Crayfish Stocking
Chilly Start
Another spring has wrapped up and with that comes crayfish stocking. This spring was odd and it even continued into our stockings. Past crayfish stockings are usually accompanied with Gatorade, 90 degree temps, and the dreaded swamp funk we get from releasing a couple thousand pounds of crayfish. The very first delivery went down in 46 degrees with the smart ones wearing pants and boots. Luckily it got warmer.
Why Crayfish?
If it seems strange to be putting crayfish in your pond and not in your low country boil then keep reading. Bass are incredibly poor at converting food into body mass. Like we said in the past, it takes 10 lbs of forage for bass to add 1 lb of body mass. That ratio makes this battle uphill for any lake owner that wants a quality fishery. We always want the bluegill to bass ratio to be in balance first. Once that has been dealt with we can get creative. Threadfin shad do great in fertile lakes that have plenty of open water. Rainbow trout keep the kids busy in the winter and the bass full going into the spawn. Goldfish are slow swimmers and great entertainment for the kids due to their high visibility. However, the king of additional forage is crayfish. Stocking crayfish is the cheapest option for lake owners yet they have more protein per gram than rainbow trout. That’s a game changer.
Crayfish stocking has wrapped up for the year. If you missed the boat get in contact with our office as we are constructing the list for 2020.