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How to fish alongside Cray fish?

Julian Griffiths

Julian Griffiths

Senior Member & Supporter
Hi guys.

I'm fishing in a heavily crayfish populated water. Ive tried small mesh over the baits, even thin metal cage balls, and the little gits have cut through these and robbed the bait.
What other (sensible😂) options do you more seasoned anglers employ?

I could murder the people that introduced these critters!😊

Thanks all!
 
Hi men ,

Hi Julian , been a while 😉 . Agreed with above , I crossed shrank wrapped my baits for the Kennet and then had them soaking in liquid attractors . Not fool proof , as they also used to drag the bait around , sometimes into snags and crevices , and you're not fishing but don't know it 🙄, but it was the best I could do . Some of the dips harden the bait within the wrap as well , but TBH the way we fished we was on our way after an hour or so in a swim so that reduced the problem .


Hatter
 
Try a float, a friend is lucky enough to have access to a stretch of river that has some cracking chub, a few large barbel
( we think) due to him having occasionally hit fish that he could not stop on the gear he was using , and a lot of silvers, he targets the silvers and chub using a float, and very successfull he is as well, I tipped up one day, on a guest ticket, thinking to try and wheedle out one of the mythical barbel, so tried the static bottom bait, after an early baiting programme, I started to get taps and the occasional better bite on the rod tip, but could never hit anything, I tried feeling for the bites touch ledgering, the bites were still as readily felt, but could I hit anything, no. I was obviously suspecting Chub .I was getting the bait ( pellets and spam ) attacked every cast, eventually my mate walked up, watched me for five mins, and started laughing.. then he told me that the river was loaded with signal crays, and that was what I was feeling .

I was quite dejected, that is when he told me the way forward was a bait moving at the same speed as the current, which is how he fished . I decided a rolling bait may work, no, it was not moving fast enough, and was still getting mauled . Eventually I gave up the idea and started to feed bread crust floating down the current, soon I had the chub feeding in a frenzy, and made do with them for the rest of the day .

Looking back I could probably have honed my approach to trying for the Barbel on the float , but I think based upon what I had seen maybe using Maggots, or Caster would have been a good move, although I could also have float fished Spam, which tbh never entered my head at the time.

Anyway.... when all else fails, try a float .

David
 
But also don’t forget as infuriating as they can be they are also a good indicator of large fish active in the swim....if they stop pestering you they’ve been scared by a big fish (or an otter 😳)
 
Mark Anderson said:
Hi men ,

Hi Julian , been a while 😉 . Agreed with above , I crossed shrank wrapped my baits for the Kennet and then had them soaking in liquid attractors . Not fool proof , as they also used to drag the bait around , sometimes into snags and crevices , and you're not fishing but don't know it 🙄, but it was the best I could do . Some of the dips harden the bait within the wrap as well , but TBH the way we fished we was on our way after an hour or so in a swim so that reduced the problem .


Hatter
Click to expand...
Hi Mark.

It's been ages my friend, and I hope everything's going well for you guy's!
As above, never contemplated using shrink wrapping for baits Mark. Which product were you using to achieve this mate?
That's for your reply and input mate!👍
 
Hi men,

Julian , the Korda shrink wrap is fantastic stuff 😉.

Screenshot_20200617-074242.png


Hatter
 
Agreed on the Korda shrink wrap, use two bits crossways to completely cover it. used in ona lake where the crays were savage and it stood up pretty well. they would often have a go and it would look a bit rough, but enough to get a bite still.

other option carp fishermen use is wooden balls (from a craft shop or simialr). keep them in a tub of dip and they take it on over time and eventually sink.
 
I think I had a cray issue yesterday on the Wharfe.
I was leaving a sleeper rod out, and concentrating on my other rod.
On the sleeper rod, Luncheon meat I thought was getting nibbled off by smaller fish or chub, so I switched to pellets, but they also dissapeared (soaked halibut in bovril, so were a little softer, didn't try dry pellets though) switched to boilies, they survived, but I wasn't confident that they were the right bait.
In the end, I switched back to pellets, and regular recasts, instead of leaving it in for an hour.

Its 30 years since I fished, and always applied the minimum casts, in small shallow rivers, but yesterday there were leads and feeders flying everywhere, so I just played along, with everyone else.
 
Julian Griffiths said:
Hi Terry.

Is there purpose made shrink wrap for baits these days, or does it just come in small roll in a dispenser?
I'm interested in this approach, but never heard of doing this Terry. Thanks a lot for the idea!👍
Click to expand...
Like the other lads pointed out Julian the Korda one is good I think most of the carp tackle manufacturers do one
 
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