i'd be curious too, as far as the safe to eat guidelines. as far as regulations on trapping...


this is copied from the anglers guide...

BAIT SPECIES The following species of fish, amphibians, aquatic insects
and crustaceans may be taken by sport fishermen for personal use, but
may only be sold if taken under an inland commercial bait license.
• Bait species: Common shiner, golden shiner, fallfish, creek chub,
spottail shiner, bridle shiner, blacknose dace, longnose dace, pearl
dace, bluntnose minnow, fathead minnow, cutlips minnow, chub
sucker, white sucker, killifish, mummichog, Atlantic & tidewater
silverside, sand lance, frogs (except northern leopard frog), crayfish
(except rusty crayfish), perch bugs, hellgrammites and mayfly
nymphs.
• The legal methods for taking the bait species listed above are
as follows:
—— Rivers & streams: Bait species may be taken at any time with
seines not over 15 ft. long and 4 ft. deep, bait traps not over 20
inches long and 15 inches in diameter, and umbrella nets not
over 4 ft. by 4 ft.
—— Lakes & ponds: Bait species may be taken at any time with bait
traps not over 20 inches long and 15 inches in diameter and
umbrella nets not over 4 ft. by 4 ft. Seines shall not be used in
lakes and ponds except those designated by the DEEP as open to
commercial taking of bait. Where posted, taking, use or possession
of fish as bait is prohibited in lakes and ponds.
—— All inland waters: During the open season for fishing, the species
listed above may also be taken by hand, angling and scoop net.


i made some crawfish traps for myself and some friends/relatives that came out great. i will be making more as soon as i get more material so if your interested in details shoot me a pm.

I think you'd want to avoid eating the fat as well. That tends to accumulate things like PCB's. But you'd probably have to eat a lot of crawfish to pick up a significant amount.