How To Catch Crayfish | ADRENO

Spearfishing 101 Series Part 15: How To Catch Crayfish
We've previously talked about the basics of hunting fish, but let's not forget about one of our staple diets which is the crayfish. You will see these creatures whether you're on the shore, on shore dives or out on the reef. Hunting crayfish is great fun and very rewarding. However, it's a skill that requires practice and patience before you become skilled at it.
There are few different ways to catch crayfish, whether you're swimming around with a gun and a float line, or you're not swimming around with a gun at all. Make sure that you have a few different things - like drop weights. If you’ve got a float line attached, clip that off, drop it right on that spot you’ve spotted one. If you start seeing crayfish in around that 15 meters of water - that’s a fairly long dive, so you want to make sure that you're dropping straight on top of them.
Know Where The Crayfish Is
The biggest factor with chasing crayfish is time in the water and knowing your spots. Chasing crayfish at first can be quite a frustrating task. But once you find one, you begin to understand where you're going to find them, especially in those areas that you dive in quite often.
As you keep on diving, just make sure you're getting enough surface time between dives because you'll end up with a headache at the end of the day. But definitely just doing quick 20 second dives, checking every ledge, and keeping an eye for the antenna once you hit the bottom. They can be deep in holes - so once your eyes have started adjusting, when you're inside your cave, give yourself a few seconds just to have a look at where the crays are sitting. Try looking on the surface of your ledge, because a lot of the time you'll find slipper lobsters in there paired in with Eastern greens and other species.
Picking Up The Cray
Once you've got an idea as to which cray you want to grab, keep your eye on it. At that point, pin yourself either with your legs or your hand on the ledge. You're going straight in trying to grab it at the base of the horns and hold on. You don't want to be grabbing it by the antennae. Instead, grab the really big bases on the nose of the cray. If you get a hold of those you've got a good hold of the cray. And a lot of the time if your breath hold can outlast them, you'll be able to get them out nice and slow by grabbing on, and just wiggling them out, you'll see them start to relax and come through.
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[@johnq.public2621]

Have you found any benefit to using a "tickler"? In conjunction with a low visibility net?

[@mikegardner9431]

Do you guys in Australia not use ticklers and nets ?

[@stoner4life156]

Dose anyone know how long it would take for a speargun to get to WA if you buy it online????

[@mre6590]

There's a store in WA. It's in O'Connor.

[@stoner4life156]

@@mre6590 yeah but that’s a long drive

[@kizzjd9578]

Never dive with the snorkel in your mouth like the video shows.

[@carnahansteve]

I’ve heard this before, but never heard why? What’s the reason for not? I’ve not done deep dives, if you can’t guess from the thumbnail 😅

[@stoner4life156]

@@carnahansteve it’s because if you you pass out and you have a snorkel in your mouth it will make water go straight to your lungs but if you don’t have it in you will have a much better chance or not dying.

[@carnahansteve]

@@stoner4life156 thanks for the headsup!

[@stoner4life156]

@@carnahansteve NP

[@kizzjd9578]

@@carnahansteve If you pass out from shallow water blackout, the first thing the body does when you come back to life is to breathe in. Now if you happen to have a snorkel in your mouth full of water.. well you drown and down you go.