Cray fish and how to avoid them.
Is it just me or
is any one else having serious nightmares about these beasts lets get this off
my chest, once these things get in a water that’s
it, fishing and the whole balance is wiped out and quick and there’s absolutely
nothing anyone can do about it yes when you get them out you can take great
pleasure in killing them but this is rather like building a sand castle to stop
the tide coming in as for eating them this could end up fuelling the spread.
The American signal
Cray is red and larger than our native white cray if you are lucky enough to
find one of ours then release him unharmed as their rightfully protected and
will soon be extinct due to the American signal.
The American Signal Cray fish |
Always ensure the corpse is no where near any water as they are usually full of eggs, as usual you get the uneducated public breading them or something next thing you no their in the water table and its goodbye fish their favourite food is yes you guessed it fish roe as far as I’m aware no one has even been prosecuted for them getting into a water.
How to avoid
catching the Cray fish when fishing can be difficult the best way to stop Cray
fish taking a bait is to use an anti-Crab rig which is used by sea anglers
there is a nice length of foam on these which I use for putting on my Pike,Carp rigs to lift the bait from the bottom.
These can also be
used with fishing with a pencil float for Pike.
Killing and binning them is in line with the environment
agency guide lines, they must be humanely dispatched i.e. a sharp blow to the
head, personally I find the best is the thermal wellington boot with fleece
lining particularly in size 8 or 9! Crushed quickly, it’s instant.
It is also illegal to trap and transport these
heavy feeders.
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Notice the foam insert to keep the bait above the Cray fish on this rig. |
Time will tell I
shudder to think