Coloration Of Crawdad On The Rock

[denjac]

Another meaningless fact is the color between the river/stream daddy's and the lake daddy's. Have trapped dads up flat creek and the James river for years, and most of those are a very light brown, to tan, with dark green outlines year around. They have a very heavy armor coat and very short heavy pincers, with a very bright orange outline on the exterior of the pincers.

Get down on the lake itself, and most all the dads are a green pumpkin brown, with a much softer shell and longer narrower pincers, in very dark green, until they are consumed or boiled and then they turn orange.

I will tell you this however. Those creek crawdads, are as mean as hell. and will pinch the bejeebers out of you if you don't watch it. The lake crawdads are much more docile. You can try them both for Kantucks, and you will catch twice as many fish on the lake dads, over the very mean fighting river craws. I know, I have done it since the 70's.l

When my folks owned our resort on LOZ, we would walk Rainey Creek. Deer Creek, Buffalo Creek, and catch dads and throw them in the deep holes under root wads and catch what at that time we called Green Trout. They were just SMJ'S. Always let them go even back in the late 60's as they were full of worms.

Fished crawdads, for the first time on Table Rock, in 1973, and they were the balm mostly for very big K's.

I should have looked back at Skeeters post, that is for sure a lake dad that is pictured. See how long and narrow his pincers are and how green and brown he is?

Our creek dads, look entirely different, as soon as I can get some time I will run over to Flat creek and photo one and you will see an amazing difference. Hope I can get there before next Spring.

When I was a kid grandpa always told us to pull off the pinchers before we put them on the hook. Maybe there was somthing to that??

[troutgnat]

Bill, thanks for the input. This topic is really interesting. I am learning alot. Well I am off back to the water around Indian Point again tomorrow, will be there before first light. Which reminds me it is almost midnight shouldn't I be getting some sleep?

Anyhuh!, I am heeding your advice and am going to really focus on fishing the jig tomorrow instead of relying on the old french fry. That's too easy. I am going to throw the 5/16 Eakins Jig as well as their "Finesse" Football jig in 1/2 oz. I'm taking your color suggestions to heart, hope you don't mind. That green pumpkin with the brown/cinnamon twin tail Zoom trailer is what I'm starting with. That is after I put the Spook down. I want a couple more of them 3lbrs on topwater first.........Ha........Thanks for the advice Bill.