08-13-2016, 05:27 PM
[#0000FF]The crawdad population at Willard is at a low ebb right now. As others have suggested, the mud bugs are a big part of the diet for the predators...especially during the winter and spring, before the shad spawn and provide other food resources.
One of the other factors has been the low water. When water levels are high enough to cover the lower rocks of the dikes it provides more spawning area and cover for the crawdads. When water is low there is very little cover or protection for the heavily munched crawdads.
The higher water this year should help provide a better spawn for the bugs. If it stays up a few years they may develop a larger population. But I have never seen them so thick in Willard that they were easy to harvest in traps. Lots of better places.
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One of the other factors has been the low water. When water levels are high enough to cover the lower rocks of the dikes it provides more spawning area and cover for the crawdads. When water is low there is very little cover or protection for the heavily munched crawdads.
The higher water this year should help provide a better spawn for the bugs. If it stays up a few years they may develop a larger population. But I have never seen them so thick in Willard that they were easy to harvest in traps. Lots of better places.
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[signature]