crawdads in pierce county

[spokey9]

anybody know where to catch crawdads in pierce county. i haven't went after them since i was a kid, and had a lot of fun doing. i'd like to get back into it but don't know where to go or what to use anymore

[Jake Dogfish]

I believe its closed right now, there were a couple of detailed threads including which lakes had them just recently...

[dilbert]

Here's the thread with the list of lakes.
http://www.washingtonlakes.com/Forum/vi ... .php?t=834

[Dave]

Here are the waters that are said to hold crawfish in Pierce County.

Alder Lake (Res.)
Clear Lake
Kapowsin Lake
Nisqually River
Silver Lake
Spanaway Lake

The season as indicated in the Sport Fishing Rules 2007 – 2008 pamphlet is the first Monday in May through October 31st so the season is closed for now until May 5th 2008 unless WDFW changes the 2008 season. I would check the 2008 - 2009 sport fishing rules pamphlet when it comes out in 2008 for the 08 season and license requirements if any exist. Per the 2007 rules-regs no shellfish / seaweed license is required for crawfish but that could change.

Hope this helps. Good fishin.

[spokey9]

thanks for the info guys. i'm getting ready for next year so i can spend a lot of time on the water like i used to when i was younger and teach my godsons how to fish. what kind of pot should i use, we used to use those mesh tube looking ones, is there something better

[Dave]

I’m not a crawfish expert by any means so I Googled crayfish traps and came up with this web site. http://www.terrybullard.com/ This site / person claims to make the best traps for crayfish and provides lots of good information on the how to's of crayfishing. My guess is you can buy traps at Cabalas or Sportsman’s Warehouse and they will work just fine. If you are planning to leave your traps overnight and or unattended you might consider your options for hiding your trap lines. This web site address will give you some options on trap theft prevention by hiding your lines; This information is at http://www.terrybullard.com/crayfish_gr ... ecrets.htm . Good luck.

[spokey9]

hey thanks dave, checked the site and it's got pretty much what i needed to know. just gotta get out there when the season opens

[gpc]

Lake mineral in lewis county. It is right on the border of lewis and peirce county, about 20 minutes out of eatonville. Not only is it one of the better crawdad lakes in that area it is one of the better trout lakes in the state

[spokey9]

i used to go there as a kid catching crawdad and fishing. i thought they poisoned the lake off to make it a better trout fishery at least that's what my uncle told me about 10 years back or so. i didn't know there were still crawdads in there. thanks gpc, that'll be my first trip

[spokey9]

i used to go there as a kid catching crawdad and fishing. i thought they poisoned the lake off to make it a better trout fishery at least that's what my uncle told me about 10 years back or so. i didn't know there were still crawdads in there. thanks gpc, that'll be my first trip

[gpc]

i used to go there as a kid catching crawdad and fishing. i thought they poisoned the lake off to make it a better trout fishery at least that's what my uncle told me about 10 years back or so. i didn't know there were still crawdads in there. thanks gpc, that'll be my first trip

They did kill off the lake a while back. I am not sure when but it was a little longer than 10 years ago, I have been fishing there for about 15 years and it was a little while before that so probally closer to 20 years ago. From the looks of it, it wont be long until they have to kill the lake off again. There is a lot of perch (nice one though) bass and sunfish. but it dosnt seem to be doing a whole lot to the trout fishery but then again they just load that lake with trout. We even caught a kokanee there last year. Its not the crawdad lake it used to be because they dredged the lake and took out most of the old logs, but its still a good crawdad lake. The pot that dave had a picture of seems to be the one to use. That one is really nice, but you can get the deal for about $10 but just not as nice.

[spokey9]

was it that long ago. man i'm getting old. last time i was up there was about 5 years ago and did pretty well of the public dock my girl at the time got 5.5 lb bow and i did catch a perch, but i thought it was a fluke. didn't know they had any good perch up there. they're so tasty in beer batter mmmmm perch

[Fisherman_max]

i have always found craws in any smaller rivers and creeks, by small rivers i mean small enough to wade across it is real fun to find smaller creeks and then just put a small hook and a worm on the end of the pole dip it in the water for about 5 minutes and pull it up you should have a craw on the end. if you are looking to catch a bunch i would just wade around in a river and lift up rocks and branches to find them. if anybody in clark county wants craws go to round lake and walk down the trail the leads to the dams runnoff and you can catch hundreds of craws using the worm technique or the good old spot n' grab.

[spokey9]

that's a really good idea, i never thought of. i got a lot streams around here and i think i'm gonna take my godsons out wading when the season opens. i think they'll like that a lot more than just pulling pots. thankx fisherman_max

[Fisherman_max]

yup anytime. it really gets fun when its warmer and you catch a lot, because once your done you can go for a swim.

[gpc]

was it that long ago. man i'm getting old. last time i was up there was about 5 years ago and did pretty well of the public dock my girl at the time got 5.5 lb bow and i did catch a perch, but i thought it was a fluke. didn't know they had any good perch up there. they're so tasty in beer batter mmmmm perch

Thats what I love about Mineral a lot of big fish. We were down there the week after the opener, really packed but we saw a 6lb and a 7lb and we heard the weekend before there was a couple that topped 10lbs. I havent fished the public dock too many times, they re built it and is in a lot better shape now though. Its really cheap to make a weekend there, even if you rent a row boat its only $20 bucks a day and only $10 a night to camp. But you do get what you pay for lol. But great fishing none the less

[spokey9]

thanks for the prices up there i haven't fished that lake in a boat yet i might have to go up for a weekend after the opener dies down a little. what are the sites like?

[gpc]

thanks for the prices up there i haven't fished that lake in a boat yet i might have to go up for a weekend after the opener dies down a little. what are the sites like?

It stays pretty busy until it closes down. I was up there for a week staying in Ashford but kept my boat at mineral and went there a few times a day and sure enough when the weekend came around the place was swamped. This was durring mid summer. The sites are far from great, pretty much just grass, if you are lucky I have stayed on gravle quite a few times. Try to get there early on a friday and you will get a better site. There is no reservations but the people who run the lions club camp ground will reserve spots for their friends, I have gotten into it with them a few times for that reason. The other resort accros the lake is where they rent the boats. They dont have camp sites though, just RV spots and a few RVs you can rent for the weekend and a couple of VERY overpriced VERY small hotels. But they are pretty much a room, they dont even have bathrooms in them. They also have a really productive fishing dock and for $5 you can fish there, but its well worth the $5. I will for sure be up there shortly after the opener, the opener is fun, BUT WAY TOO CROWDED. Last time I was there for the opener it snowed and flooded. PM if you want any more info I can on for a long time about this lake.