Docks/piers on Lake Washington to drop crayfish traps

[rockjiggr]

I have caught a few keepers in my traps but not many. Also have not really had the time to set them overnight much either though, so I expect that later this month it will get better.

[TerryBullard]

so a few weeks ago i made a post asking if there was info on where(which lakes) in my area that were known to have non natives....thought maybe i'd make a real effort and target them....try and take as many as i could and release the natives...got no answer <shrugs>...did some research and made some calls and got pretty much the same answer from all but a few "i dont know"...got 1 F&W bio that had info on pierce county and mentioned lake Wa ...the only reason there had been any serious "sampling" in pierce county is...and you guys will "love" this...
in the recent past Tac schools had a program where they ordered crayfish on line....kept them in the class rm as a "EDUCATIOAL" aid...and EVERY spring each lil kid was given 1 or a FEW to take home with them on the last day of school!!!!..
did you just slap the palm of your hand to your forehead ?? and utter something that started with STUPID and ended in a string of dirty words???... personaly "IMO" i think a "boil" would have been more educational lolol...ok i'm ramble'n a lil...soooo anyways i stumbled across some folks who are involved in some research thingy about it(watch for a future thread on the subject) and you/me/we could help.. for now i'll just ask if you catch non natives to just save me a couple in a ziplock in the freezer ...and document when/where they were caught...and maybe a count/% of natives compared to non natives in your pots....this is just for us Coasties (sry eastside guys)there seems to have been lots of reseach done on the eastside and ya'll are infested..the mighty C has TONS ...
in the future you may be able to assist by...set'n pots in a lake where "they" are trap'n/sampling or in other streams/ponds/lakes in the area where they are working so their sample/overview of the area is expanded...if you really do fish for bugs and are interested...keep a eye out for a future thread ......DOG

Great Post Dog!
Personally I have been watching the spread of Rusty crawfish since they first got a foot hold in eastern Montana, years ago. Now they are thick in eastern WA from Winthrop to the eastern border and south to Moses Lake. Rustys spread from water body to water body mainly by over land migration, as do our native signal crawfish, due to over populations and food sources. One should note a major food source for crawfish is Roe and Fry!
I have researched most states on Rusty crawfish and frankly in nearly all cases it is pretty much the same copy and paste jobs at all web sites blaming fisherman and teachers for the spread of invasive Rusty crawfish. I find this to be a cop out because of the lack of research being conducted in nearly all states and reluctance to do anything about it.
A short time ago I received an email from a fellow in the Tonasket area that when he threw his trap in the shallow water it soon disappeared from view because it was so completely covered with Rusty crawfish. I have dozens of other similar emails concerning huge populations of Rustys in the state.
I haven't heard anything about the Columbia yet but I can imagine there is quite a war going on down there, Signal vs Rusty!

Thank You for your post Dog, it has been a thing of mine as well!

Terry Bullard