Crayfish Combat
by Ron Key
American Signal Crayfish are here and they are spreading virtually unchecked. I first encountered them a few years ago in the Colne Valley where there were actually stocked in some waters to cultivate as food. They eventually escaped and have now spread over the whole of mainland UK. They are much larger than our native crayfish, and carry a fungus that is deadly to them. From an angling perspective they are so frustrating.
The crayfish are relentless they will try to eat everything; this includes your hooklink and boilie stop. I gave up using mono hooklinks very quickly as the crayfish nipped the line seriously weakening it. I use soft braids or coated braids now; they tend to fold when nipped rather than deforming but they do need examining regularly for damage. I also hide the hair stop when possible as this is usually the first thing to be eaten, leaving your boilie free for the crayfish to rob you. At best the only indication you will get is a single beep of your buzzer and you are no longer fishing.
After spending time finding your feature, baiting up and finally casting out your hook bait; there is nothing worse for your confidence than spending your time wondering if you actually have any bait on the hair. Were those liners you were getting and making you feel so confident actually signal crayfish taking your bait? I used to get up a couple of times a night to wind in and check my baits to ensure I was still fishing. On the worst water I fished, three rods were robbed of their hook baits within 20 minutes of casting out. The bobbins were dancing within seconds and were not still until the hook baits had gone. I don’t mind the crayfish creating a disturbance when they eat a few of my free offerings as I think this activity can attract carp. They do after all eat crayfish having the ability to crush them in their pharyngeal teeth, but when the carp arrive I do want be sure I have a baited hook waiting for them.
I have successfully used many of the artificial baits on the market. However there are times particularly when you have been baiting up a water, when you want to present your favourite Quest boilie on the hair safe in the knowledge it will stay there.
So what is the answer? Years ago one of my many jobs was to manage an electronics workshop and when terminating cables we used to use a plastic heat shrink tube in a variety of colours to finish the joint and act as an identifier. This tubing was placed around the cable and shrunk to fit using a heat gun. I had used it in the past to create landing net handles and coating bank sticks never thinking at the time what it could be used for. I sourced a clear version of the tube in bulk from RS Components I think, and cut it into short lengths. The boilie was pierced with a baiting needle, the sleeve slipped over the boilie and it was rotated in the flame of the stove to shrink it. I usually store my prepared boilies in a pots of Bait Glugs to mask any smell of plastic that the process may have left behind.
The results were immediate, the plastic coat slowed down the crayfish and ensured we always had a hook bait, and best of all it did not affect the baits ability to attract a fish. I always leave a small opening at each end of the boilie to allow for flavour leakage, and an extension at one end which allows me to hide the boilie stop from the crayfishes’ clutches. All our original tubing was sourced through electrical/ electronic factors but now you can buy prepacked lengths from many tackle shops.
At the time it was a leap of faith, would the carp pick up plastic? With the growth in artificial carp baits, wrapping your bait in plastic is not a confidence issue for most anglers. Try it; it’s put plenty of fish on the bank for me in situations when I hadn’t got a chance of fishing effectively
Ron Key
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Tags: artificial, bobbin, boilie, boilies, carp, confidence, Dips, Glugs, hair, hook, hookbait, plastic, quest baits, Rahja Spice, tube
Nice piece Ron
Welcome to the Blog
Yes, welcome Ron and a great piece to kick off with. It’s worth mentioning that these methods also come into their own for combatting the dreaded Poisson Chat in France as well as the Crayfish which can make our fishing very frustrating indeed.
The leap of faith you took in masking your baits at the time was indeed a leap of faith particularly on some of the difficult waters you have fished over the years. Yet now with the common use of artificial baits all over the country the thought of a boilie inside a plastic sleeve seems really appealing.
There were times when I used to fish the River Trent for the carp when the chub and bream would constantly remove the baits from the rig - this would have been a massive help then too.
Hi Ron,
Nice piece. Have too admit had never thought about protecting the baits whilst fishing in this country but it is certainly something i wil think about now. I was on the River Dove a couple of weeks ago and my rigs were coming back with no bait on after just 20 mins. I was fishing 20mm baits.
After dropping a bait in the side and watching it soon became apparent what was happening, hundreds of minnows would ‘ball up’ on the bait and very soon there would be nothing left. This situation doesn’t happen when the water is coloured or colder later on in the winter, but covering the bait in plastic would be a good solution to the problem for this time of year.
Cheers,
Pat
I have been reading your piece about the hassle with crayfish and as I also have this problem I am intesterested to know if anybody knows where I can buy 20mm shrink tubing for my boilies?
Hi Kieran,
Apologies for the delay in relying the last few weeks have been pretty hectic. A friend of mine in the trade supplies the tube that I currently use. The last tube that I used that was commercially available from the angling trade came from Harefield Tackle, I believe Tacklebox sell it as well. If you search suppliers to the electrical and electronic industries online it is available more cheaply in bulk.
Cheers Ron
Just a thought Kieran,
you could buy some Enterprise plastic boilies from Shaun flavour them with your favourite Quest Boilie Dip and fish them over a bed of Quest boilies. I have no problem with crayfish or poisson chat stirring up the bottom nibbling away at my free offerings as I’m sure it attracts the carp. I just want to make sure I have something on the hair when the carp arrive.
Cheers Ron
Hi again, shocking memory this could turn into a serial. Don’t get any flavours on your hooklink, tubing or main line, the crayfish will make a meal of it. Last week I paid £4-50 for a pack of some very limp and heavy tungsten rig tubing and when I wound it in the crayfish had chopped it neatly into 2 inch lengths
Cheers Ron
The tubing should really follow the contours of the bottom now then Ron! LOL
Just a note - we have now removed the Enterprise Artificial baits from our lists.
Best fishes
Shaun