Hotspotoutdoors

I'm looking for lakes that you've noticed crayfish in. I'm into trapping them to eat (they make a mighty tasty meal) and I want to know of lakes that have them so I can lay my pots and see what I come up with. Any and all help would be appreciated!! If you know of specific locations in lakes that you have noticed them, please share that info too! Thanks and have a great day!! Travis

When i was younger we caught a bunch of them out of lake hiawatha. They were everywhere all along thee shoreline. Not sure if there still in there, that was a long time ago.

thanks dan! they are probably still in the lake since crayfish are invasive species. the DNR hates them. is hiawatha a rocky bottom lake or have and rocky points?

Not all crayfish are invasive.

Just curious, how do you prepare them and what parts do you eat besides the tail. I imagine you would boil them and pluck the tail?

You typically boil them. In crayfish boils, you can season the water and then eat them straight out of the pot. some people boil them and put the tail meat in pasta dishes, salads, or anything else they can think of. You usually just eat the tail of the crayfish, however, if the crayfish are large enough you can get meat out of the claws. I've heard that some of the new england states have crayfish that can be as large as lobster... coming at 15 plus inches long.

Also, regarding Flaco's reply, he's right, not all crayfish are invasive. However, Minnesota lakes have a large population of invasive species, including the Rusty crayfish.

While visiting friends in FL, we cooked up a bunch. Mainly just ate the tail meat. We were dipping them in a garlic butter sauce.

It sounds like the Rusty has either displaced some native species and even hybridized with other native crayfish.

I'm pretty confident they're still in Hiawatha. The shoreline always seems to be littered w/ little shells and body parts in certain areas. It is mostly sand/rock bottom. I have no clue about any points, but if you look around it may be pretty obvious where to look for em. South side of the lake is the area I've seen the most while walking/biking.

Thanks Aaron! Do you know of any other lakes in the metro that you have seen crayfish in?

I dont think there is any rock points. And other than the beach there is only a hand full of spots to get to the lake, due to the natural shoreline restoration and the golf course, so you may have to get wet to find yourself a good spot.


edit: I was also down at Calhoun last weekend and saw someone catch a crayfish

We used to catch a bunch in Nine Mile creek in Bloomington when we were younger. The bigger ones were still only maybe 4" max though. Access to the creek is virtually unlimited too. Let me know if you want more info.

I see you are in WBL - the St. Croix river isn't that far and it is loaded with crayfish. We would just stick a piece of bologna on a stick, and drop it in water, and they come running for it! That would be my best advice on where they are! Good luck, and good eatin'

Box, I'm actually heading out to the St. Croix today with a buddy to do some fishing and we were planning on putting the pots in the water. Any suggestions as to where on the St. Croix? Or doesn't it matter too much? We usually launch from Stillwater.

The sunrise river is also a good spot, especially below the kost dam. But yeah, the st. croix is good too. If you go to marine on st. croix and walk down to the old access right there in town, you can catch all the crayfish you want out of the small creek. I used to catch bucket fulls as a kid.

We would get them by the 5-gallon pail with a full day of work when we were younger growing up on Waconia- that was a long time ago though . I would think that if you were to look around the shallow rocks on the eastern end of the lakes near the claybanks you might find some now.

I dont know if this is good. But most small lakes or ponds are full of them. Just use some sort of meat or hotdog and tie it down, set trap and come back later. Problem is these are just sewage ponds or smelly backwaters. So not sure if you want to eat them out of those. But good way to get crayfish bait.

I was going through the regs for a different post and wanted to mention what I saw on page 68:

A DNR permit* is required to import, transport or sell crayfish. Crayfish may be used as bait only in the body of water where they were captured. The use of live crayfish as bait on the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (north of the Boomsite Boat Launch) and within Voyagers National Park, units of the National Park System, is prohibited.

You will find large numbers of Crayfish in any small creek or stream. Also in any river. Put your traps a few feet from shore and check every couple days. Garanteed crayfish.... I think the creek,stream,river idea will without a doubt out produce any metro area lake. Good luck.

does anyone know how far up the st. croix you need to go to find crayfish?

fever, do you know of any good small creeks in the metro?