Minnow/Crawlfish Traps legal to use for baitfish?

[KnotUrAvgFish]

Just wondering if anyone has used crawlfish traps to catch some bait-sized tilapias? We used to catch mud-minnows this way in Florida in small creeks and used them for bait.

[Stan Wright]

I have two types... one is a 3 foot sq. net that looks like an umbrella. It lays on the bottom and is raised when the bait fish are over it.

Some guys just toss bread or crackers into the water and when the bait fish are feeding like crazy, they scoop them up with a long handled red dip net.

I've had great success with the minnow traps I bought at Nanko's in Kaneohe. It's a round wire basket with a funnel on both ends.
It works better if the holes at the end of the funnel are just under the surface of the water, rather than in deeper water.

If the basket is completely submerged, the bread (bait) floats to the top and the fish feed from outside rather than going into the trap.

As for catching crawfish... I put some kind of meat (bacon or chicken parts) in the trap. If the stream is flowing, place the entrance of the trap pointed down stream and they walk right in as they move up stream to the bait.

I was using a small hand pole with string and a piece of bacon (you need to add a weight, bacon floats) In the shallow streams. When the crawfish walks up and grabbs the bacon, just lift it up and swing it into your bucket.
The kids loved to do this. (Hated the mosquitoes )

You will notice in some streams, the giant Malasian Prawns will come out from under rocks and the edge of the grass and grab the bait. They will not hold on like the crawfish so you can't lift them out of the water.
Use a very small trebble hook... wait, and let them get the bait into their mouth before you set the hook and then pull them out. Good eats.

[Ca_Bass]

I saw this on an episode of Man Vs Wild...Bear was using a paddle or a big stick to smack the water really hard and stun the bait fish just long enough to scoop them up. I've done something similar over at the flats on hickam with my net but I would imagine a paddle would work the best. I'm imagining now somebody standing at the boat ramp tossing bread to the tilapia and taking violent swings with a paddle at them and people looking at him like he's insane. The boat ramp would probably be a good spot too! They are use to a decent amount of comotion over there plus the concrete of the boat ramp would amplify the concusion of a paddle and they might be stunned a bit longer. Hopefully they would survive just long enough to get eaten by tucs or bass