softshell Crayfish??
 

Hey Folks, Just joined up, Great site:D. Does anybody know how to make hard shell crayfish (Softshell).I know they shed , but how often and what can i do to speed up the process. My pond is full of hardshells. I fish lake Erie alot those bronz backs like them softshells.Thanks:)

RE: softshell Crayfish??
 

hey muck, best i can remember crawfish molt several times in there lives but most of it is done in the early stages of its life, i think like 4-6 times in the first year and less the next, its shell will be soft for 3-5 days, this is best i can remeber form school, may be off on the number of times, but thats when there soft;)

oh yea !!!! welcome to the forums

RE: softshell Crayfish??
 

Softies are a favorite of mine for summer smallmouth fishing in the deeps. Unfortunately i was unable to get them for bait at all this year. The bait store told me he wasnt planning on buying any becuase the wholesalers was asking neary 10 bucks a dozen.

I went back in the other day and he told me he did end up gettign a few shipments in July from a new wholesaler and he charged 5 bucks per, but that they were done for this year and the only ones he had left were frozen.

RE: softshell Crayfish??
 

Welcome to the forum muckland. Wish I could help you but I can't.
My live bait here in Florida is Missouri Minnows, Wild Golden Shiners or Redworms.

RE: softshell Crayfish??
 

Softshells are great to fish bass with. I am not sure but if you have
an aquarium you might be able to put some in, may help you speed it up a bit by warming up the water a little good luck.

RE: softshell Crayfish??
 

Grow your own and feed them well , they moult in response to growth , so the quicker they grow the more they moult .

RE: softshell Crayfish??
 

I got some by catching crawdads, and putting them in a fish tank. It was a large tank witha pump that gave it a lot of current. I just threw in some bits of stuff that Crawfish like and it wasn't long before they started molting. I'm not sure, but I think that they molt as they grow, so if they get regular food you can get them a little more often.

I realize this is an old post, I just joined a few minutes ago and stumbled on this thread. I was told that you could take a tub or small swimming pool, like the plastic blue ones for small children, and place it to where it’s not level, sloped, and fill with sand. Add water till it’s full on the downhill side and completely dry with only wet or moist sand on the uphill side. Add crawdads and some rocks for crawdads to hide and add raw chicken liver. The idea is to allow the crawdads to feed therefore they will then grow, burrow in the sand and molt. You can keep repeating the process and always have a supply of soft shells. Keep in mind, a guy once told me this would work but I’ve yet to try it myself.