The Best Bait to Catch Crayfish! (Trapping Experiment!)

I figured out which of the three baits crayfish loved the most! I compared herring, mackerel, cat food, and cucumbers to see which one caught the most crayfish! The results were not what I was expecting...
Do you know of any good crayfish baits? Let me know if you have any good ideas!
Link to the traps I used in this video:
Gee's Minnow Trap: amzn.to/2yA8QzG
This video/description contains an affiliate link. If you purchase something with this link it doesn't cost you anything additional, but it provides me a small percentage of the sale. This helps support the channel and allows me to create more content like this video for you!

[@livefreefishmore1008]

There is an Amazon affiliate link to purchase the traps I used in this video in the description or right here: amzn.to/2yA8QzG Do you want to see more trapping videos? Shiners? Crayfish? Let me know down below! Thanks for watching!

[@samueljackson5279]

when's the crawfish boil?

[@xvrnxsxonyt4585]

Nice catch dude in total you got 312!

[@sortaforida718]

You think a can of tuna would work?

[@robertmartin265]

Nice video. Where do I get Herrin?

[@judemikolajczyk]

Deserved ree

[@TrackerScout]

Hint: cover cages with dark cloth, either top or all the way around. A pro crayfish catcher left cameras underwater, wondered why he didn't get much, saw them all around his traps but wouldn't go in because they felt unsafe from predators above. Got the idea to cover top of traps with dark cloth, then his catch tripled. The crayfish felt safe like they are going under rocks.

[@livefreefishmore1008]

I have heard of doing that with shiners with good success because they feel safe too. I'll have to give it a shot! Thanks for the tip!

[@TrackerScout]

@@livefreefishmore1008 Oh nice, makes sense too. It even reminds me that maybe it should be done with primitive traps too. In survival sometimes it can take a week before traps start producing. Now makes me wonder if full natural camo for traps is the way to go. Tie on vegetation, Leaves, etc. Thanks for your videos

[@redeyestones3738]

A five gallon bucket with a hole in the lid, and a conical filter grate works best in my experience. Put one slice of bacon, and a handful of dry dog kibble inside a tube sock, and tie a knot in the sock. Tie the sick to a rock or other weight so it sits at the bottom. Tie a cord to the handle of the bucket, and toss it in the water over night. I've tried 100s of methods dating back to around 1979. And the method I just described was always the most productive.

[@reedsutter8485]

100% agree. I run 3 traps that were all made the same, except I only had enough black mesh to wrap one of them. After 2 seasons of trapping, I was convinced to wrap the other two because the black wrapped trap outperformed the unwrapped traps nearly every time.

[@saltysailor141]

@@redeyestones3738good tip on the dry dog food…,ty!

[@yaninalanger1905]

My four yr old son loves the crayfish hiding in the cucumber! He loves to eat cucumbers himself. Thank you for making his day. He asks to see this video often. “The herring is loaded” loves repeating your words!! Thank you for keeping it family friendly.

[@cleonRIP]

He found a crayfish literally chilling like a cucumber 🤣

[@emilbang-berthelsen472]

Jordan Utl

[@lowkey903]

Its "cool as a cucumber" you had one job and you f***ed it up talkin bout "chilling like a cucumber"

[@reptilekeepers.7848]

I'm pretty sure that crawdad in the cucumber was a blue crawdad that it hasn't won in a million chance of existing so the cucumber trap worked

[@georgewashington5746]

@@reptilekeepers.7848 no it needs to be bright blue

[@stevenwalker9013]

He backed in there to be protected and to fight of the rest

[@alistairclark6814]

I absolutely love the experemental aspect of crawhunting on your channel! It's incredibly informative! You have a new subscriber. 😁

[@shawnbaraw2637]

Thanks for teaching me in a old school country boy way I appreciate it keep up the good work man

[@experimentalsurvival7142]

Amazing video! Will be using this knowledge very soon :D

[@Jesse-gj4fy]

Nice video! Definitely inspired to make a crawfish video.

[@chodemckenzie4179]

Fresh caught bluegill is the best bait I have used. Catch a blue hill, slit its throat and put it in the trap. Leave for about 30 hours and your trap will be so full its hard to pull out.

[@elijahjohnson5872]

“Slit it’s throat” 😂

[@caseycool101]

@@elijahjohnson5872 😂😂😂

[@kingdeweybeatz6127]

Facts I actually flay the bluegill and put it in

[@andrewdejulio]

Thank you! Gonna use your advice.

[@jimmytwinsburg4734]

Very good presentation comparing the different baits. I'm going to try trapping in my cr hopefully I'll be able to find some herring ! Keep up the good work!

[@kenneth9874]

Shad work really well

[@jmvfishing]

I will definitely have to try those baits!!

[@oleksigoriachek7428]

Old/cheapest and one of the best ways to attract crawfish is small net bags with cut garlic. You will put couple of bags and they love it! You can reuse them as well! Great video BTW!

[@masteroogway3055]

Garlic work?

[@fox8340]

I really appreciate this video. I’m going to try to do trap them tomorrow for the first time. North Carolina

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Hope you get them!

[@MegaCableDude]

thank you for this video!

[@tjs323626]

The spleen from cattle is good. It is also known as melt. Almost any kind of fish also works well.

[@stephanieakittayviveiros6935]

"theres always a fishing line in these fish, makes no sense to me" -throws fish with line back in water Lol

[@emilbang-berthelsen472]

Steph Akittay true

[@whiteking4895]

theres so much of it now a days i dont even pick it up anymore, i used too.... but now a days i dont wanna be carrying a shit ton of garabage and fishing line when i go out in the boons

[@dickfitswell3437]

@@whiteking4895 its not fishing line. Its basically a equivalent to our spinal cord but its the fishes spinal cord

[@Brickcityluv]

Hey follow me and I'll follow y'all! Much fishing luck to all my friends from Boston!🤙🤙🎣

[@JETTIEROCKSFISHINGwithMIKED]

Great video man

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Thanks Mike!

[@thatmustardhurt7341]

Thanks that is very helpful I found Macrel worked best for me

[@carfvallrightsreservedwith6649]

Creek chub works good too. It's oily like mackeral and herring.

[@justinabar3969]

That's gotta be a nice fishing spot!

[@soloshooter2235]

Great work 🎉

[@200sinko]

thanks for this test. now i know what i have to do

[@beebob1279]

I was routing for the herring. They are stinky. In my state 50 is the daily limit to keep. Also, your traps are what we used to use as minnow traps. A little bread and come back the next day and we had bait for the whole day. I still see this style trap around. I'll have to check our regulations in my state on catching crawfish. We aren't allowed to catch fresh water mussels or clams anymore. I've got some interesting places around me for catching crawfish next spring. I'll stock our pond with them for the bass. Thanks for the video. Very informative.

[@beebob1279]

@Taylor Furr I did check into my states regs. on crawfish. We can't catch and move them to other waterways due to the rusty crawfish. But if I catch one in the waters I'm fishing I can use them. If I choose to harvest them for eating, I have to dispatch them immediately where I'm harvesting.

[@benj597]

wicked video mate

[@Treasuremonk]

I like the waterproof bag!

[@davidlyall7346]

Very interesting. Thanks.

[@MountainStateAngler]

Catfish food nuff said! Either Fancy Feast or Frisky's. Fancy Feast with gravy got me 1,000 in 1 hour. :) Nice video and those oily fish definitely smell from miles away. Great choices.

[@billycarter1911]

Great info .

[@dianewillson3261]

Fun experiment

[@wellthomychannel]

Good trapping expriment bro..

[@adhdoutdoors6919]

Great info thanks

[@vcpitcher18]

Great video! Keep um coming!

[@crgaillee]

Thank you, I know what to use now.

[@ashleybruton7076]

Awesome video

[@grungeboy1752]

My dude, crayfish are awesome bass n catfish bait and there good eating jambalaya styled, I caught some big channel catfish on crays and peaple always told me to put canned catfood in the minnow traps Wich works fairly but dam dude from what I saw in this video they love mackerel and herring, I'ma try it soon when the weather warms up man 🤘🏻🎣

[@sharonwelbourne3403]

Thanks for this! I’m trying sausage slices and haven’t caught one. Surprised about the cucumber’s success! 😀

[@livefreefishmore1008]

I was too!

[@dickfitswell3437]

Bro Crawdads don't like Sausage with cheese and jalapeno. They like normal sausage, maybe grilled. Lol jk. We use few strips of fatty bacon, raw.

[@afreakingcat]

10:21 "Hungry little critters" sounds like fishing Jack Black

[@tightlineswithtony4443]

At what depth do you usually set your traps? Great video btw!

[@GurrasGarage]

Makrell is delicious food, I wouldn't waste them as bait :) I use anything from boiled potatoes to any whitefish in my pond when i trap crayfish.

[@deppy_logs]

*I T ' S* *N O T* *W A S T I N G* *W H E N* *Y O U R* *C A T C H I N G*

[@spurrstein]

Good video. Good commentary. Keep em coming!

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Thanks Mike! I appreciate the kind words!

[@jessbubb6339]

so my three year old daughter was like "Dad... that guy don't got a clue! use cat food for catfish and crayons for crayfish duh!"

[@malcaniscsm5184]

We can't fight logic that strong

[@Water_down_the_stream]

Crayons will kill the crayfish

[@m.n.9496]

This was great, thanks man!

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Thank you for watching. I hope it helped!

[@Tony53177]

I've had good success using catfish and carp flesh as bait. I suspended the fish though because a lot of them were just eating it through the holes.

[@ninavelasquez1562]

Yum I’m going on a hunt 😄

[@dtwjohn6378]

do you think combining bait like if i throw in some hotdogs with catfood would improve the numbers or should i still only use catfood for best results

[@icebergo6]

I don't know if anyone else said already but using cucumber as bait might be good for pre cleaning them because if they're eating that it might speed up digestion and make it faster to clean and purge them

[@redeyestones3738]

Or just use a better attractant, then dunk em in milk for a few minutes before cooking em. They are extremely allergic to milk, and will completely void their bowels, leaving the insides clean of all poop.

[@KnifeCrazzzzy]

Nice one bro!

[@MrSIXGUNZ]

really cool

[@elirocha8548]

Caught 3 crawfish my first use.1 Can of catfood caught 3 healthy crawfish. Very sturdy trap. Quickly becoming my favorite trap.

[@stingerbee8346]

Nice video. New sub!

[@deanfulford69]

Good stuff bro

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Thanks Dean!

[@briantalbot1452]

Use a cricket tube, with rye bread in it works awesome

[@squashscent5071]

I love your videos, keep em comin

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Working on it!

[@AnnaDavis-zr9bx]

Where do you buy those traps or do you know of any diys, and WOW Herring huh I usually use chicken liver and or chicken gizzaerd.

[@PopPopJoe]

Did you enlarge the openings on the minnow traps so the crawdads can enter trap ?

[@horsenuts1831]

For convenience, I usually use cat food, but I remember being in Australia about 25 years ago on a farm that we rented that was well away from civilisation. We found a trap and thought we would try catching some Yabbies (Australian for crayfish) in the dam (Australian for farm pond). I recall the first thing we tried was a bit of bacon. We caught three yabbies. Then we tried some tinned sardines that we found, and caught a bucketload. Sadly, in that part of Australia, they yabbies were really quite small. I prefer the American invaders here in the UK which can be huge.

[@petebradt]

24 HOURS is better.

[@slavatko]

Thanks man, like from me, what time is the best to set the trap and how soon after that you pick up the catch?

[@livefreefishmore1008]

I'd say you can set it anytime, but you want it in the water at night. That's when they're most active. I usaully pick it up the next morning. Thanks for watching!

[@CruzesLouisianaOutdoors]

enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing buddy

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Thanks Cruze!!

[@justawildboyinidaho5137]

Awesome

[@rustyshackleford3278]

Hello from Vermont - thank you for the helpful info! I got one for you: Bananas. Sounds crazy but there is a Crawfishing organization in England that did an experiment and their traps were loaded. Who knew?

[@heatherreadsreddit8579]

Did they open the bananas, or keep them whole?

[@rustyshackleford3278]

@@heatherreadsreddit8579 They were kept whole and secured with a small piece of twine. I have also seen videos from Louisiana where they toss in half a corn cob. Good luck!

[@Scoobshighlights]

Can't wait for the next vid!

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Just posted one yesterday! More on the way.

[@dampcpungen]

You should try empty traps without bait for reference just to see if they actually like cucumber or if they just found the trap to be a good hiding spot

[@davidpickens6916]

I’ll have to try herrings.

[@soccershark5513]

Where were you trapping at. I’m looking for a good spot

[@TheArby13]

Very interesting. Thank you. Now maybe my traps will get some use.

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Give it a shot!

[@angelheart4498]

Chicken livers left out in the hot sun for 1-2hrs also works really well.

[@anthonycamouse9127]

How come you arent getting as many small fish? I would think some minnows or more baby bluegills would be present. Are the holes just too big and they swim out as soon as you pull the trap?

[@tashawithrow9263]

Do you have a video on how to keep crayfish alive. I need some for my puffer fish and need to keep them alive. Especially for winter months here

[@Horizon344]

Good film, thx, but Mackerel are delicious when smoked & grilled.

[@texastony74]

I've been fishing crawfish in Louisiana for 25 years. cut fish is our #1 bait.

[@DoinitHangDo]

Where did you catch this at ? Is it a private areas?

[@peacely191]

I honestly thought the cucumber trap was gonna win 🤣

[@tylercarlson1634]

I live in middle Tennessee and I’ve seen crayfish in my creek but 8 days in a row I’ve thrown Vienna sausages, salmon cat food, canned tuna, and not a single crayfish, it also has been colder and just snowed so maybe that had something to do with it? I was placing it in a place where I found 4 crayfish within 4 square feet.

[@AkshaySKumar-cn8iw]

In my opinion hard dog food and canned tuna work the best, also bluegill cut into pieces are a cheap alternative you can catch tons of bluegill with a cast net after chumming the water with dog food pellets

[@petebradt]

The guts left over from cleaning a trout are GREAT bait.

[@vartanmouradikian6045]

Thank you for the herring idea! Do you know what is the best bait for a minnow trap? Good luck!

[@keystonedcannabisreview4851]

Bread, dogfood, leftover carp dough balls.

[@1william89]

Going to try a cocktail mix of raw bacon and sardines see what happens!

[@user-ts9ug9fu5d]

When I was a kid I used bacon. Man, it worked great

[@markpinther9296]

I wonder if stuffing cat food into a nylon stocking with the end tied off would work?

[@mattyrulli6864]

Great video

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Thanks!

[@user-ch7hf4zv1d]

The only spot I'm trying right now is a river... I'll get 6 at most... Are lakes better?

[@mikey6071]

How did they taste?

[@brandonlewis9660]

I'm new at setting traps and i'm glad to see the different baits because I've been using dog food and cat food with very little results. Guess I'll have to find me a fish to try now

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Make sure to use one that's fresh or fresh when frozen!! Good luck!

[@johnyyang9965]

sooooooo what state were you at for this video?

[@silent_assasin6722]

Where do you get you herring from??

[@cowyscow7303]

What do u do with those crayfish?

[@petetrout2442]

Realy liked the video! Just one thing dont throw the fishing line back in the water, take with you.

[@LetYourLightSoShine999]

What state are you in? And where do you get herring from? I'm from columbus IN.

[@beegd00kie10]

here in the pnw they are sold frozen in gas stations/sporting goods stores with other fishing bait. About as easy to find as nightcrawlers.

[@jeffreytaylor4464]

I am curious did you use the crawdads for bait or eat them? Maybe you let them back into the water.

[@livefreefishmore1008]

I think I ate these ones

[@singwithmychannel1704]

Where do you get herring?

[@frankiepoprocks]

Could the fishing line be in the fish's stomach and once they get eaten it's exposed

[@OldHoboManYouTube]

Crawfish are living in my yard and I have no water around. Are these a different species of crawfish or do they tend to live in water and land too?

[@livefreefishmore1008]

Most likely a different species. To my knowledge these ones don't burrow out of the water.

[@spencerschrader6964]

How deep can you find crayfish and where is that located

[@Tony53177]

Great haul! Honestly, I'm more impressed that your traps weren't stolen. I just had two traps stolen a couple weeks ago. Pissed! 😤

[@livefreefishmore1008]

me too!!

[@Tony53177]

@@livefreefishmore1008 never mess with another's craws! 😄

[@slingshoter8783]

Gators like traps full about that size i bet lol

[@michaelfrancis1715]

What state are you fishing at?

[@u7617]

Can someone explain to me how they get inside the basket when it is shut? I don't understand. Thanks in advance

[@acousticfrag1060]

They crawl in from the sides. You can see the cone-like shape that makes it impossible for them to walk out.

[@charleskuntz1393]

I use canned dog food. Beef and Liver flavor. Fills my traps with mudbugs better than any other bait I have tried so far.

[@thomasroth4695]

For speed just weigh them all at once for each group. Neat experiment

[@dabeast987]

I wonder if canned sardines or herring would work just as good

[@228TY]

Watermelon rinds with a little red on the is a good bait for craws and crabs