# When do Crawdads Appear?



## 18inchBrown (May 1, 2016)

Do the crayfish start to appear based on water temp or time or a combination of both? I mostly fish the LMR river , Xenia and north. The water up here has not consistently been above 60 deg. F until about 2 to 3 weeks ago. When I wade the river I always look for crayfish. I was just there yesterday and I saw no scampering of crayfish and I haven't yet this year. I'm no biologist but somebody can explain hopefully. I know, if I wade and I see crayfish activity the bass bite is on. 
What I did see yesterday was a lot of tiny minnows in the shallows. I mean <1" long. I believe we had a cold early May and a lot of rain and that suppresses stream temps but what is the science around the crayfish? How about the LMR below Waynesville, What are your typical temps and are you guys seeing crayfish in the river?


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## Patricio (Feb 2, 2007)

With the coronavirus and all, the buses they usually ride returning from their winter residences in Florida have been cancelled or delayed.


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

I saw my first crayfish in early March on the Rocky River. I was wading for steelhead and he didn't want to give up his ground to me. He was about a 4 inch long including claws. Fiesty SOB.
Rickerd


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## 18inchBrown (May 1, 2016)

I mean crayfish by the hundreds. I recall walking through a shallow rocky area and you can see nothing but crayfish moving and scampering. I just don't recall the exact time. I thought it was early summer.


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

I remember we used to picnic at Findley SP for Memorial day every year with family and friends. I would often go out on the picnic point and search rock areas for crayfish successfully. Looking back on this, I wish I would have thought to use them for bait at the time. All I ever caught were tons of bluegill and an occasional small bass.
Rickerd


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

The lower reaches of the Lmr have contained low numbers of crawdads for about 3 consecutive years Imo.
East-frk has been slightly better but not as good as in past seasons.
There have been small areas that have crawdads in good numbers but overall numbers have been low.
I'm not sure but think it could have something to do with high water at spawning time ?
Good luck and good fishing !


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

Usually quite prevalent by June in central Ohio


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