Recently while trout fishing I was able to catch several crawdads (crawfish) and so I removed their tails and put them in a pop bottle. I tried these tails today with no success while fishing for steelhead, the water was high and not many fish were caught today so I am wondering if crawdad tails are good bait for steelies, do they work at all? I am also wondering if the more used eggs or sand shrimp are better baits, I know I have had the best luck with eggs. Has anyone fished crawdad tails with success? How do you rig them? Are there other less used baits such as periwinkles,stone flys, or sand crabs that work? Just curious, I hate to pay for sand shrimp if there are other baits that I can catch myself. Thanks for the info.

Shep:
In my bait days, I used to get steelhead on peeled crawdad tails. Also on nightcrawlers, and squid, which stays on the hook all day. I used to hear that they'd take slugs, but never got that desperate! Then I started using spinners and spoons (and occasional flies) and never felt the need to go back to bait. Try some "hardware" sometime, fishing them almost like drift fishing a bait but with just enough tension to keep the action going. You might just break the bait habit, too. Good luck!

I have used some spinners with minimal success, and have had no luck with steelies. I have read Bob's hardware section and think that I am applying the correct technique. Truth be told I haven't given them near the time that I have drift fishing. What types of hardware do you prefer, ie. color, size, what works best for high water low water, fast water slow water? Any tips would help, rebaiting all the time, and having to go buy it are a pain. If I can get spinners and spoons to work that would be great. Also do you run trebles or siwash? Thanks.

Shep,

Crawdad tails can be an excellent steelhead bait. Keep in mind that top quality eggs are hard to beat but we don't always have these in supply, do we?

Summer steelhead, especially in late summer/fall when the water is low and clear will devour a properly presented crawdad tail. They are best used fresh and peeled as the guy above noted. Don't cook them. If your catching them for later use, freeze the tail with with shell intact in ziploc bags with water. When thawed, they are like fresh.

Good question on the hooks for spinners and spoons. I always replace the trebles with Siwash singles (fewer snags, and better holding of fish that are hooked)! On the spoons, I make sure the hook point is UP, which is toward the concave side of the spoon. I use spinners in slower water, as they spin with slower retrieves. Spoons wobble more slowly, so heavier current is just right for them. Not sure color is all that important, but I go with more subtle colors (and smaller sizes) in clearer water. I usually have some color on the lures - usually reds, chartreuse or black, and seem to do best with silver over gold. I just cast quartering upstream and keep just enough tension on the line so I can feel the lure tap the bottom now and then. The bite is usually more obvious than on bait, which I like too. Keep trying, and your confidence will grow as you start hooking the fish.

I fish the North Umpqua River in Southern Oregon. On the night before going fishing I throw out two crawdad traps in my favorite crawdad hole and pull them on the way out in the morning. I keep them alive until I need them. I peel the meat from the tail and put a chunk on a hook with a bait loop, just like eggs. The steelhead go crazy for a fresh piece of crawdad tail.
Try a size 14 rocket-red corkey, tag of white yarn, size 4 Gamakatsu, and a half or quarter of a crawdad tail. They will almost always hit it on the first two or three casts. I think the scent bleeds out quicky.

This crawdad things sounds interesting. Whats the best bait for crawdad traps and is there a secret on where to place them? Are they mainly in small creeks or are lakes better? How about eating them, how to do you cook them?

We used to use a salmon head for bait. Put it in a trap like a shrimp trap and catch tons of them in the Sammamish slough(river)by Redmond WA. Also Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish.(*note: this was over 15 years ago.) Boil em up like crab or shrimp.

[This message has been edited by Bruce (edited 06-05-99).]

We used to go at night with flashlights to certain lakes. Shine the light in the water around where there are trees and you should see a bunch. They come out in the open at night and like to hang around the roots.