Crawdad (Crayfish)
A crawdad caught at Spring Lake

Description:

Crawdad fishing can be just as fun as fishing for traditional fish species. Kids especially will love catching these interesting crustaceans. Crawdads can make a fine meal as well and are often referred to as 'fresh-water lobster' or 'poor man's lobster'. Crayfish are excellent bait for such species as Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass, as well as at times for many other species including Cutthroat Trout and Channel Catfish.

Crawdads occupy mostly rocky or weedy shorelines where they can seek shelter from predators and feed safely. They are often found in very large numbers in some of Utah reservoirs, such as Strawberry Reservoir. Crawdads can be caught with a traditional fishing pole, however they are also often trapped as well as caught by tying bait to fishing line with no hook. The crawdads seem to want a meal so bad that they will clamp onto the bait with their claws and not let go, allowing you to bring them up out of the water.

Where to catch Crawdads:

There are plenty of other Utah waters that also contain varying numbers of crayfish as well.

Current Regulations:

Fishing Tips:

Some common types of bait to use to catch crayfish are: The last one, chicken bones, I find to be extremely productive. Often, when fishing for crawdads, they end up stealing the bait off the line, and the bait begins to break up. A good way to get around this is to buy some cooked chicked drumsticks, and use the meat until it's gone, then use the bones.

I found this out one late night at Flaming Gorge Reservoir. We had run out of bait, and decided we might as well try using the bones. They turned out to attract the crayfish just as much as the meat, but the bone held together indefinitely, so we were able to catch far more 'dads with the bones.