Tom Todd has fished for three decades, reveled in the excitement of the state’s top fishing tournaments, and pulled in champion bass more than once. But there’s still nothing like a quiet day out fishing the East Fork of White River, says Todd, a fishing guide who makes his living running Tom’s Guide Service in the southern Indiana town of Bedford. “About all you hear are a few birds, maybe a squirrel barking, every once in a while a tractor in the bottoms.... It’s peaceful,” Todd says. The fishing on the East Fork is good enough to attract customers from as far away as New York and Hawaii and to keep Todd busy throughout the season. Three or four times a week through the spring and fall, Todd is out in his johnboat on the East Fork, or sometimes Patoka Lake or Monroe Reservoir, guiding fishermen young and old to crappie, perch and bass. He customizes the trip for each customer. Some are more laid back, so he catches them some live bait like minnow or crawfish “and basically relax and catch a few fish,” Todd says.

“Others want to really get after it,” he says, and he uses jigs and spinners to go after crappie and bass. Todd knows the meandering stretch of river he works, a 64-mile stretch between Lawrenceport and Hindostan Falls, and he usually knows what to expect from the fish. The people are always interesting, too. A seven-year-old first-time fisherman who caught a five-pound perch, dropped the rod and got as far away from the fish as he could. Another time a ten-year-old caught an eight-pound white perch, his first fish ever. “He had a smile from ear to ear,” Todd says. Even in his down-time, Todd enjoys the river, much as he did growing up in Bedford. “My grandpa and dad got me into fishing on the river when I was just a bitty fellow,” he says. They would head out to their cabin in tiny Rivervale almost every week and fish or hunt for a weekend, or sometimes just a couple of hours. Now Todd takes his seven grandkids, who range from four to nineteen, out to hunt quail and deer in the bottom ground, just like he did when he was young.

“I still do the hunting, but the grandkids do the shooting,” he says with a laugh. Todd’s business depends on good water quality, and he says the East Fork is cleaner today than it’s been in the past. Years back, pollution from Bloomington businesses such as RCA and General Electric would dirty the river, and Todd would sometimes catch fish that had sores. Achieve Medical Weight Loss Fayetteville Ar CostToday the East Fork faces other threats as it winds 162 miles from Columbus, where it’s formed from the confluence of the Driftwood and Flatrock rivers, to the confluence with the West Fork of White River in Petersburg. Siberian Husky For Sale North CarolinaThose threats include excess sediment from nearby land, which is highly erodible, runoff from development, and invasive Asian carp, says Debra King of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ District Five office in Avoca.House For Sale At Seri Iskandar

But the fish Todd catches are still healthy, with no sores, and safe to eat within limits. And wildlife abounds, including blue herons, wood ducks, muskrat and mink. In one 12-mile stretch, Todd sees three different pairs of bald eagles nest and raise eaglets each year. Says Todd: “You’re apt to see anything out there on the river.”Tips and Tricks in Catching Again --> Home Page New Window) The first tip I can give anyone is you need to have a crayfish trap in order to catch enough crayfish for aThey are indeed closely related to a lobster but these freshwater shellfish are not quite as big . The second tip I always give everyone is that you need to own one of my crayfish traps if you want to catch enough crayfish for a meal rather than some other person's crayfish trap! All kidding aside it is very important to have a good crayfish trap, good bait, and a good place to catch crayfish plus, a little knowledge thrown into the mix helps as well.

Its easy to solve finding theBuy one from me, it has proven itself to be the World'sBait is ever so important, it makes all the difference in the world in catching 2 or 3 pounds per trap to catching 15 to 20 pounds of crawfish per crawfish trap. If the body of water you are fishing has a large population of crawfish, you can and will catch 15 to 20 pounds of crayfish during the prime time of the season with the correct bait. During the prime Bait Boxes are a mustDon't confuse a bait box with a bait jar. There is a world of difference between the two and if you don't have the correct bait for a bait jar then you will have better luck catching crawfish with the trap sitting on dry land, A bait box on the other hand will allow the crawfish to feed and send a broadband of scent throughout the water for a longer period of time then a bait hook, theIt is also far easier to freeze bait in extra bait boxes which fit nicely into gallon freezer bags.

Fish heads, fish guts and skins, can be easily stored and frozen in a bait box, the goodies crawfish love the best. Keep in mind that Crawfish are Picky Eaters, there is absolutely no question about that! So you must choose carefully the bait you intend to use. Fresh is the keyword and it MUST be fish based, none of this chicken or cat food crap which you hear Crawfish are also BIG eaters, you must take that into account when baiting yourWhen the season gets prime, a commercial size trap should have at least a pound of bait in it and bait boxes are a must. For bait I use, salmon heads with gills, roe herring, roe shad, cod heads with guts. All bait HAS to be FRESH! If the bait is starting to turn, throw it away. Keep your bait frozen until you are ready to use it, then freeze what you have left if it's still good. don't have access to this type of bait and most don't, you'll need to find some type of fish which is extremely oily and probably local.

Carp works as do most of the fish you can catch with rod and reel. Perch, walleye, and trout heads work, especially yellow perch and walleye. I did mention most, bullheads and catfish are not on the crawfish menu. sole, clams, eel, squid, are also on the not to good list. A lot of fish are not very oily in their flesh but their heads and guts work fine. Any type of fowl, beef, pork, dog or cat food, DO NOT work well. I shutter every time I hear someone recommending using a can of cat food. DO NOT use a bait jar unless you have specially formulated bait to put in it. Bait jars just don't work. boxes on the other hand will work provided they are made out of at least 1/2 inch mesh.-- Bait boxes allow the crayfish to tear at the flesh and spread even more scent into water. Whereas a bait jar only allows scent to slowly seep out of the jar and the scent can only cover a small area in the water plus giving out a weaker scent signal to boot.

Normally I would say no, but I have been received to many reports that hot dogs do work well. I haven't personally tried them for crayfish so I really don't know. So, with so many people claiming success with hot dogs one might give them a shot. The only thing I have noticed is that the report areas were in rusty crayfish states. Of course now rustys are in nearly all of the states, thanks to slow government movement on invasive species! Please re-read this bait section again, it is so important! A good place to catch You want to think about this for a minute or two . More crayfish are caught annually then all shellfish combined in the USA. Because there are more crayfish areas to harvest then there are other shellfish, but like other shellfish you can't just throw in a trap and expect to catchCrayfish are populated in nearly every pond, lake, river, stream, or creek, all around you. Populations of crawfish are growing at a alarming rate

and Fish & Game Departments in all states are aware of the threat crawfish impose upon Game Fish in Rivers and Lakes. Any excess crawfish you catch should not be returned to any body of water, basically it is now the law in most Look for areas which may provide cover for the crawfish such as rocks, roots, etc. Not only do these areas provide cover for the crayfish but the algae which grows in these areas is also a food base for the crayfish. These areas also give the crayfish a good place to hide while hunting for fish fry and any other moving critter they can captureIt is pretty amazing how crawfish can catch even a six inch fish and hold it with their big pincers while they eat the poor fish while it tries With just this little bit of knowledge you now know that you will need to set your crayfish trap in an area of the water which will give the crayfish cover from the different predators plus a feeding ground for itself.

The best areas have a lot of rocks, areas where rocks have been used to shore up the river or lake banks are the very best. These provide massive areas of deep cover and contain high populations of crayfish. Even natural rock slides will do the same or better. Heavy grass is also great cover crayfish but tend to holdAny ponds that do not contain fish can hold hugeStreams, rivers, and creeks, all have good cover and a great drawing area for crayfish. Any pools that have formed you want to place your crayfish trap on the lower half pool for best results. I'm often asked which is the best time to catch crayfish. A general rule of thumb is night time. with an appetite 500 times greater than a Belgian Tiger! Some species such as the Rusty crayfish have 3 times the appetite of a normal crayfish. It is a very large misconception that crayfish are vegetarians, it is true that they will eat plant life but their primary diet is live fish they can catch.

Night time gives the crayfish a huge advantage in catching fish and I've seen adult crayfish catch and eat trout up to 6 inches in length during the daylight. It is pretty amazing how adept hunters crayfish are even during the daylight. They will strike from above, pounce like coyotes, and stalk fish like cats stalking a bird. explosive populations of crayfish all across the USA I'm very surprised we even have game fish left for the sportsman and it's true that in many areas the Game Fish have been wiped out. With that said the quick answer is night time trapping is the best unless the Lake is so overrun with crayfish the traps are flooded at the first smell of bait, and there is a lot of Lakes and Rivers One of the main worries people have about night fishing is leaving their traps unattended and subject to theft. This is understandable but you do not have toI have devoted a web page explaining in detail how to avoidIt's quite lengthy but well worth the read.