the fresh-water lobsterette - crawfish lakes *UPDATE*

[The Quadfather]

i have been soaking my pot over night at pine lake near the dock with trout guts and heads as bait but haven't even caught a single crawfish...... any tips

Careful what you post on a public forum... Just sayin'.

[The Quadfather]

check out:
http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.mic ... CBoQ8gEwAA

Hopefully that goes through for you. If not, just do a google maps search for lake Sammamish. When you get to the Google Map of the lake, mag. it way up until you are looking at the where the Samammish river comes into the N. end of the lake. You will see some writing showing the off leash dog area on Marymoore Park. If you go directly across from the Off leash area in Marymoore park, (across the river) you will be in a little hand launch area and dock that does kayaking/crew stuff. You can walk down to it from the main road.
This little dock area had crawfish all over the bottom 2 years ago when I launched my tube from there. I would bet you could drop some pots off that dock for a soak. If not... you certainly could toss them from shore.

[Rich McVey]

check out:
http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.mic ... CBoQ8gEwAA

Hopefully that goes through for you. If not, just do a google maps search for lake Sammamish. When you get to the Google Map of the lake, mag. it way up until you are looking at the where the Samammish river comes into the N. end of the lake. You will see some writing showing the off leash dog area on Marymoore Park. If you go directly across from the Off leash area in Marymoore park, (across the river) you will be in a little hand launch area and dock that does kayaking/crew stuff. You can walk down to it from the main road.
This little dock area had crawfish all over the bottom 2 years ago when I launched my tube from there. I would bet you could drop some pots off that dock for a soak. If not... you certainly could toss them from shore.

Just a technicality but the river exits the lake at that location.

I have a lil row boat that I should try launching from there. I have been looking for a good place to launch so I can drift the river down to Kenmore. Not sure how deep it is thru there but it sure picks up speed there between the dogs swimming area and the parking lot.

[Mike Carey]

check out:
http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.mic ... CBoQ8gEwAA

Hopefully that goes through for you. If not, just do a google maps search for lake Sammamish. When you get to the Google Map of the lake, mag. it way up until you are looking at the where the Samammish river comes into the N. end of the lake. You will see some writing showing the off leash dog area on Marymoore Park. If you go directly across from the Off leash area in Marymoore park, (across the river) you will be in a little hand launch area and dock that does kayaking/crew stuff. You can walk down to it from the main road.
This little dock area had crawfish all over the bottom 2 years ago when I launched my tube from there. I would bet you could drop some pots off that dock for a soak. If not... you certainly could toss them from shore.

Just a technicality but the river exits the lake at that location.

I have a lil row boat that I should try launching from there. I have been looking for a good place to launch so I can drift the river down to Kenmore. Not sure how deep it is thru there but it sure picks up speed there between the dogs swimming area and the parking lot.

Shallow and plan to row. That's about the only area that has real current to it. It would be a lazy, pleasant drift with a lot of curious looks from the joggers on the trail that runs next to it.

[G-Man]

I have a lil row boat that I should try launching from there. I have been looking for a good place to launch so I can drift the river down to Kenmore. Not sure how deep it is thru there but it sure picks up speed there between the dogs swimming area and the parking lot.

The only thing you need to worry about is the weir located a few hundred yards downstream from where you would launch your boat. There is a sluice gate in the weir as well so you'll want to be careful going over/through it. Safest bet is to get out of the boat and and walk it over near shore.

[Rich McVey]

K, thanks. Its a 6 foot fiberglass. Oars and a 30lb thrust Motorguide is this things propulsion. I was wondering what it was that I was seeing on Google maps that spans the river. Cody and I did not see it when we walked thru there.

I'll be posting in culinary once I get a chance to get down to the river.

[fullstringer98]

check out:
http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.mic ... CBoQ8gEwAA

Hopefully that goes through for you. If not, just do a google maps search for lake Sammamish. When you get to the Google Map of the lake, mag. it way up until you are looking at the where the Samammish river comes into the N. end of the lake. You will see some writing showing the off leash dog area on Marymoore Park. If you go directly across from the Off leash area in Marymoore park, (across the river) you will be in a little hand launch area and dock that does kayaking/crew stuff. You can walk down to it from the main road.
This little dock area had crawfish all over the bottom 2 years ago when I launched my tube from there. I would bet you could drop some pots off that dock for a soak. If not... you certainly could toss them from shore.

I have thrown my pots off o small dock at the end of that og trail, about 50 yards from that spot with nothin, probably just the bait wich was hot dogs and canned catfood. The most I have ever caught at one time in a pot was 2 in Bear Creek#-o

[sickbayer]

dont give up mate...

[The HAWG HUNTER]

I would have to say that every Lk, river, creek have crawfish. I have even seen them in brackish waters.

[fullstringer98]

i have been soaking my pot over night at pine lake near the dock with trout guts and heads as bait but haven't even caught a single crawfish...... any tips

Careful what you post on a public forum... Just sayin'.

What did he do wrong?, the seson started an fish heads and remains arent illegal. I dont see whats wrong with it.

[The Quadfather]

i have been soaking my pot over night at pine lake near the dock with trout guts and heads as bait but haven't even caught a single crawfish...... any tips

Careful what you post on a public forum... Just sayin'.

What did he do wrong?, the seson started an fish heads and remains arent illegal. I dont see whats wrong with it.

Fullstringer,

He didn't do anything wrong at all. I just was pointing out that he was saying in a public forum, that he leaves his pots out all night long... and giving the location away. Things have a way of walking off during the night. Hate to see somebody lose their gear. That's all. I leave my crab pots out over night, on the Sound. I have lost at least one before.

[BentRod]

post retracted.

[MarkFromSea]

check out:
http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.mic ... CBoQ8gEwAA

Hopefully that goes through for you. If not, just do a google maps search for lake Sammamish. When you get to the Google Map of the lake, mag. it way up until you are looking at the where the Samammish river comes into the N. end of the lake. You will see some writing showing the off leash dog area on Marymoore Park. If you go directly across from the Off leash area in Marymoore park, (across the river) you will be in a little hand launch area and dock that does kayaking/crew stuff. You can walk down to it from the main road.
This little dock area had crawfish all over the bottom 2 years ago when I launched my tube from there. I would bet you could drop some pots off that dock for a soak. If not... you certainly could toss them from shore.

Just a technicality but the river exits the lake at that location.

I have a lil row boat that I should try launching from there. I have been looking for a good place to launch so I can drift the river down to Kenmore. Not sure how deep it is thru there but it sure picks up speed there between the dogs swimming area and the parking lot.

I kayaked from the bridge, west entrance to Marymore, to Kenmore a couple months back. Lots of paddling even with the current high water condition. It was a good trip. We accessed the slough underneath the bridge, kinda steep path but not bad for kayaks. I didn't know about another launch site. Have Fun!

[D-ROCK]

Hi Guys,

I am new to the forum but found this thread while searching for new info on crawdading. Very cool and informative.

You can add Cranberry Creek in Mason County to the list and I have some tips that I have figured out while setting pots.

1.) Fresh bait works the best.Crab may like gnarly bait but crawdads like fresh (or frozen while fresh) fish and chicken and hot dogs etc.

2.) Creeks and Rivers seems to be all about location. I want to figure out a couple lakes to get them from but on this creek it was all about being in the right hole. 20 feet out of place and I'd only catch one or two. In the deeper slow moving holes and I would get 20-40 consistently every day. There was 3 or four holes that I have pulled 200 keeper crawdads out of this year.

3.) Crawdads are escape artists. Leave your pots too long and they get bored and find a way out.

4.) I like to serve my Crawdads as a shrimp substitute in my Crab and clam boil.

Other than that I am still learning too. Good luck

[racfish]

Get a DeLorme map book. They list the lakes and what there is too catch in each lake.Best bait IMO is catfood cans.Umtanem creek off the Yakima river have crawdads also.

[Lakefisher]

Someone told me that there are crawfish in Williams Lake in Spokane Co. I haven't tried it yet. Can anyone else confirm this?

[Aaron]

Yes, there are crawfish in Williams Lake. I caught both of these from the Klink's fishing dock by accident while soaking a worm one night.

[TerryBullard]

The season is first Monday in May - October 31. You'll want to bring some sort of system to weigh because you can be sure that if you checked the Officer will have a way to weigh them.

Hi Stacy,
I'm happy to see that you are here! A excellent way to estimate the weight of your crawfish catch is by volume. A 5 gallon bucket of crawfish leveled at the top weighs 22 pounds. So slightly over half a bucket will weigh 10 pounds due to the slope of the bucket.
I've weighed a few crawfish in my time, grin.

Terry Bullard

[The Fisherman]

Guys don't forget Lake Meridian in King County. I saw a guy trap one by the fishing dock.

[jhundrup]

Williams Lake in Spokane County has some mudbugs, but the one's I've seen are small.