Finger Lakes Crayfish?

[Pete Collin]

Finger Lakes Crayfish?

Hello All,

This winter I got intrigued by some videos put out by these guys on YouTube, who are avid crayfish enthusiasts.  They live in the American southwest, and catch excellent numbers of big crayfish using traps (the kind that resemble minnow traps).  The videos are entertaining, and the feasts they have look delicious.

I have caught crayfish in the northeast to cook and eat, and found that they do taste good.  I always wondered why eating crayfish is not a thing if you don't live in the south.  Maybe it's because ours are smaller, or less plentiful, or our water quality is sometimes an issue.  But I can think of a few places in NY where I have seen very big ones.

That got me thinking about the Finger Lakes.  Rocky bottoms, decent water quality.  I could throw some traps out in the morning, go trolling or jigging for trout, and pick up my traps at the end of the day.  I wonder if any of you have some idea of the population or size of the crayfish that live in the finger lakes?  It could turn into another foodie adventure!

Pete Collin

Edited March 22, 2017 by Pete Collin

[alex1young]

In the spring I see lots of them around the docks in Owasco. Not sure about a targetable population though.


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[JoeFro]

Caught that Monster in my yard.

[rbochan]

When I was a kid, I used to put a trap in a creek to catch them as bait. Or sometimes you could just flip over a few rocks.

Edited March 23, 2017 by rbochan

[R-Dog]

I can't tell from that picture, but I caught rusty crayfish in Owasco last year. These are another invasive species in the lake and can be very bad news for the natural balance of the food web in a system. Good news is that they are plentiful and many species of game fish eat them, especially Bass. Lakers & bows will eat them when water temps allow the trout to access the shallows where the crayfish live. Rusty Crayfish are easy to id by a marking on there side that looks like a red fingerprint right where you'd put your fingers to safely pick one up without being pinched


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[FishingTheFL]

I would try more then one spot. Some real monsters on Cayuga. Problem is they're really not that plentiful anymore. Use to see a lot at Dean's cove sun bathing on the rocks and find them under rocks. Looks for some last year.... Found 1 out probably 100 rocks... Gobies might have something to do with the population.

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[cronoticed]

I caught this guy last fall on Cayuga when my rapalla bumped the bottom.  I figured it was weeds, quite a surprise.  Maybe I should have kept him for dinner...