5 fish on Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 I cought some crawdads last night and I want to match some baits to them . What do they eat ? In the same lake will a craw cought from coontail be colored differenly than one cought from rocks . I cought mine from rocks but I mainly fish coontail. If they are different how do I go about catching craws from dense weeds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Yeeehaw! Lol, my guess is that this post will quickly be moved to another forum. That being said, as a kid I used to keep "dads"...short for "crawdad" in a bucket with wet grass. We would hook the unfortunate fellow in the tail and toss him out into likely haunts of bass, cats, and carp, pronounced "caup" by some in Texas. If you put too much water in the bucket they will drown once the air is gone...well unless you provide each of them with a snorkel. My boy has tried to keep them in his fish tank but we typically find them on the carpet the next day all dried up attempting to make good their escape. My suggestion is you just do a search online for pics. Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckarren Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Jed, try the aquarium shop they have two things that will help you out. (One) is a back plastic strip for your aquarium top. Just cut holes for all your air hose lines. (Two) they have a plastic rock that attach with suction cups. Place on the glass so they can come out of the water and rest. Provide hiding area like thick weeds or rocks, I also put some floating plants attached to the side with suction cups. When I was a young boy I had an aquarium with crawdads, bass, perch, and bluegill. Fed them Brine Shrimp from a pet store. Or if you are just keeping the crawdads, they eat anything dead on the bottom. Be cautious this will ruin a good tank and kill your fish. Also they will eat your fish if they get a chance. -Corey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Check out a article at www.trophybassonly.com it's on how to fish,and keep crawdads...alot of good info...Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebler_custom_baits Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 ive ferd them just about any meat and small fish. I keep mine in a tank with water and a few rocks coming out of h2o a little. Ive actually had one missed when removing from box i was puting them in when catching and he lived for 2 weeks before i heard him crawling around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Nathan- Thanks for the link, there is a bunch of good stuff there. Brought back memories of when I was a kid, man, I used to love to fish with a crawdad. Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 No problem Tally....good info. and site...they use to have a forum.Your right about the crawdads....half the fun of fishing with dads was catching them....it's to bad as adults we forget that stuff..Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted November 3, 2004 Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 Keep in mind when feeding those dads that any "food" meat, fish, shrimp will rot quickly and stink. The best thing I found was rocks from the creek bed that had a good amount of algee on them. These guys are not just carnivors. They eat alot of the green stuff from the bottom. This is really all they need for short term captivity. Plus it wont get moldy and stink up your tank. Mr B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIGMAKER Posted November 3, 2004 Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 I kept crawfish in a tank with minnows and one small catfish. The crawfish ate the minnow. The catfish ate the scraps until he grew big enough, then the catfish ate all the crawfish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tally Posted November 3, 2004 Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 Here is a link you might be able to use. It is about the variety of crafish in Missouri. I have use this site many times to come up with paint schemes. Hope it helps. http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/arthopo/crayfish/varcraw.htm Tally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banjoman Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 ...and here is a blue crayfish ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaime Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 can changing the crawfish diet change their colour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banjoman Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 From my experience, it's the type of water they inhabit: flowing dystrophic ("tea-stain" waters from marshes) produces a lot of blue crayfish. The same species in a mesotrophic lake will be reddish-orange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 Interesting topic........ Took my kids to the zoo the other day and found out that flamingos are pink because of the shrimp they feed on. I never knew this. Kinda got me thinkin' about bait fish and such. The craws in our river are a beautiful reddish-brownish-greenish-orange. I know they mainly feed on worms, algae, & hydrilla, which is a perfect combination of those colors. Guess that's why natural colors work so well on the river?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banjoman Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 Hi alsworms A long time ago, I added various compunds (baking soda, salt, etc.) to a tank containing a yellow perch. I was amazed by the color change each compound created. All were in the yellow-green range though. You can't make a perch turn purple ! It makes sense since they have to maintain a basic color scheme and pattern for their camoflage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
