Crayfish molt

[trent]

This is more a biology question than a "river report", so feel free to move this thread somewhere else.

I'm interested in the different types of crayfish that are in the local rivers. Is anybody a crayfish expert? It would be interesting to know which local rivers have which species and when each of those species molt and how their molting schedule would affect fish behavior.

From a fly perspective, it would be interesting to know what crayfish imitations and which colors are most similar to the local offerings. We have good luck on the smaller clouser crayfish, but also catch fish on the bigger brown/rust colored flies they sell at the Warehouse. I recently picked up some of the same fly in olive, but won't try those out until spring.

If no one knows and others are interested, maybe someone from Purdue would want to speak to the group. Thoughts?

[krebsie]

Trent
Dustin Tabert is your man. He's a biology teacher and very knowledgeable about things like that.
Krebsie

[trent]

Where is Dustin anyway? He may need a stern talking to on Thursday about checking in more often.

[Tippecanoe Fly Fishers Admin]

I have a friend of mine that knows a ton about this type of stuff. He was a forestry and natrual resource / education major at Purdue way back in the 70's. I should be talking with him this weekend and if I can i will try to remember to ask him about this.

[trent]

I just emailed a professor in FNR at Purdue to try to get a little more information and see if he would have any interest in talking with us. I'll let you know what I find out.

Les, if you get a chance, let us know what you find out from your friend.

T-

[reelteacher]

O.K. fine, sorry I've been gone for awhile. I have a life beyond cyberspace...
Anyway, I have a few books on Aquatic Entomology and took a course way back in the 90's. Crayfish are a great subject and one that needs attention. I will look into this, however if we could get a guest speaker that would be much better than my limited knowledge. I'm sure there are a few professors at Purdue that would be kind enough to share with our club. I have Dr. Patrick McCafferty's book, "Aquatic Entomology. The Fisherman's Illustrated Guide to Insects and Their Relatives" Dr. McCafferty was a professor at Purdue and hosted the Bug Bowl every year. He would be an excellent resource, if he is still around.

[trent]

Dustin:

I emailed Paul Brown in FNR, but haven't heard back yet. I'll keep you posted.

I believe Dr. McCafferty runs Mayfly Central www.entm.purdue.edu/Entomology/research/mayfly/mayfly.html#What

I would be very interested in hearing more about mayflies as well. I have thought in the past that he would be a good resource and speaker.

Are you thinking of Tom Turpin for the Bug Bowl or was Dr. McCafferty involved as well?

I suppose you are allowed a life outside of cyberspace, but as our resident biology expert, we're less informed without you.

[Tippecanoe Fly Fishers Admin]

Ok I talke dwith my buddy over the weekend and he said that the fish are definatlly attracted to crayfish when they are still soft. He said that at that point in time the crayfish have a scent that they give off that is a signal to the fish.

I think he also said that there were 11 species of cray fish that can be found in Indiana.

We were supervise scouts at the time of our conversation, so that is all I can remember. Hope this helps.

[trent]

Les-

I made another thread about Paul Brown and the possibility of him speaking to the group, but in his email response he said there are over 20 native species in Indiana!

He didn't mention the scent attraction when they are soft. That wouldn't obviously help for fish taking a fly, but would be very useful to know when that is happening so we could be more successful fishing crayfish patterns if we knew general times when that scent was being put out. Very interesting!