Octopus vs Crays

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    Posted: 27 Aug 2014 at 4:44pm
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Today we went for a dive and found there were no crays in all the usual spots. There were crays there a few days ago, but today I couldn't find a singe cray! Cry There was however, a heap of large octopus' hanging around.

Does anyone know if the octopus scare the crays away (so they go out deeper etc), or is it just coincidental that there were no crays?




Teach your missus to fillet and shuck. Before someone else does...
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote spear crazy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2014 at 5:07pm
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i have seen mates stick an octopus into a hole to scare the crays out...works very well.
Occis will eat a cray if they get a chance!
Axemen Spearfishing... "Putting the crap back into elite"
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote KikBac Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2014 at 5:34pm
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What Crazy said. If crays are hiding at the back of a cave, shove an octopus in - the crays will come racing out!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote pjc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2014 at 6:44pm
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grandfather use to go to whatipu,back in the 1940s,find a octopus tie it to some flax and lower it in to cracks and out would come the crays,whatipu fleas he called them.before my time thats for sure.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Cigar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2014 at 8:46pm
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A guy I used to dive with said the Maori belief was that if you speared a crayfish, it's spirit would stay in the hole and keep all the other crayfish away. He said the reality behind the belief was the bits of legs, etc left behind after spearing the cray attracted the octopus, who then ate or scared away the other crayfish. Two theories, but the same result whichever one you believe.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Spearo2b Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2014 at 7:35am
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up until mid summer last year the only cray i had ever grabbed my self was actually out of an octopuses tentacles so spear crazy is right they do most definitely do eat crays 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Cbro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2014 at 8:34am
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You'll find the crays are most likely shedding at the moment...or getting ready to.
Yes octopus do make crays move but not as far as you'd think. If an octopus is in a cray hole though your best to find a new spot.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Mullins Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2014 at 9:15am
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Weirdly, I saw occies and crays cohabiting twice a couple of years back at the mercs. Not something you normally see but these crays seemed happy enough to be within a metre of an octopus. Unless he was slowly moving in and they hadn't noticed yet...
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote DJ Mike Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2014 at 12:01pm
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Cheers for the replies folks. Will have another crack at it later in the week (at a different location) and see how we go.




Teach your missus to fillet and shuck. Before someone else does...
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote e.m.p! Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2014 at 1:58pm
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last summer I stuffed an octopus into a cray hole in a last ditch effort to flush them out. Turned out both species were more pissed off about me and couldn't be bothered to move. Didn't work out for me – lesson learned: make sure the crays haven't seen you before trying to shoo them
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote mustang Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2014 at 9:54pm
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go to the 4.00 mark on this footage and you'll see an octopus showing some interest in a cray. I shot this footage in Fiordland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcGXC3xK-mw


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote bokken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Aug 2014 at 8:39am
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One time I dived down and interrupted what appeared to be a mexican stand-off between a baby occy and 2 crays. memorable as it was my first 1-2 grab, and I later found the wee occy hiding in a hole with 6 or so crayfish
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Lethal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2014 at 2:45am
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LOL mustang, that Octopus was trying to fire your gun...

just shows though even Octopus have a hard time grabbing a cray...
Thanks for everything you did for us Eric. may you rest in peace, You were one of the real legends of NZ recreational fishing
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Reel Deal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2014 at 7:07am
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I would have thought with all the octopuses intelligence and abilities it would have been more of effective predator rather than to just throw itself wholesale at the cray.

Great footage.
The gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men's lives the hours spent on fishing - Assyrian Proverb
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote inspearation Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2014 at 10:04am
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That's some cool footage. 

They may not be as good at hunting as you'd think, once they back a cray to the end of its cave it would be rather cornered. They also love getting into craypots because the crays again have nowhere to go. 

They are smart though, always grab the biggest cray first, the buggers..
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote SpearHead66 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2014 at 2:22pm
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In fiordland we have pulled them up in crap pots that were full but they had eaten them all and only the cray shells were left! 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Reel Deal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2014 at 9:16pm
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Yeah two weeks ago I got the biggest Octopus I've seen in the pot and it had just killed our biggest cray to date, which was still eatable. Wouldn't get out of pot so took home and dressed. Skin and tentacles caught a good feed of snaps later.
The gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men's lives the hours spent on fishing - Assyrian Proverb
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