How to crawfish the basin

I'm familiar with the Basin fishing and boating scene but was wanting to try crawfishing for rec. purposes. Anyone out there have any advise for me? ie. where to go what type of traps bait melt or fish. I would put in at butte larose with a 17ft Gravois 90hp not exactly a mudboat. I'm happy with just catching 20lb or so while we ski or fish

If you have a freshwater fishing license all you need is a crawfish trap gear license and it allows you up to 35 traps. If you are on the Lafayette side of the basin I like the net shop on Cameron street. On your way out there you can stop in Henderson to get the pogies to bait them. From that launch there in Butte Larose you can crawfish north of the interstate. Good skiing around there too. I use a mix of 3 and 4 foot traps.

KK, gonna get pillow traps because they look easier to travel with. So your saying anything north of I10. like N b. and N pelba? Flats? I'm guessing lean them up against a tree on bottom and tie off to the tree? Or can they rest on bottom? How long should I leave them? What would you consider a good haul for what time period?

yep north of 10. 10 traps should be fine. Probably 1/4 sack on bad day, and 2 sacks on a great day. Lean em on the trees. Use black string to tie to a branch nearby. Use metal tags (bought from net shop) to put your name and WLF ID number on them. You gotta get a pamphlet from Indian Bayou and sign it to be able to crawfish that area. That allows you to hunt Indian Bayou during hunting season too. Google Indian Bayou for more info.

The Basin has a lot to offer, Frogging, fishing, Duck hunting, Lotto tags for Gators, small and big game hunting, turkeys, swimming, wakeboarding did I miss anything? I live in Lafayette and spend a lot of time there during the summer even been known to hit the flats during duck season. I get real tired of people who whine about how they cant catch fish or don't know where to go there or just say the basin sucks. Guess I'm going to add Crawdads to my list of things to do in the Basin.

You need to get a permit from the Indian Bayou office in Port Barre to crawfish north of I-10. Once you have your recreational trap liscense go to the office and they will issue you a permit. That permit number is what needs to be marked on your traps.

Thanks for the tip, I'll do that. Does LA net and twine mark the traps too? To be honest I rarely see anyone with traps, do they just empty and re-bait the same traps or is that know one really fishs?

All mine have tags. Can't argue that. The net store in Lafayete sells them.

I usually write my permit number on the flagging that I mark my traps with. I think the Corps requires that if im not mistaken, but I could be wrong.

Is crawfishing covered under your lifetime license?

Check out this Video.....Crawfishing in Honey Island Swamp - YouTube

so where is that launch in butte larose actually at thanks if you could give me any info that would be great

Do you need the license to fish the little tripod nets anywhere or is that covered with a fishing license? I know I need the license for the wire nets.

The pyramid 'set nets' are covered by your freshwater license. The wire pillow traps require a fresh water license, and a crawfish trap license. With the trap license for non commercial, I beleive that the limit is 35 traps. In the early season I buy shad for the traps. Make sure you don't go buy the shad till you are on your way, cause man that stuff stinks even frozen. As the season progresses I use a man made pellet type with less fish in it. I always will have metal tags on my traps with my WLF number and name, to prove that they are mine.

Where do I purchase a rec crawfish license? Anywhere that I get a fishing license?