# Soft Craws



## SMBHooker

If you're familiar with Anglers bait shop in Englewood, they now have Softcraws for sale. $8.99 per dozen. They are located: 516 S. Main St. Englewood, 45322. Phone: 836-2248.

A little to expensive for my taste. You can turn over a rock anywhere and get one yourself. You can't beat the results though, the Smallies lovem. 

Thought someone might make use of the info...


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## Flathead King 06

I know you've already said it, but it is way cheaper to just pick your own


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## SMBHooker

Does anyone have any easy ticks used to catch craws?


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## mb5322

Flip rocks, then be quick like Mr. Miagi, actually take a large minnow net, don't just pull rocks up, turn them to one side while you hold the net on the other, then "scare em" into the net.


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## Spencer_Blanton

Last year, I watched a fellow gather up a few dozen crawfish. He said he placed them in a tray of warm water with a black light over it. He said they'd molt within a couple days. Bam! Instant soft crawls. I don't own a black light and haven't tried it. I'd be interested in getting the tip validated.

~Spencer


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## B1gDaddyT

I have heard all this talk for years about using them as bait and never seen anyone use them. How are they rigged, how do you hook them? what size hook, sinker or not, bobber or bottom fished...?


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## bassattacker

i always hooked them up through there tail like the soft plastic ones, soft craws are very good bait for just about anything, thats the only problem with them, its hard to specifically target one species of fish since ull catch anything on them, ive always went out on a full moon to the GMR and catch mine when there in molt and use them the next morning.


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## catmando

Go along a river, creek or any body of H2O that has crawdads during the night and use a light and a long handled bait net and catch them by the bucket full.


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## FryFish

Had a large carp (7# plus) hit a rebel craw today on the GMR......snapped off with the lure in its mouth as i tried to pull it up on the bank.....if you see it floating by the stewart st. bridge....let me know!


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## dholth01

I always hooks them through the tail and will take the pinchers off the big ones. If you want to catch big smallies and a bunch of other stuff inbetween the I recommend them. I usually cast them with just a hook or a split shot about 12 inches up if theres faster current. The only other live bait I like better is Helgamites, those nasty little boogers really catch the fish.


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## River Anglin

I used to hook 'em through the tail on a carolina rig for the river. The advantage is they can move around to draw attention. The disadvantage is they can crawl under a rock and hide. It worked well for me.

I don't know about the black light trick, but I don't think you'd get them to live more than a day or two. My kid brings them home all the time and they always die the next day. Speaking of him, he gets them with a minnow net. I used to just grab them from behind. They can't see behind them and they swim backwards. Get one hand ready behind them and spook them with the other. They'll swim right into your hand. Takes practice, but I'm sure a net makes it alot easier.


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## catmando

You can keep them for weeks in a cool (40-60f) place.


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## River Anglin

"You can keep them for weeks in a cool (40-60f) place."

...Interesting. Although I can't think of such a place in the summertime. Refrigerator is colder than that and basement is warmer.


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## SMBHooker

I was fishing next to a guy last summer, both of us were fishing for Smallies. He was using live Craws and I was not. I cought a few dinks. He only used three craws that he just scooped out of the river and nailed three 15" or bigger Smallies back to back. I like the challange of using articical baits, but for that kind of success I am not apossed at all.


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## catmando

River Anglin said:


> "You can keep them for weeks in a cool (40-60f) place."
> 
> ...Interesting. Although I can't think of such a place in the summertime. Refrigerator is colder than that and basement is warmer.



Right now you can get away with a cool place on the floor of your garage or an old fridge works great for anything! If you are using the fridge put the dads in a breathable container with wet newspaper and some moss.


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## [email protected]

I've found they're tough to keep on a hook. They make special safety pin like hooks for them but I've never tried.

We used to catch them by having one person stand downstream in a riffle with an old aluminum window screen held against the bottom while the other person flips rocks a few feet upstream. The aluminum screen is stiff enough you can feel them hit and they grab onto it with their legs. Easy to pluck them off too.


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## B1gDaddyT

I understand hooking them in the tail...does your point face up? What size hook & style...baithook size 3?


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## baitstore&marina

Don't know what side of Ohio you are in but we have soft craws as well. Our "river" craws start at 6.50/dozen up to 7.50/dozen for the big ones.

We are located in Westerville, Ohio. 614-882-4581


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## catmando

B1gDaddyT said:


> I understand hooking them in the tail...does your point face up? What size hook & style...baithook size 3?


I like using a #2 to 1/0 circle hook point up.....


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## Sleprock

i had a crawdad in a tank for about 9 months he died when he molted the 3rd time (i think my oscar had something to do with it) but he lived a long time in a 10 gallon tank witha hanging fish filter and a heater.

he would eat fish flakes and minnows he was a kool little pet!!!


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## Trophy Hunter

Kick siening is a good method to collect a bunch in a short amount of time. Stretch your siene out in a riffle that has enough current to wash them into the net. Take all the big rocks away by hand. Then kick the rest of the rocks loose with your foot. I get a couple of hellgramites on occasion this way.

To hook soft craws, use a rubber band around the thorax inbetween the eye and the tail. Then run the hook under the band along the back of the thorax. I usually use those bands people that have braces use on their teeth.


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## B1gDaddyT

I will have to give them a try the next time I'm at the creek.


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## catmando

Trophy Hunter said:


> Kick siening is a good method to collect a bunch in a short amount of time. Stretch your siene out in a riffle that has enough current to wash them into the net. Take all the big rocks away by hand. Then kick the rest of the rocks loose with your foot. I get a couple of hellgramites on occasion this way.
> 
> To hook soft craws, use a rubber band around the thorax inbetween the eye and the tail. Then run the hook under the band along the back of the thorax. I usually use those bands people that have braces use on their teeth.


Sounds like a cool idea, but how does it cast?


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## miyot

After being treated badly on another thread, I figured I would post no more. Anyhow I read this thread and thought I might add a little something here.

Soft craws are not easy to catch, period. It is hard work and there must be a lot to catch what you need. 6-8 bucks per dozen for good soft craws is dirt cheap. Although I like at least 40-50 per man for a full days fishing. No way around it they cost.

In my area craws start to peel sometime in late June, sometimes earlier if it gets hot and stays hot. Early to mid July is usually the time in the area around Pike Island dam. However you wont catch enough in this part of the river to fish, ever! You need to find medium to large feeder streams that are clean and have plenty of rocky bottoms. The Ohio river has nearly no craws at all, at least in the sections I am familiar with.

On those hot July nights, head out with a good lantern and a metal bucket. A flash light is no good. Although I see novices use them. Walk quietly along the edge of your stream and look for them on shallow gravel bars. They come shallow to peel or molt. A soft craw will have a more greenish look than the hard ones. This knack will come with time. The soft ones can't pinch, but can still escape. Put your bucket in your lantern hand (that is why it must be metal) the hot lantern would melt a plastic bucket. Reach down with your free hand from behind the craw and snatch him up. This takes a little practice. Put him in your bucket with fresh creek water. As you add craws, keep changing the water to keep them lively. Careful not to mash them, they are really soft. We call them jelly bellys.

If you can find a good stream loaded with craws, you are a lucky fellow. I have put 50 in the bucket in an hour and a half. You may hunt for 3 hrs and get 25, you may not get any. This is tough. Now you may want to pick up peelers, you usually have to, to get enough. They look different and the back will start to separate and lift from the tail section. This is how they peel. Do not attempt to peel him yourself, this will probably result in his death. Just put him in the bucket. If your selection skills are good enough he will peel before you get home. If he is roughly handled he will die. If he hasn't peeled by morning, go ahead and peel him. 

Now how to keep them. If you are going fishing the next morning just put them in the fridge in a good sized bucket with plenty of creek water. for longer storage, perhaps as long as a week you will need a craw box. This is a large cooler filled with thin trays with window screen for bottoms. The bottom tray must not get covered with water, it must drain just like the upper trays. Each tray stacks upon the other and are just thick enough for the craws not to get mashed. At the top of the cooler is your ice tray. The best ice is creek ice layed down to melt evenly and drip constantly over the craws, while not flooding the bottom tray. It must drain and the craws must be kept cold. Some line the trays with newspaper or sphagnum moss. As the days go by your loss's will mount. They are hard to keep. Best use them up. If you try an aerator and the water temp is cool to warm, your craws that live will get hard. They go through a phase we call leather backs. They are a little tougher than the soft ones and last loonger on the hook. Don't try to make leather backs, they are best picked up as such. You will learn to tell these apart as well.

Now we just hook them down thru the tail, half way for smalls and closer to the end for the big ones. A rubber band would mash them, although it would work on hard craws. The craws run big in July and smaller in August. Sometimes you can get giants in September. Probably not worth the trouble, I quit hunting craws in Aug. Many craws you buy come from down south, they are not as good as local craws. Craw can't be beat. But they are work.

Remember, they peel best during the heat of summer. 70 degree nights are perfect. Start right at nightfall. Sometimes they peel early, other times late.

Almost as fun as fishing. Good luck


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## catmando

Try a flash light w/a red lens or red cellophane over the light.


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## ajangsta04

honestly...i've never had any trouble finding and storing craws.....i've been catching them since i was a little kid.

catching them....i don't use flashlights per say but i do use those LED head band s. for some reason the LED's won't really scare the craws away like a flash light does.

the best way to catch them is to do it with a friend. (it's always better to have company)

1. usually both members have the LED headbands (like 8 bucks at walmart)

2. plan out your trip. (have 3-4 places to catch them)

3. i usually set a type of perimeter around the rock im lifting. sometimes i get 
4 or 5 craws jumping out of it at different angles

4. keep them in a bucket after you catch them. with low water levels. (apparently they drown due to lack of oxygen

5. once i get back to my house i keep them in an oxygenated fish tank. (feed them dead minnows etc.)

6. now im not too sure about the whole black light theory for them to shed faster.

just my 2 cents


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## TomC

I just got 30lbs of the little mud bugs from louisiana only cost me 2.79a lb. I couldnt imagine paying 8.99a lb.


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## oldroller

miyot is the onlt person on here that sounds like he knows whats up with craws.I'm friends with a whole family of crawpickers.The one I went with the most kicked the bucket before he could finish teaching me & my son all about it.It's fun but it's hard work.It's interesting watching them shed but you have to have a shed tank with moving water & you have to look after them.As a smallmouth bait KNOTHING works better.It's a blast in the creeks


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## miyot

hey oldroller, I was taught by my stepfather,who was taught by his dad. That goes back to the late 1800s. He told me stories of catching 500 craws on a Thurs and Friday night. His father and him and couple of other guys catching nearly a fish for every craw on Saturday and going back for more craws that night. Thats fishin.

I've heard some guys can raise them, but it is tricky. I can still catch 40-50 on a good night. Many of the creeks I caught craws in as a kid, no longer have craws. I don't know if silt or pollution or both got them. I just knew some one here knew something about craws.


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## oldroller

I know spots,& I have a tank set up just don't have enough experience


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## SMBHooker

Has anyone fished with craws that have not yet molted? Is there much of a difference in productivity when it comes to catching Smallies on hard craws vs. soft craws?


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## River Anglin

Absolutely. Just pull the claws off. I've seldom had the privilege of using soft craws, so I can't comment on the difference in results.


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## SMBHooker

Do the fish not bite if the claws are still pinchin away?


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## miyot

You don't have to pull the claws off of a hard craw, the fish will eat them without hesitation. Have you not caught a Smallmouth with a hard craws claws sticking out of his gullet. I have seen this a thousand times. They turn the craw around and swallow him tail first. 

You will catch more fish with a softcraw, they have a different smell the fish recognize instantly. I believe the fish instinctively know a better meal when they see or smell one. Anyhow they can't be beat. Although I have had many a slow day on them as well. Sometimes the fish just aren't interested. Hard craws are also very productive, just not nearly as good as soft ones.

Hard craws are excellent bait for Drum, and I like the big ones. I think they can hear them for quite a distance. They seem to draw the big Drum, my best was a 17 lb. 4 oz. Drum just below Pike Island. You will have trouble with snags, they do like to crawl into cover. I like to use smaller hard craws for Smallmouth, however I won't go out of my way to catch them.

I have found the best bait for Smallmouth are Stonerollers, Softcraws, Helgramites, Nightcrawlers, and Leaches.


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## River Anglin

SMBHooker said:


> Do the fish not bite if the claws are still pinchin away?


Yep, but it only takes a second to pull them off and I think the fish find them more lucrative without the claws.


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## miyot

River Anglin said:


> Yep, but it only takes a second to pull them off and I think the fish find them more lucrative without the claws.


River Anglin, next time your at Red Lobster, and you don't want your claws. Let me know.


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## [email protected]

TomC said:


> I just got 30lbs of the little mud bugs from louisiana only cost me 2.79a lb. I couldnt imagine paying 8.99a lb.


Those are probably Rusty Red Crawfish and are an invasive species. Don't use them for bait.


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## Lewzer

I used to catch 50 or more crayfish when nightfishing at Tappan. I put the lantern on the rocks near the waters edge. The bugs swarm the light and the craws come up on the rocks to catch the gnats and other swarming bugs. I just use one of those green aquarium nets and scoop them up.

It was also posted a few years backs that putting the hard craws in a dilute borax solution will cause molting within a day.


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## River Anglin

miyot said:


> River Anglin, next time your at Red Lobster, and you don't want your claws. Let me know.


Ha! That's not fair.


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## miyot

River Anglin said:


> Ha! That's not fair.


I am glad you were not offended by my humor. I to am guilty of removing the claws a few times, in the hope they would be less scary to the fish. However like most people,we think like humans. Fish think like fish. 

We often buy a lure or bait because we like it. It catch's us, not the fish. Fish have been eating things they want for millions of years. The most effective lures and baits are the ones that appear the most natural and behave just like the things they eat everyday. Anyhow you probably get my point.

And me being human and having a big nasty craw in my hand some hot summer day, am likely to pull the claws off in hopes of catching a fish. I doubt the fish will reflect on it.


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## miyot

Lewzer , I don't think the borax thing has any hopes of working. If it did, we would always have softcraws. I wouldn't use anything else. Craws peel, shed or molt so they can grow. I know they peel even in cool water because I have caught them when I wasn't hunting them. I do know they peel best in warm water during the height of summer.

I have heard the stories of different methods to make them peel. We all would like to find the easy way to get something for nothing. We just can't get out of the work. I do believe if a guy came up with the right tanks and water filtration systems with aeration, water flow, temp. control, light duration, feeding, etc. He could be successful at raising them. Making money at it would be a different story.


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## redhotbuzz

If you going crawdaddin. You're gonna need a carbide lamp..I can still smell my Dads when we took our midnight trips some 50 years or so ago.Damn I miss them good old times..even the sputtering light,the cussin and the occasional blackout..


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## TomC

Not sure what they were, but man they sure taste good. I called down to the shop where I got mine from and they said said they were just standard crawfish. I dont knowq if you ever saw Dirty Jobs where he went down in the swamp with the crawfish guy and caught em to sell, well thats what they were. All were around 3.5-5" long and brownish colored before cooked. Yum Crawfish Etoffe and red beans and rice.


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## RapalaJ-9

Lake Isabella in Loveland has them right now. I saw it on their road sign as I drove by. When I got home called and confirmed, they have about 80 dozen or more a a week.


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## bman007

here in good old highland county i could probably fill up a five gallon bucket of craws in bout an hour or less!

as far as hard or soft craws catching more fish my .02 cents is a craw is a craw!fish dont care,a meal is a meal!caught MANY a smallie or cat on a rock hard craw!

we seign for them in the daytime too,not sure whats big deal bout getting them!never had a problem but hey thats my .02 cents!


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## WishinIwasFishin

I grew up on a creek that was loaded with craws. That same creek has them now, but not as many as it did 25 years ago.
In my experiences soft craws draw many, many more bites. Hard craws will draw bites as well, but for some reason they aren't as appealing to the fish. River smallies and carp love crawfish.

There must be a reason why baitshops sell soft shells instead of hard!

I used a crawdad trap for a few years. It worked really well, but I never caught any softies with it. All were hard. Now I use a seine. I did just by a scum remover/fishing net at Lowe's the other day. It looks like a big butterfly net. I can't wait to try this out. As I see it, I can take it with me on my kayak and get craws as I fish


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## Smallmouth Crazy

I havent bought craws in a few years but is 8.99 a dozen the going rate these days??? I seem to remember 5.50-6.00 a dozen.


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## eitel36

FryFish said:


> Had a large carp (7# plus) hit a rebel craw today on the GMR......snapped off with the lure in its mouth as i tried to pull it up on the bank.....if you see it floating by the stewart st. bridge....let me know!


rebel craw.... best lure ever made! hands down! action is next to none


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## Smitty82

This thread is from 2008


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## Southernsaug

ODNR has restrictions on bringing crawfish to lake Erie from non lake Erie drainages.


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## Saugeye Tom

Smitty82 said:


> This thread is from 2008


😄😃😀😆 they get me every time


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## Smitty82

Saugeye Tom said:


> 😄😃😀😆 they get me every time


Me too, I was so happy when I saw this one and actually checked the date 🤣


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