MI Crayfish?

[TCook]

Sorry I probably should have put that in there, Its in the FLW outdoors mag April 2009 issue. Its an article with Michael Murphy explaining all the common forage spawning rituals starting on page 65. He covers crayfish on page 70, very good read.

[WayneC]

Nice photo research dartag!  Your research data on Great Lakes Craw represents 100% of the field research done on that bait design.  That color was designed solely as a pet project of mine out of frustration because nobody else in the plastics industry would do it.  It was intentionally done as a copy of the coloration in the very successful Bomber Model A crayfish color.  A knock out spring color which I was always hoping that Kalins would put out a single tail grub with that two-tone shading.  I even went as far as to take their green pumpkin single tail and dip the belly in orange dye.  It worked for the color but not so much for getting the bait out where a bass might see it.  The dye is corrosive by nature, that's how it penetrates by reacting with the plastic.  In order to get the orange anywhere close to acceptable you had to keep the bait in the dye too long.  After that it would just fall apart when trying to put a hook in it.

I got super lucky though with St. Clair Crayfish.  We were catching average sized smallies down by Windmill Point and after turning a smallie back I looked down and saw this little fella.  He had been coughed up on the deck, was completely intact and still barely alive.  I do wish I had flipped him over for a photo though.  The chartreuse on the belly was Erie Green all the way so it didn't seem important at the time to document it.  You can see the Erie Green color around its edges when you look close.

[Cheetam]

That's such an awesome pic of that craw Wayne.  I'm using what I thought was a good pic of a rusty craw for a crankbait right now, but I like that pic much better.

[WayneC]

Thanks for saying so.  I'd like to take credit for all the hard work that went into getting that crayfish documented but it really just falls under the heading of "dumb luck."  Can't wait to see what this year will bring.

[Got Fish??]

 Your st clair craw tub workers great.  All so works on west side of state in lake mi and inland lake near Kalkaska. Looking forward to throwing your st clair craw creatcher bait this spring.

[WayneC]

Thanks for letting me know about the SCC tube and some other water that's working for it.  As far as the creature baits goes, I've never thrown one before in my life but wanted one for years in the product lineup.  Right now the plan is to Texas Rig it, any other suggestions?

[Cheetam]

Thanks for letting me know about the SCC tube and some other water that's working for it.  As far as the creature baits goes, I've never thrown one before in my life but wanted one for years in the product lineup.  Right now the plan is to Texas Rig it, any other suggestions?

I use a stand-up, shaky-style jighead like a Spot Sticker with craw-style creature baits.  It keeps those claws standing up like a craw defending itself.

[WayneC]

Gotta like that.  My tournament partner Scott uses a spot remover jig.  I get the idea though and will absolutely try that too.  Thanks!

[Got Fish??]

I have it Carolina riged, with a small rattle inserted.

[WayneC]

I was afraid you might say that...  The Carolina rig, the rig that's so easy to fish you give it to your kids so they can hook up easily.  It's been my nemesis (that's a McCarter joke).  I've worked it every year since seeing it on In-Fisherman nearly 15 years ago but it wasn't until recently when I got some traction with it on a light setup.  However, your suggestion has created another opportunity for me to build confidence in it.  If this works you'll hear about it on my blog site.  Thanks!

[Skulley]

Good info here guys. When do they molt? Still hoping someone knows when and where they spawn like depth and what kind of bottom? I bet you can get on a good bite if you can key in on the craw spawn. They carry there eggs under there tail section and continue to carry them after they hatch. I'm sure they are very slow and vulnerable during this time and the bass probably take advantage.

Crayfish molt on full and dark moons.  Molting is a process in which craw fish lose their outer shell.  Until a new outer shell hardens, they are susceptible to being the prey of many different kinds of game fish.  They molt monthly when the water is 65 degrees and up although they will molt when the water is colder.

BD           

[WayneC]

We used to have a crayfish in an aquarium which took on more red tones the longer the shell was on.  As soon as it molted (is that even a word?) the soft shell underneath would have more blue tones.  That told me a lot at the time why blue flake worked so well from 1999 - 2001 because the fish must recognize the same thing and softer would mean easier to eat.  Since then though I have done a lot of work with both blue and red flake and in both cases, the results were lukewarm at best.

[TCook]

I hope its not a problem posting a thread from another site but I thought it might clear up why we use the colors we do at certain times of the year. Just some pictures put together by the late Don Applegarth showing pictures of crayfish that have the same color patterns as the baits we use. Other members had some good input as well, the pics are near the bottom on the second page.

http://bbcboards.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=78238&page=2