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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | If I found an invasive species in my lake and I (nor the lake residents) have seen them before, who can I contact at the WDNR to inform them?? I caught a northern this past weekend and when I pulled it through the ice, I pulled about 20lbs in weeds...with the weeds came about a dozen Rusty Crays.......little nasty critters. |
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| Presume Wisconsin?
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/staffdir/SearchSubjListing.asp
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Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il | they r some nasty critters, have you seen what they have done to all the nice weed beds on trout???? |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | I caught my first 50" from a nice weed bed on the Cisco Chain about 10 years ago....that same area today is sand and a few fallen tree limbs....sad sad sad what those #*^@ things can do. |
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Posts: 1080
| Please excuse my ignorance on Rusty Crays...but what are they that you're speaking of?
Sounds like these things do the same types of damage to weedbeds that Zebra Mussels do?
Can someone help me out with what a Rusty Cray is and what they look like so I too can keep my eyes out for them? Maybe post a pic of them?
Thanks.
Edited by MACK 1/3/2005 1:53 PM
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Mack...I found this on the web...........
"1 Competition with Native Species - Being an aggressive species, the rusty crayfish often displaces native or existing crayfish species. Ultimately, this could result in less food for fish. Crayfish are eaten by fish, but because of their thick shell relative to their soft tissue, the food quality is not as high as many of the invertebrates that they replace. Less food or lower food quality means slower growth, which can reduce fish survival.
2 Destruction of aquatic plant beds - When introduced, rusty crayfish reduce aquatic plant abundance and species diversity. This can be especially damaging in relatively unproductive northern lakes, where beds of aquatic plants are not abundant. Submerged aquatic plants are important in these systems for habitat for invertebrates (which provide food for fish and ducks), shelter for young gamefish, or forage species of fish, nesting areas for fish, and erosion control (by minimizing waves)."
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 rusty.jpg (6KB - 89 downloads)
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Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | It's amazing to see what those crayfish have done. I was on a couple lakes in northern wi and you could see a crayfish just about every square foot. Then there are all the bare areas that look like weeds should be there. Seen lakes like this in the u.p. and even vermillion has had areas decimated by these pests. My kids and I were catching a bucket full on vermillion last summer by just sticking a leader in front of their face and they grab it. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | Manitowish chain has them along with several other vilas county lakes and have for over ten years.. not good. Kill everyone you come across would be one thing to do.. And, no, they do the oppsoite of zebras to the weeds... zebras clear up the water so that weeds start growing at greater depths then previously possible.. Rusty's just kill the weeds basically.... |
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| So...do these Rusty Crays get their name by their "rusty" color? Are they about the same size as a normal, every day crayfish/crawfish? How would I know one from the other? How far north and how far south do these exist? |
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Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il | all i know is they reproduce like insects!!! i was talking with a trapper at a boat launch once as they were loading bags and bags of these critters. he told me they take an ungodly amount of rusty crayfish out of the lake, it was a ridiculous figure like 500# every other day or somthin like that, and they still cant get them under control. anyway, if you have ever eaten cajun crawdad, then you have eaten rusty crayfish, they export alot of them to the south for crawdad boils from what the trappers have told me! one rumor is, and its only a bar rumor i heard, is that they were planted so the trappers could make $$$ harvesting them, and that they sift through the bags alot of times and will throw the female ones back in. like i said it is a bar rumor and you know how those go. i dont know how you could sift through 500# of crayfish to pick out females to throw back in. |
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Posts: 224
Location: Madison | MACK - 1/3/2005 9:13 PM
So...do these Rusty Crays get their name by their "rusty" color? Are they about the same size as a normal, every day crayfish/crawfish? How would I know one from the other? How far north and how far south do these exist?
On the lakes I fish in Vilas, they're noticeably "redder" than the natural grey crayfish. They're also larger, and a LOT more aggressive. If you're on a dock overlooking greys, they'll scoot away from just your shadow. But a rusty will more often than not turn to fight and throw up its dukes.
Found this link that explains how to tell them apart:
http://www.for-wild.org/sketches/crayfish/rusty/OOrusty_id.html
-d
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Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | muskihntr- That's probably because they are an aquatic insect. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/crustacean/...
That's why the Cajun's call them "Mudbugs". Albeit, pretty tasty ones! Let's just eat all the SOB's. How about a big MF "mudbug" boil at "The Hideout"?
Here's some more info on the beasties.
http://www.biology.mcgill.ca/undergra/c465a/biodiver/2000/rusty-cra...
http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/outreach/nis/Attack_Pack/Fact%20Sheets...
http://www.protectyourwaters.net/hitchhikers/
http://www.lambcom.net/kiaptuwish/clarks_bugs/crayfish.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustacean
Here's a link for good traps and some other good info if you're interested. Just make sure to throw all non-Rusty's back into the water.
http://www.terrybullard.com/CrawfishMain.html
Here's one of the best ways to eat them. ->
http://www.realcajunrecipes.com/recipes/773.rcr
There are crawdad/crab boil spice mixes available- create your own! Yummy 
Have fun
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 1/4/2005 10:46 AM
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Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il | i know where you can get as many as you will need for the boil, but wed have to go empty the traps at nite!!! ssshhhhhhhhh |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | I've decided to stop walleye fishing at night and go for "dem goo ole Crawdaddys"....how much can you make per pound?? |
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| If you are talking about Palmer and Tenderfoot, there have beenRustys in there since (at least) the late 80s. I used to see them all the time when fishing walleyes in the weeds. |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Guest...could you IM me whan you get a shot? or maybe drop me an email?
I've got a few questions for you, don't want an argument or anything, just concerned. Yes, I found them on Palmer. I've seen many many crays and carcasses over the years, but this is the first I and some of my neighbors have seen a Rusty.
Thanks,
GMG |
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Posts: 1080
| muskihntr - 1/4/2005 7:52 AM
all i know is they reproduce like insects!!! i was talking with a trapper at a boat launch once as they were loading bags and bags of these critters. he told me they take an ungodly amount of rusty crayfish out of the lake, it was a ridiculous figure like 500# every other day or somthin like that, and they still cant get them under control. anyway, if you have ever eaten cajun crawdad, then you have eaten rusty crayfish, they export alot of them to the south for crawdad boils from what the trappers have told me! one rumor is, and its only a bar rumor i heard, is that they were planted so the trappers could make $$$ harvesting them, and that they sift through the bags alot of times and will throw the female ones back in. like i said it is a bar rumor and you know how those go. i dont know how you could sift through 500# of crayfish to pick out females to throw back in.
You know...I was going to ask if these things resembled the crawfish you get down south. I LOVE creol/cajun cooking and when my brother lived in New Orleans...we'd always attend a few crawfish boils and throw down some "bugs" while throwing back some beers. Gooood stuff. I'm not sure why I thought that the "bugs"/crawfish they used down there were of saltwater origin.
Man...I sure hope that bar talk rumor is just that...a rumor. I mean...c'mon...if they need to be breeding and harvesting these things for the delicacy foods down south...can't they just raise them on farms like they do cat fish?
I'll keep my eyes peeled for them. |
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Posts: 699
Location: Hugo, MN | GMG
What Did the local DNR have to say? |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | I sent an email to a biologist, but I haven't heard anything back....he's probally going to say what "Guest" did. |
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| I lived in Louisiana for a while the best way to catch these guys is to get a crayfish trap and put a single piece of bacon in it leave it overnight and it will be loaded. I would get local clubs to buy a bunch of traps, buy packages of bacon and just keep putting them out. It might not get rid of the all but at least help. |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Where do I get a Crayfish trap(s) and do I need a permit to trap them? |
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Posts: 1270
Location: Stevens Point, Wi. | GMG- your store should have a copy of the regs. for trapping of bait. It's a seperate booklet than the fishing regs. |
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