Quote Originally Posted by Lowellhturner View Post
Was speaking to a "Friend" recently, he bass fishes alot using various crayfish type lures and rigs (seldom if ever uses the real thing. he said was surprised at the # of smaller walleyes he catches on them. Understand walleye would probabily eat them, any idea how commonly this occurs? Also, assuming a crafish has clean water, how long will it take them to molt, assuming they have food continuously? How long untill they are "hard" again? Thank You!
Walleye can prey upon crayfish and frequency would likely depend on crayfish density. Adult walleye feed primarily on fish although insects, primarily mayflies, do make up a large portion of the diet. Depending on the crayfish rig your friend is using, the walleye may be seeing this artificial bait as a minnow vs. the crayfish imitation it is supposed to represent.

Young crayfish may molt 6 to 10 times their first year and 3 to 5 times their second year. It will take a crayfish two to three days to regrow the hard exoskeleton after molting.