Ronnie and Reggy have arrived

[wotnobivvy]

Went fishing on my local lake last week and kept reeling in an empty hair with bait stop. I was using luncheon meat and tried all my different hair stops to no avail. I caught about half a dozen carp and some roach. A chance encounter at the weekend explained it, the crays were in the lake. I had this confirmed by a committee member who said that the cold winter had reduced the numbers, along with the traps they had put in. If I want to use meat again I will have to use some sort of protection. I have heard of armamesh, but does anyone use anything else.

[MICK SMITH39]

You will prob have to use plastic,although you did manage to catch a few fish so it cant be to bad yet

[chesters1]

Cold weather doesnt reduce them they just slow down or head for deeper water or just stay in their burrows,going by my pond only a full time trapper with a trap in every swim and endless bait could make a dent in the numbers once they are established

Edited August 15, 2014 by chesters1

[Rusty]

Armamesh will buy you time if you're using a hard bait which can't just be pulled off the hair but I don't think it'll help with soft luncheon meat. There isn't an easy answer, if they're in the lake it's a bit of a lottery as to how long your bait will remain unmolested.

[Vagabond]

Wot they said above, and try to make the best of a bad job by persuading your committee to stock known crayfish-eaters such as decent sized perch and chub.