MI Crayfish?

[TCook]

Cant find anything online for this area, just general info. My question is what species are commen in MI and what colors are they at what time of year up here? What depths and what areas or bottom do they spawn at? I know they spawn at 70 degrees but don't understand much else about there life cycle.

[Cheetam]

Something like this?

http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/country_pages/state_pages/michigan.htm

[t-bone]

The ones that end up in my livewell seem to be the rusty or virile shade if I go by the pictures... but that just might be because they are dead and puked up to get to those shades...

[TCook]

Ya I checked that site out before, it gives you the species and one picture if they have one. I cant find anything about each species color changes or spawning cycle.  

[TCook]

The ones that end up in my livewell seem to be the rusty or virile shade if I go by the pictures... but that just might be because they are dead and puked up to get to those shades...

Ya I have seen many in the livewell but I figured the color changes after death and digestion.

[Durand Dan]

Here is a little more info on habitat and spawning
http://science.jrank.org/pages/1861/Crayfish.html

[Flippin222]

Here are some additional pictures of the "Rusty Crayfish"

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/pictures/Orconectes_rusticus.html

Seems like they will vary quite a bit in color depending on the enviorment they are in (clear water vs stained, hard bottom vs soft bottom, bottom color, etc....). I also understand that when they molt, they will change color and become several shades lighter (nearly pink).

[dartag]

great topic.    Took these photos about 5 years ago of some crawfish bits from my livewell and a Waynes St Clair craw tube.   the color match was really close.   Going to try and tie some jigs to match.   One thing I notice is some crawfish have white on there undersides.  don't really see any jigs with white.  may have to try it.  maybe get a better bite on the fall.

[TCook]

Ya that's close to what most crayfish parts looked like when I see them in the livewell. I always assumed they took on that color from the digestion process, maybe they stay the same color I'm not sure but I would like to know. Especially in late Sept and Oct up north most of the time the smallys would spit up very small craws and they were always white and orange. I wondered if those colors came from digestion or if maybe the crayfish spawn later in the year and these were the small craws from that spawn?

[djkimmel]

Up on Torch many of the crayfish are white. They look long dead until you bump them. Wonder if the water chemistry is involved?

[fiker]

I read something from Denny Brauer a couple of years ago that his "secret" jig color was all white.
He said not to tell anybody ...... but I'm sure he was just kidding.

[bassassasin88]

Theres a pond I fish in where the crayfish have bright blue claws.

[djkimmel]

I read something from Denny Brauer a couple of years ago that his "secret" jig color was all white.
He said not to tell anybody ...... but I'm sure he was just kidding.

He likes swimming a white jig. A lot of the good ole boys down there do. I do too.

[Frank]

The ones I catch are any shade of brown red and orange, though i do get the occasional bright blue clawed one, always a big one when they are that color.  i dont know the species though.  i take my little girls out to catch them in the summer sometimes, though the are there year round.

Frank

[Lightningboy]

I've made it a habit of trying to catch a few crayfish at different lakes, and at different times of the season.  I agree with craws being lighter on the underside, some a very creamy off-white.

The overall colors I've found are some mixture of green and brown.  Craws living in weedy lakes are more green pumpkin, those with little weeds more of a brown pumpkin.  Also, clearer water means lighter colors.  But all still have that lighter shade on the belly.

I haven't noticed many other color hues on the smaller craws.  But the big guys do get some bolder highlights on them.  I think the orange color of craw chunks in the livewell is from the bleaching action of stomach acid.  But maybe that orange shows through a little more at different times of the season?

I have held craws up to the sunlight, and taken a look at the reflections from the shell.  There can be some interesting flashes of color as you turn them, especially purples.  Same thing when you look at a shad held in the sun.  Must be something about how light is refracted by their slime coating.  But it makes me like a little purple flake in my soft plastics.  Just a little flash of it as it turns...

I need to make some crayfish traps one of these days.  I've never really had the chance to look at craws from deeper water, like early spring/fall cold water.  Although I bet they get darker, maybe the reason for a black jig being a popular cold water color?

[Got Fish??]

It looks like you all have this just about covered. With one thing left out. when a crawfish molts, it has a differnet variation of its color. Different location, water clarity, habitat, and water temperature all come into play.

[TCook]

Good info here guys. When do they molt? Still hoping someone knows when and where they spawn like depth and what kind of bottom? I bet you can get on a good bite if you can key in on the craw spawn. They carry there eggs under there tail section and continue to carry them after they hatch. I'm sure they are very slow and vulnerable during this time and the bass probably take advantage.

[Got Fish??]

Like all other crustaceans craws have an outer skeleton, How much thy eat and grow depends on how fast thy grow out of their cast. Thy may molt more than once a year. Generally it will be liter in color until it's cast hardens.

[TCook]

I found a good article for all the information I was looking for. Thanks for all the input guys, I would still like to hear anything on this topic for our area if you have anything to add.

[Cheetam]

I found a good article for all the information I was looking for. Thanks for all the input guys, I would still like to hear anything on this topic for our area if you have anything to add.

Care to share the article?