I recently read an article on fishing Crayfish patterns in the Truckee River in N. Calif.  Being familiar with the Truckee I was suprised to read that Crayfish would inhabit that water.  I would think its too cold.  It got me thinking, what about the Kern?  There are certain large numbers of deep pools that I could see supporting Crayfish possibly.  I'm tempted to get a few Crayfish patterns and try them in the deep slower pools in the upper and lower river.  I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with imitating Crayfish or has seen Crayfish in the water on the upper or lower river?  I know those deep pools on the Kern have to house some pretty large trout, its just a matter of sending something their way they'll feel compelled to attack and eat.  By the way the article was in the latest California Flyfisher Magazine.  Appreciate the comments.
 
Jeff

When I was a kid we used to catch crayfish in the kern around Hart park. they must still be out there ?! ... sounds like a good idea

I've seen them in the Kern, although fish don't take the big ones unless they've just molted. But the 1-2" sized crayfish hiding under rocks and logs are a good bet sizewise.  I've used the Orvis flies, but they are a bit too big for the rods I usually use on the Kern.  Cold weather isn't a problem for them, I used to catch them in our local lakes and rivers in Wisconsin as a kid and use them for bait, it gets to 30 below there and they survive the freezes fine, as long as it doesn't freeze through to the bottom.  Use a minnow trap and a can of dog food with nail holes punched in it to catch some crayfish to match for sizes and color- but don't use wind crustaceans as bait- not legal. You have to develop the backward bottom scuttling movement of crayfish for them to be effective. The molted crayfish have a milky color until the shell hardens, I've used a transparent white nailpolish over the Orvis flies to try and immitate these fish treats- they really know that the just molted crayfish are tender and tastey. They usually hide under the rocks for several days after molt, so they are not comonly seen.