04-06-2012, 10:11 PM
[cool][#0000ff]As a general rule, any lake that has lots of smallmouths will not have as many crawdads. Dads are number one menu items for smallies so the mudbugs stay undercover...unless they wanna be lunch.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Before smallies were planted in Deer Creek it was crawling with crawdads. You could look down in the water almost anywhere and see the bottom moving. Now it is rare to find them...even inside fish you keep. They are still there but not in numbers that make trapping worth while.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Starvation is a bit different. It has large weedbeds that help spawn and hide baby crawdads...so there is a bigger population. But unless you find some special spot with large numbers you will seldom get more than a few. However, some folks do well at night with chicken parts around the docks.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are also crawdads in Willard...but the wipers, walleyes and catfish keep them hiding back in the rocks. You find remnants in all predator species but seldom see them out where they might be caught.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Strawberry and Scofield are two good crawdad ponds. But early in the year a large percentage of the bugs are small ones hatched at the end of the previous year. There are more big ones and they are more active later in the summer.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you really want a bunch of crawdads you should check a fish market for live ones flown in from Louisiana. Sure, they cost a bit, but not as much as a busted trip to a non-productive Utah hole. And this is the time of year they start hitting the market in quantity and at the best prices.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Before smallies were planted in Deer Creek it was crawling with crawdads. You could look down in the water almost anywhere and see the bottom moving. Now it is rare to find them...even inside fish you keep. They are still there but not in numbers that make trapping worth while.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Starvation is a bit different. It has large weedbeds that help spawn and hide baby crawdads...so there is a bigger population. But unless you find some special spot with large numbers you will seldom get more than a few. However, some folks do well at night with chicken parts around the docks.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are also crawdads in Willard...but the wipers, walleyes and catfish keep them hiding back in the rocks. You find remnants in all predator species but seldom see them out where they might be caught.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Strawberry and Scofield are two good crawdad ponds. But early in the year a large percentage of the bugs are small ones hatched at the end of the previous year. There are more big ones and they are more active later in the summer.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you really want a bunch of crawdads you should check a fish market for live ones flown in from Louisiana. Sure, they cost a bit, but not as much as a busted trip to a non-productive Utah hole. And this is the time of year they start hitting the market in quantity and at the best prices.[/#0000ff]
[signature]