I was wondering if people use crawfish in dammed farm ponds and how things went, the good and bad? Here crawfish do live in rivers and dredge ditches so survival shouldn’t be a problem.

Some species of crayfish will dig into and damage dams. Other species don't create any issues. I would make sure I knew which species I was introducing to a pond with a dam, so that I didn't introduce strong diggers.

Keith

I wondered that.

The most common crayfish around here are rusty crayfish. I have caught and eaten and fished with many thousands of them. They are known for not significantly damaging dams and ponds. They are native here, but are considered invasive in some other places. If they are legal and non invasive in Iowa, they would be a good choice. They out produce many other crayfish species. I filled buckets with them from rock bottomed creeks in my teens and twenties.

The crayfish species that build mounds are the worse ones for dams. They dig deeper.

Keith

I just looked and the rusty are invasive here in Iowa.

northern minn has had rustys for about 50 years now, so they say. released as left over bait from eastern fisherman. the bottom of some lakes must be covered in them. smaller tails than other species, but over sized claws, and good eating. they out produce other species and take over the watershed.

Bob
Here in Mo they've always told me that if conditions in the pond are right you'll have crawdads and if you don't it don't have them the conditions aren't right and it won't do any good to stock them, buuut I've always wondered if the people telling me were full of horse sheet or not??

Ive taken them from our local cricks and put them in the farm ponds. Mink usually find them after a while and you'll find the minks favorite feeding spot with crayfish shells all over. They'll usually clean the pond right out of them if you don't trap them right away

Other then mound builders what is the name for them? The little rain water ditch that runs along the road has them in it. Some of those mounds get to be 3 to 4 inches high. When the grandsons were younger they would catch some pretty big ones in that ditch.

Ones we have here don't seem to dig, I find them under rocks, I moved some to a earthen dammed pond and never had a problem, but have no idea what species they are...No mention of invasive types from our DEC so I'm guessing they're native...

Around here the best crawdad ponds are small ponds with muddy water and no fish in them. With clear water, predators can find and eat them too easily and they get eaten real fast if the pond has fish too. They can be moved around with success if the conditions are right.

I have Bob, with good success.

I put a total of about sixty pounds of farm-raised crawfish in a small pond stocked with bass and brim.
That is how they stock crawfish ponds (Cut Rice Fields) in SW. Louisiana.
They were just leftover live crawfish from big boils.

Years later, we trapped some out for a boil and they were super jumbo size, dark red, and very healthy.
I was afraid they might hurt the fish population during the spawn but they did not. Both the fish and crawfish thrived.
I pulled up a lot of bass on rod and reel that had a big crawfish half-swallowed. The baby crawfish are a great source of food for the brim.
If digging was a real problem they would cut the small levees in the rice fields, so no worry there.

My only concern would be is if the farm raised crawfish from down South can survive the prolonged freezing temps in your neck of the woods.
Just go buy a few thirty-pound sacks of really fresh crawfish and cut them loose !
I bet you will be surprised at the results.

(Just make sure you keep them cold during transport in a big cooler with a little bit of ice and the lid cracked so they can get air.)


Good Luck!

It became illegal to move them here.
Don't ask me, it's a biologist thing.

That's what I would do.But I wouldn't talk about it

No worries here in the Lone Star State 330.

I would bet the Iowa DNR allows for release in private ponds as well

That would be good they sound amazing

That’s not a bad idea, I just don’t trust the DNR, the overwintering part might be a problem as it can get really cold here with or without snow.

I may be thinking wrong but if the cold kills any that you stock, it's going to kill any native ones too. Just don't make the pond TOO shallow and you should be okay.

It’s around 15 feet deep in the trench it averages about 6 deep if we keep getting rain, I didn’t know if they’re like some fish that can’t take cold and some that can’t take heat.