Fewer crayfish?

[Anderoo]

Yes, however I am finding it harder to catch the chub this year, so...!

[chesters1]

You'd think it might be a worthwhile line of research to find a way to eradicate the blighters...

 

C.

Trouble is will the EA allow you to use it if a way was found ,would have to be extremely selective in the billion to one chance a native was killed and the EA fined the pants off you

Do otters eat them ? Not sure how that would go down LOL

Edited January 25, 2015 by chesters1

[Chris Plumb]

Do otters eat them ?

Yes they do - though suspect there's more calories per effort for them to catch a 10lb carp!

 

C.

[BobH]

I only wish the same thing would happen on the Lea, they are a complete nightmare and getting worse as the milder weather comes in !!

 

Bob

[Vagabond]

Do otters eat them ?

Almost certainly. Otters love crabs. When I was doing some fieldwork in the Shetlands I camped on the beach at Belmont and spent many hours watching the otters fishing for shore crabs.

 

...dunno about anyone else, but I eat all the Signal Crayfish I catch.

[BobH]

Vagabond,

 

I would not eat anything out of the Lea, with the amount of sewerage works along its length, I mind a size 9 does the trick, terrible things !!

 

Hopefully they will find something like the Mixy that kept down the numbers of Rabbits, for Signal Crayfish.

 

Bob

Edited January 25, 2015 by BobH

[Ken L]

We all know that you need a licence to use a trap.

Is a drop net a trap?

I don't think it is - certainly no more so than a baited landing net in the margins is a trap.

As I have been told that a local water contains beasties, I've just ordered half a dozen drop nets for seventeen quid including the delivery charge which seems perfectly reasonable.

[chesters1]

I dont think the trap is kmportant just that the EA know your trapping ,i use brown clanshell type things but i have seen commercial ones that are netting ones on hoops so they fold.(similar to a lobsterpot)

The licencies appear to be easy to get (i trap on behalf of the club and my traps have ID lables leading to the applicable licence)

So traps easy ,licence easy but ofcourse you need permission from the owner of the crayfish the owner of the pond or permission from to put your trap in a river from the riparian owner

The difficulty is the old bike wheel and netting isnt so good with signals one fright and they are away like lightening so an enclosed trap is far better

Mine are similar to this (mine are brown and sort of oval rather than rounded) they have lead in them so they land correctly on the bottom ,crays are lazy if they can pull the bait through the mesh they will so bait needs to be in a container rather than loose if possible forcing the crays to go into the trap rather than sit outside picking off bits through the mesh

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Swedish-Crayfish-Trap-Otter-Friendly-UK-Legal-/271747355267?pt=UK_BOI_Packing_Postal_Supplies_Labels_LE&hash=item3f45679283

 

Another problem is hiding them often i have lost one ,found one destroyed or had phone calls telling me poachers are trapping ,ofcourse the members do what they think is right but finding traps on the bank complete with corpses on a hot day isnt good for public eyes (only one bank is fenced ,one end is a bridlepath and the other side is open to a golf course),so hide the buggers well if its going to be used overnight (when most crays get out and about in shallow water)

Mine came with nylon rope with a float which ofcourse stood out from a distance i replaced it with electric fence tape which sinks but unfortunately is white but harder to see in action

Edited January 25, 2015 by chesters1

[Chris Plumb]

Licences are also free!

 

C.

[philocalist]

Watching catch reports on here, particularly those with photo's, makes it easy to believe that fishing further south is a totally different pastime from what happens a bit further north ... you seem to have access to way more fish - and of a much bigger size - particularly on the rivers.

But - being thankful for small mercies - I've NEVER yet seen a single example of a Signal Crayfish up here - and our native crayfish are still quite easy to find, and abundant, if you know where to look.

 

Unfortunately, I realise it may be no more than a matter of time though - occasional reports filter through that there MAY be Signals in waters up here, though so far they have all been at least 30 miles north of here, apparently transported there, rather than making their own way cross-country, as the nearest populations south of here are still quite distant.