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Crayfish

Matthew Ransom said:
Is there any bait crayfish won't eat. I read that they don't eat luncheon meat but also read that this isn't true.
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Personally never found a bait that the crays won't hit on so use a couple of methods that allows me to fish effectively when they're active.

I use paste wrapped hard hooker boilies when they're about, loads of the things in the Wey where I fish and I at least know I'll still have a bait on. Also if using fluro hooklength the knot on the hair holds in the hard bait very well and they can't pull the bait off.

If using meat, I'll cut to size then cut in half then superglue onto a hair. Surprising how long you'll be able to keep fishing with meat attached like this and have caught plenty of barbel when the meats been whittled down by them.

And if you find a bait that barbel like and the crays don't, then please let us know!
 
Thanks Darren. Crayfish are a new one to me it seems they have populated the sections I used to fish 15 20 years ago. I've been out the loop for a while. A lot of anglers cursing them...I understand why horrible looking things they are and they do seem to interfere with hook baits. Does anyone know if fish such as chub and barbel will move Crays off a bait? I've opted for the hardened boilie which certainly helps although they can still be detected trying to eat it! I've not been as successful in recent weeks with the boilie of choice and considered meat but that's not going to stay on with those critters about. There seems to be a lot. The worse part would be not knowing if your bait was still on . That old chestnut. Torture 😂
 
I haven't tried either of these but i've seen Fox armour mesh or One More Cast's bait Orbs recommended. I think the Orb's were previously Enterprise Bait Cages.

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Revibed Bait Orbs

Paste and soluble baits offer so much attraction when trying to generate quicker action in the most testing fishing conditions. The Neutral buoyancy Bait Orbs open up an endless world of possibilities. You really can put absolutely anything inside them to create the ultimate Hookbait! Allowing...
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Someone once told me that carp, barbel, chub and perch all feed on crayfish and if you have crayfish in your swim then barbel are not present. I'm not sure if that's correct though. Wooden balls soaked in flavouring has been used by carp anglers for years, especially in France. Crayfish are a bloody nightmare!

Nick
 
Matthew Ransom said:
Is there any bait crayfish won't eat. I read that they don't eat luncheon meat but also read that this isn't true.
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Buggers love Luncheon meat! The only thing that seems to guarantee success whilst fishing waters with them in it is this.

Rove about, and if barbel & chub are feeding in a particular swim, the cray activity Invariably is significantly less or becomes non existent.

I've found on many occasions that cray indications suddenly stop as soon as something sizable turns up within the swim.

Another tip I have done in the past is fish super hardened boilies, air dried for weeks in fact, and just add paste wraps to them. That kept the baits fishing for longer in these areas.

I've not tried armour mesh, as I can't bring myself to fish a netted bait, it doesn't do my confidence any good.
 
Matthew Ransom said:
Thanks Darren. Crayfish are a new one to me it seems they have populated the sections I used to fish 15 20 years ago. I've been out the loop for a while. A lot of anglers cursing them...I understand why horrible looking things they are and they do seem to interfere with hook baits. Does anyone know if fish such as chub and barbel will move Crays off a bait? I've opted for the hardened boilie which certainly helps although they can still be detected trying to eat it! I've not been as successful in recent weeks with the boilie of choice and considered meat but that's not going to stay on with those critters about. There seems to be a lot. The worse part would be not knowing if your bait was still on . That old chestnut. Torture 😂
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Carp will I know.
 
Alec Hague said:
Carp will I know.
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I should say further, that particularly on the quiver, nuisance from crayfish is easy to detect. If still going on after 15/20 mins and then stops( as all bait devoured) I will re bait but often , a carp will take what's left it and I question whether it says to itself, , "what's that little runt nibbling?" and has a look. If anything there, then it butts in. Often happens.
My pal caught one last year and showed me, wow, I have eaten smaller lobsters! Ugly brute. The crayfish isn't much to look at either!
 
Hi men

When we fished parts of the Kennet that were crayfish soup we put out mixed size pellets , and shrink wrapped hookbaits , but tbh they were a nuisance most of the time .

Worse when I was fishing worms for perch 😭

Hatter
 
Not the prettiest of creatures are they?
This one took my meat bait while fishing for chub in the R. Bure.
Screenshot_20241028-075452_Gallery.jpg
 
I believe there is anecdotal evidence that pineapple flavour deters them, not tried it myself. It’s a pain having to deal with them and I personally don’t believe using plastic/mesh/weed and other hard baits does much as delay the inevitable - they will still mess with your end tackle possibly leaving a bad presentation anyway.
But when you’ve been pestered by them for a couple of hrs and then all goes quite it’s time to pay attention to your rod tips!!!
 
I suppose the only sure way to find things out is to keep a couple in a tank and test different baits. I can't see how they would hempseed. I did read somewhere that DEFRA are trying to find a poison to wipe the buggers out! I doubt there's a river that isn't infested with them.

Nick
 
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