crayfish (again)

[goosequill]

Crayfish!!

I don't think we have seen the real impact of them yet, and believe they are yet to reach their peak. In my humble opinion,(and apologies to anyone connected with the EA) the EA (and the predecessor NRA) have been very, very poor in acting on dealing with this invader and realise that it is now entirely in the hands of good old Mother Nature to sort out.

 

I have lived in Oxfordshire for almost three years now, and before that time had never encountered one. They can, at times I assure you, be an infuriating nuisance (especially at dusk and night). I have immensely enjoyed the dearth of river fishing in my area, and am determined to carry on despite the crays, as the rivers (Thames, Ouse and Cherwell) are some of the most beautifull places I have encountered. Are you doing something wrong if you start catching them? If you are fishing on the bottom, yes you are, for when they move in, they will have ANYTHING you put on the hook short of three tins of luncheon meat hair rigged on a size two hook (i jest). Fast water, slow water - no difference, I have caught them in wierpools at Eynsham (Thames) and Thornton College (Ouse) - the time of year does seem to make a difference though - from opening day through to about november they can be horrendous for the ledger angler. During the winter I have found they are far less active. Also, the common location definetly appears to the margins, as I believe they make their homes in the bankside. The only way to avoid them is fishing a bait of the bottom - dust of your goosequills and go-a-trotting, or pop a bait up if you ledger, or move swims (I have found some water above Eynsham Toll bridge that appears 'crayfish-less'!!) . I shall also be attempting to use an expensive (£13) 6m pole on the Ouse this year to float fish worm/maggots off the bottom to see if this makes any hoot of a difference. I would be delighted to hear of other anglers exploits/theories on these most alien invaders. I recall once reading about the big carp - boys having problems in France with crayfish and something about tying their baits up with bits of nylon tights??!!

 

There are still plenty of small fish, which is good, as I was worrying if the crays were eating every small invertebrate on the river bed.....

 

Also, I have recently noticed they are striding up the Cherwell now, having caught some small ones at Upper Heyfords during opening week this year.

 

I have yet to eat one, because it is illegal to remove them (they have not changed the Thames byelaw to distinguish between the native crays and signals), but I understand they are tasty.....

[Lid]

I have yet to eat one, because it is illegal to remove them (they have not changed the Thames byelaw to distinguish between the native crays and signals), but I understand they are tasty.....

 

If you catch a non native crayfish, it is illegal to return it!

[Steve Walker]

It is now possible to obtain consent to trap crayfish. This applies to England and Wales, including the Thames area. You have to specify where and when you will be trapping (the 'when' bit can be a period of months, doesn't have to be a day) and you need the landowner's permission. The only real thing which will deny consent is the presence of white claws.

 

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subje...205879/1206007/

[poledark]

Various comments from people here who have NOT got a problem with signal crays! Having suffered from them on the Kennet I can only hope that you never get infested with them.

 

Goose says, rightly, that fishing the margins is worse, but what if your fish are in the margins?

 

Pole fishing won't help either, in one swim ane day I was being pestered and so set my depth to be about 9" off the bottom......damned things get "leaping" up to grab the bait I reckon they were giving each other piggy backs

 

So what is equilibrium? is it when they have finally wiped out the native species? when there are so many that many forms of angling are almost impossible?

 

Consider yourself lucky if your system is clear of them (at the moment) for they will get there in the end.

 

Den

[gorton]

Can only speak for where I fish which is the River Lea or Lee whichever you prefer which is infested with them and as was mentioned by goosequill they do not mind any strengh of flow as I have been pestered by them in both Fields and Dobbs Weir out in the mainflow.

To give you a clue of the density of their population on the river between those two weirpools last year with four dropnets using catfood in a ladies stocking (doesn't everybody) I caught just under 500 in two hours and very delicious they were too. Please dont tell me its illegal I know it is, not allowed to fish for them but not allowed to put them back if you catch them "accidentally", how bloody ridiculous.

As for the fishing on this stretch I have just had to adapt by that I mean I have to float fish ie. waggler to the far bank overhanging trees rather than straight leger or feeder right in under the trees which I must admit was the method I used to prefer and used to get me the bigger fish which are mainly chub but the leger now is an absolute no no as as soon as it hits bottom its on the move with the help of our red fingered friends. I have got to say that I think the best bait for these chub is probably a small crayfish with a size two inserted up its rear end but of course we are not allowed to do that are we, more rules and regulations.

As of yet they dont seem to have affected the fish population of the stretch which on my visit on the first Sunday of this season seems to be absolutely booming, from 04.00 to 08.45 (did not see any other fisherman in that time, I remember when you had to sprint along the bank to get a swim on this stretch at first light on the first weekend of the season how times change, not complaining mind you its like your own private fishery) I had as many as 50 chub only up to a 1lb admittedly (over the last few seasons I have had them to 5lb) some nice perch roach dace and even a rudd but I do fear for the future of the river, this was once a prolific stretch for gudgeon many years ago now you very seldom catch one, is this because of the crayfish? Where undoubtedly they are cannon fodder for big chub and perch are we being short sighted on what they will do to our fisheries in future years I think we probably are but certainly on my stretch of river you certainly wont eradicate them now it is too late, although I will do my best but not even I can eat that many.

For those of you who haven't got them in your fisheries hope and pray you never do they are a ****ing menace.

[Chris Plumb]

In 2003 the CSAS had a concerted effort trapping crays on their stretch of the Kennet below Newbury - trapping from April - Sep they caught 14781 of them - weighing nearly ¾ tonne! - This from about a mile of river. Did this solve it - no! similar numbers were caught the following year (around 12000 IIRC) though ave. size was down....

 

Back in the winter just gone I was chatting to a trapper at Kintbury - who sells his catch on to the restaurant trade - he reckoned on getting 600 - 1000 a WEEK during the height of the summer with just a single trap!

 

C.

[Jigotai]

Can only speak for where I fish which is the River Lea or Lee whichever you prefer which is infested with them and as was mentioned by goosequill they do not mind any strengh of flow as I have been pestered by them in both Fields and Dobbs Weir out in the mainflow.

To give you a clue of the density of their population on the river between those two weirpools last year with four dropnets using catfood in a ladies stocking (doesn't everybody) I caught just under 500 in two hours and very delicious they were too. Please dont tell me its illegal I know it is, not allowed to fish for them but not allowed to put them back if you catch them "accidentally", how bloody ridiculous.

As for the fishing on this stretch I have just had to adapt by that I mean I have to float fish ie. waggler to the far bank overhanging trees rather than straight leger or feeder right in under the trees which I must admit was the method I used to prefer and used to get me the bigger fish which are mainly chub but the leger now is an absolute no no as as soon as it hits bottom its on the move with the help of our red fingered friends. I have got to say that I think the best bait for these chub is probably a small crayfish with a size two inserted up its rear end but of course we are not allowed to do that are we, more rules and regulations.

As of yet they dont seem to have affected the fish population of the stretch which on my visit on the first Sunday of this season seems to be absolutely booming, from 04.00 to 08.45 (did not see any other fisherman in that time, I remember when you had to sprint along the bank to get a swim on this stretch at first light on the first weekend of the season how times change, not complaining mind you its like your own private fishery) I had as many as 50 chub only up to a 1lb admittedly (over the last few seasons I have had them to 5lb) some nice perch roach dace and even a rudd but I do fear for the future of the river, this was once a prolific stretch for gudgeon many years ago now you very seldom catch one, is this because of the crayfish? Where undoubtedly they are cannon fodder for big chub and perch are we being short sighted on what they will do to our fisheries in future years I think we probably are but certainly on my stretch of river you certainly wont eradicate them now it is too late, although I will do my best but not even I can eat that many.

For those of you who haven't got them in your fisheries hope and pray you never do they are a ****ing menace.

Hi Gorton,

I have heard about the crayfish down your stretch of the Lea, and they seem to be a problem up as far as Hertford but they don’t seem to be a problem upstream of hertford on the stretch I fish.

I have been thinking of giving Dobbs Weir a go but have been put off by the stories of the crayfish infestation there. The last time I went to have a look there was nobody there and I wondered whether this was due to the crayfish problem, as I remember as a kid it used to be very popular.

[goosequill]

Fellow crayfish fanatics,

 

I am please to see some more news on the crayfish topic!

 

The general theme appears to be they are indeed a nuisance to those that encounter them and there is little in way of angling skill one can do to avoid them once they move in! Float fishing has produced better results, as has fishing in the winter (which is the best time to be on the river bank in my book).

 

I was most interested in the story relating to the trapper who collects 600 - 1000 per week. Somewhere in this unfortunate situation, there exists a commercial oppurtunity for those who pursue it, and good luck to them!

 

I know several people have eaten them, and personally I do not mind if this occurs. Why the byelaw has not been changed (I believe it was revised in 2001) to allow people to legally remove the signals is beyond me - anyone that cannot tell the difference between a signal and native (although, lets be honest there are no native crays left on the signal-cray infested rivers) is purely a simple education issue.

 

One other thing about the margins - interesting to note that others have experienced this. I met one angler on the Ouse at Thornborough last winter who has caught a few of the specimen perch that live there. He generously told me that he had discovered that they are an incredible nuisance too, but whenever they suddenly stopped becoming a nuisance he caught a whopping big perch! They must scurry when the big fish move in!!

 

Finally, somone raised the valid point about what price will we ultimately pay (big fish at the moment due to the crayfish), which I don't think we can answer yet as I originally said that my belief is they are not at that zenith yet!

 

Keep the experiences coming, it is most enlightening!

[Jigotai]

I believe there are a few people trapping these crayfish commercially and selling to restaurants. This company I found advertising on the UK Coarse, Carp & Flyfishing Web Promotion forum on AN.

 

crayfishremovaloxon.co.uk

[Andrew Boyd]

A local lake is infested with thousands of the things ( Turkish varity - they have long slim claws ). I expected the spawning success rate of the fish species to plummet as the years go by, Crayfish love fish spawn, along with almost anything else. But, touch wood, this has not been the case, this years fry are as plentyfull as ever and their growth rate is greater than other local lakes.

However, night fishing with a "meat" bait, such as worms, maggots, luncheon etc is now impossible.