COLUMN : BASS SCIENCE
EGGS
ADULT
FIRST INSTAR
SECOND INSTAR
THIRD INSTAR
a field guide to craWfish
Here ’ s how bass anglers can take advantage of a bass ’ favorite meal
ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRANDON ROWAN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TJ Maglio is a tournament angler and outdoor writer based in Minnesota . He has a degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has also worked professionally as a wildlife biologist and environmental consultant .
W ith over 350 species native to the United States , crawfish are possibly the most cosmopolitan of bass ’ prey species . Crawfish are found in pretty much every ditch , creek , river , lake or mud puddle – and it ’ s a good bet that whatever water you call home , crawfish make up a large portion of the bass diet .
This isn ’ t lost on bass anglers or tackle manufacturers . We spend an awful lot of effort as anglers trying to make our baits mimic them , and there ’ s a whole segment of the industry dedicated to pumping out plastics , jigs , tubes and crankbaits designed to look like , behave like and sometimes even smell like crawfish .
But aside from how much bass like to eat them , most bass anglers know very little about how crawfish live their lives .
More knowledge means more bass in the livewell , so we ’ ve decided to take a closer look at the biology and life history of the crawfish ,
understanding that knowing more about the crawfish life cycle doesn ’ t just make you a hit at cocktail parties – it will also help you catch more and bigger bass .
Annual Life Cycle
Depending on the species , most crawfish mate between fall and early spring . Females secrete a substance that adheres their eggs to the underside of the tail ( you may have seen this if you ’ ve spent any time trapping crawfish for bait ). The female carries the eggs there for two to 20 weeks until hatching . Once hatched , offspring stay with the mother through a few “ moltings ” when they ’ re anatomically able to forage on their own . These progressive stages are referred to as “ instars .” At this point , crawfish begin life on their own . Voracious feeders , most crawfish reach adult size in just three or four months .
32 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021