re set itself easier too, something stiff
In reply to Post #1
Fishing on silt help
Fishing on silt help
In reply to Post #4
Less active at night?
Less active at night?
In reply to Post #5
Yes, I fished a heavily infested cray water and was definitely bothered less in darkness. I've also read a post or 2 on here about it too.
Yes, I fished a heavily infested cray water and was definitely bothered less in darkness. I've also read a post or 2 on here about it too.
In reply to Post #6
I have found the same
I have found the same
In reply to Post #1
As previously mentioned they will eat anything , pull zigs down , destroy rigs.
Try to fish as simple as you can with not too many bits and pieces for them to pull about.
I fished a lake that had Turkish crays, I use to use the Gardner or Korda large shrink wrap and double wrap my hookbaits .
Good article on the forum in regards to wooden balls
As previously mentioned they will eat anything , pull zigs down , destroy rigs.
Try to fish as simple as you can with not too many bits and pieces for them to pull about.
I fished a lake that had Turkish crays, I use to use the Gardner or Korda large shrink wrap and double wrap my hookbaits .
Good article on the forum in regards to wooden balls
Fished several heavily crayfish infested waters in France and no doubt about it they are much more active at night
In reply to Post #1
Try to fish away from them, fishing on or in silt helps.
If you have to fish on a harder bottom they will eat anything, pull pop-ups down and tangle any braided rigs.
Coated braid hooklinks, and soaked wooden balls on the hair. For hairs, use minimum 25lb braid, they can cut mono or fluoro hairs.
For the wooden balls, there is a crayfish thread started up by I think Ken T in the bait section of the forum
Try to fish away from them, fishing on or in silt helps.
If you have to fish on a harder bottom they will eat anything, pull pop-ups down and tangle any braided rigs.
Coated braid hooklinks, and soaked wooden balls on the hair. For hairs, use minimum 25lb braid, they can cut mono or fluoro hairs.
For the wooden balls, there is a crayfish thread started up by I think Ken T in the bait section of the forum
In reply to Post #1
Mono links hard baits wrapped in the gardner shrink wrap and zero putty will help hemp crumb and small particles will help keep smell and attraction in the area
Mono links hard baits wrapped in the gardner shrink wrap and zero putty will help hemp crumb and small particles will help keep smell and attraction in the area
As others have mentioned fish in silt if possible, and deeper water as well I would say. I fished.
a lake for a couple of seasons that had crays, I used the Ronnie rig to avoid hair tangles or bait stops being removed, blob the end of the floss once you melt it down with a lighter. I used a boilie and a piece of fake corn on the end, the corn was never removed but nibbled and the boilie eaten but at least it was still fishing.
a lake for a couple of seasons that had crays, I used the Ronnie rig to avoid hair tangles or bait stops being removed, blob the end of the floss once you melt it down with a lighter. I used a boilie and a piece of fake corn on the end, the corn was never removed but nibbled and the boilie eaten but at least it was still fishing.
Avoid anything tungsten, putty, tubing etc they seem to love it
In reply to Post #1
Think I have read about a minstral boillie that crays hate, is it true
Think I have read about a minstral boillie that crays hate, is it true
In reply to Post #14
100% true. All fish hate them
100% true. All fish hate them
In reply to Post #15
Nice 1
Nice 1
In reply to Post #9
You mean less active at night?
You mean less active at night?
In reply to Post #14
Yes, they are that bad even crays won't eat them
Yes, they are that bad even crays won't eat them
In reply to Post #9
me 2
me 2
In reply to Post #17
No I'm absolutely certain I ment more active at night. You can literally see them all coming out at the cover of darkness. Maybe different waters as the places I fish a crystal clear and they can't stand they daylight.
It got that bad sometimes at night with the crays I'd only fish during the day. Maybe different to what you are used to back in the UK, but this is my personal experience fishing continental cray infested waters.
No I'm absolutely certain I ment more active at night. You can literally see them all coming out at the cover of darkness. Maybe different waters as the places I fish a crystal clear and they can't stand they daylight.
It got that bad sometimes at night with the crays I'd only fish during the day. Maybe different to what you are used to back in the UK, but this is my personal experience fishing continental cray infested waters.
In reply to Post #20
Interesting, I fished a relatively clear brick pit and once the sun went down there was definitely less activity from the crays.
Interesting, I fished a relatively clear brick pit and once the sun went down there was definitely less activity from the crays.
In reply to Post #21
Signal crayfish are widely accepted as being nocturnal. Genuinely interesting how anglers here believe the opposite.
Signal crayfish are widely accepted as being nocturnal. Genuinely interesting how anglers here believe the opposite.
In reply to Post #22
Because the only lake I have fished with them in I definitely get less issues at night.I always check my rigs and put fresh bait on before I settle down for the night and if I don't have a fish my bait comes back without any claw marks.When fishing in the day a rig could be out less than an hour and will show signs of cray attention.
Because the only lake I have fished with them in I definitely get less issues at night.I always check my rigs and put fresh bait on before I settle down for the night and if I don't have a fish my bait comes back without any claw marks.When fishing in the day a rig could be out less than an hour and will show signs of cray attention.
In reply to Post #22
I wish somebody would tell them that on a water I was fishing last year, absolute pain in the arse!
What I don't get is what people keep telling me. If carp eat them why are there so many
There's another water near me that's full of them, mate has some traps, you would not believe how many they used to take out of it
As far as my knowledge, carp make virtually no impact on their stock levels or breeding rates, could be wrong?
I wish somebody would tell them that on a water I was fishing last year, absolute pain in the arse!
What I don't get is what people keep telling me. If carp eat them why are there so many
There's another water near me that's full of them, mate has some traps, you would not believe how many they used to take out of it
As far as my knowledge, carp make virtually no impact on their stock levels or breeding rates, could be wrong?
In reply to Post #24
What you need is a big cat fish. That should happily smash the granny out of them, and hunt them down in their nest holes.
I've fished a ton of waters with them in and I don't think the carp make any difference. When I fished Jones pit on the leisure sport ticket in the 90s we used to empty the traps, reset them. Do a lap. Open the same traps and they would be full again.
On a water I know of some local guys agreed to visit the lake every day and set and empty the traps. I heard they got about 500kg in a season.
What you need is a big cat fish. That should happily smash the granny out of them, and hunt them down in their nest holes.
I've fished a ton of waters with them in and I don't think the carp make any difference. When I fished Jones pit on the leisure sport ticket in the 90s we used to empty the traps, reset them. Do a lap. Open the same traps and they would be full again.
On a water I know of some local guys agreed to visit the lake every day and set and empty the traps. I heard they got about 500kg in a season.
In reply to Post #24
I always found them more active at night, unless the water is coloured, in which case they are active at all times.
I think carp will only eat very small ones if they are out, and I have seen larger ones spook carp off the bait, standing up almost, claws out ready to defend themselves.
Eels and catfish will eat crays, as they can get into the holes the crays use as burrows and swim backwards out, and I would imagine pike if they are out and about.
The females have the fertilised eggs under their tails and protect them in their burrows, so it is only eels and cats that can get into them.
Grebes and otters will also eat them. It is quite amusing watching a grebe with a crayfish, they throw them up into the air by a claw to remove the claw, catch it and do the same again for the other, then eat it.
I have seen waters that were overrun with crays, a few years later there were hardly any left, it was down to otters taking them in preference to fish.
I always found them more active at night, unless the water is coloured, in which case they are active at all times.
I think carp will only eat very small ones if they are out, and I have seen larger ones spook carp off the bait, standing up almost, claws out ready to defend themselves.
Eels and catfish will eat crays, as they can get into the holes the crays use as burrows and swim backwards out, and I would imagine pike if they are out and about.
The females have the fertilised eggs under their tails and protect them in their burrows, so it is only eels and cats that can get into them.
Grebes and otters will also eat them. It is quite amusing watching a grebe with a crayfish, they throw them up into the air by a claw to remove the claw, catch it and do the same again for the other, then eat it.
I have seen waters that were overrun with crays, a few years later there were hardly any left, it was down to otters taking them in preference to fish.
In reply to Post #26
Adult crayfish moult 2 or 3 times a year. I believe juveniles 5+ times a year. carp love them. not sure if carp will eat big ones with their shells on but definitely the moulting ones.
I've had big carp crapping crushed shell in the net.
Adult crayfish moult 2 or 3 times a year. I believe juveniles 5+ times a year. carp love them. not sure if carp will eat big ones with their shells on but definitely the moulting ones.
I've had big carp crapping crushed shell in the net.
In reply to Post #25
What you need is a big cat fish. That should happily smash the granny out of them, and hunt them down in their nest holes.
There are a couple of cats in the water that they net mate!
we used to empty the traps, reset them. Do a lap. Open the same traps and they would be full again.
Echo that too, mental
What you need is a big cat fish. That should happily smash the granny out of them, and hunt them down in their nest holes.
There are a couple of cats in the water that they net mate!
we used to empty the traps, reset them. Do a lap. Open the same traps and they would be full again.
Echo that too, mental
In reply to Post #27
I was thinking that mate, they eat them when they are vulnerable, shedding the shell. To be honest I have put a bit of time in on google in the past to try and understand if they eat them or not, I came across a video with a load of carp going nuts and they reckoned they were eating crayfish?
Last thing I would want to see is an otter too!
I was thinking that mate, they eat them when they are vulnerable, shedding the shell. To be honest I have put a bit of time in on google in the past to try and understand if they eat them or not, I came across a video with a load of carp going nuts and they reckoned they were eating crayfish?
Last thing I would want to see is an otter too!
In reply to Post #20
I've only fished 2 lakes with a big head of crays, one here one in France and they both were far worse during the day. Also the local river is full of them, and when I used to barbel fish it you'd get them pestering you until the sun went down but they would soon stop once it was dark
I've only fished 2 lakes with a big head of crays, one here one in France and they both were far worse during the day. Also the local river is full of them, and when I used to barbel fish it you'd get them pestering you until the sun went down but they would soon stop once it was dark
In reply to Post #26
Yes pike do eat them 2
Yes pike do eat them 2
The crays are unprotected for a few days when they shed their shells, they are like jelly without the shells and that is when the carp gorge themselves on them.
In may they shed their shells that is when carp go mad for the crays ;-)
There's some interesting info on the little blighters in this video
Sticky Baits - The Crayfish Man
Sticky Baits - The Crayfish Man
Interesting stuff
In reply to Post #35
Agree
Agree
In reply to Post #20
might be that there are cats or other predators in those lakes... encorouge the crays to hide during the day.
might be that there are cats or other predators in those lakes... encorouge the crays to hide during the day.
The lakes I fished in France that had signal Crayfish, to the best of my knowledge, did not contain any catfish. I honestly find it peculiar that other anglers have reported more activity in the daylight.
I think it may depend on the specific conditions present on individual lakes that could dictate habitual feeding routines of the Crayfish populations.
I've spent a lot of time observing them and their behaviour in the lakes I've fished abroad and from what I've seen on the places I've put a good deal of effort into, there's no two ways about it, they were significantly more active in the hours of darkness.
I think it may depend on the specific conditions present on individual lakes that could dictate habitual feeding routines of the Crayfish populations.
I've spent a lot of time observing them and their behaviour in the lakes I've fished abroad and from what I've seen on the places I've put a good deal of effort into, there's no two ways about it, they were significantly more active in the hours of darkness.
What I will also add is that all the lakes were crystal clear and in good conditions, 15 ft+ visibility from a boat was fairly common
In reply to Post #39
As someone already said it all depends on the bottom your fishing on, they don't like the silt it blocks there breathing tubes apparently? On a savage infested water I used to fish I found this the case. Fish the gravel or firm areas you get destroyed. Fish the soft silt you can stand a chance of fishing all night without any trouble. Worse case fish plastics over lots of particle theyl soon move to the next item after having trouble with plastic .
As someone already said it all depends on the bottom your fishing on, they don't like the silt it blocks there breathing tubes apparently? On a savage infested water I used to fish I found this the case. Fish the gravel or firm areas you get destroyed. Fish the soft silt you can stand a chance of fishing all night without any trouble. Worse case fish plastics over lots of particle theyl soon move to the next item after having trouble with plastic .
In reply to Post #38
I have found the same as you far more active at night on both uk waters and in france
I have found the same as you far more active at night on both uk waters and in france
In reply to Post #40
Fish the gravel or firm areas you get destroyed. Fish the soft silt you can stand a chance of fishing all night
Totally agree with that
Fish the gravel or firm areas you get destroyed. Fish the soft silt you can stand a chance of fishing all night
Totally agree with that
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