Unfortunate that things like this keep happening. But also happy that only 2 traps had caught the crayfish, so hopefully they can keep them at bay or eliminate them altogether.
Thanks for the link. Interesting article. I wonder what they're "more aggressive" to? If it's just other crawfish, I don't see a serious problem, since there aren't supposed to be any crawfish west of the divide, they say, and if you find any they want them killed. No invasive species appearance is good, but this one, I'd say, isn't in a class with zebra mussels or Burmese pythons. Wonder what they find to eat in Granby? The lakers and browns must keep the minnows pretty sparse in there. Maybe they'll eat each other, like the craws we used to catch and keep in the same bucket overnight.
Reply by: Walleye Guy Posted: Sep. 19, 7:32:41 AM Points: 200
I recall way back in the 80’s in Wisconsin these little devils appeared all over the northern tier of the state. There were so many the state hired trappers and people were able to see them crawling in the lake beds. I think the main concern was the Rusty’s would eat the fish eggs and most of the weed beds in the lakes. I can’t remember what exactly the out come was but I think they just for some reason went from dominating the ecosystem to finding their niche in it. Maybe some predator stepped up?
This is a huge bummer. There are TONS of them in Stagecoach! We've had multiple camping trips where we could catch as many as we wanted to and had boils right at our campsite. I always thought the CPW hosting a large trapping/boil session at the lake would help put a dent in the population, but there may be too many. Hopefully this won't happen to Granby.
I recently caught a crayfish trap along the dam at Bear Creek. Thouught I was snagged on a branch when it started coming up. Looked like the trap was stuck in rocks and the owner shredded the line trying to pull it in. I didn't look at it immediately and tied it off to my float tube, 45 minutes later when I got to my take out point I pulled the trap off my float tube and left it in the water to clean off some dirt and algae covering ir. Lifted it up and found close to 30 assorted crayfish from 1/2 inch long to some big 5-6 inch big ones. I did not know about invasive crayfish at the time and simply released them but a few had odd coloring and I am wondering if these things are in other lakes.
If you recognize the trap and can tell me about where it was I will be happy to return it.
I guess I fail to see why this is such a big deal. There is already crawfish in Granby and there is no crawfish native west of the continental divide. None of the fish in Granby are native. The way I see it is that there is just more food for the trout in there. Again with none of the fish in there being native and the fact that there is already crawfish in there I don't get why there is such a fuss over this. It would be a bigger deal if they caught a pike in there which I'm surprised that no one has done yet since they are in wolford and green Mountain.
