I fish the North Umpqua River in Southern Oregon. On the night before going fishing I throw out two crawdad traps in my favorite crawdad hole and pull them on the way out in the morning. I keep them alive until I need them. I peel the meat from the tail and put a chunk on a hook with a bait loop, just like eggs. The steelhead go crazy for a fresh piece of crawdad tail.
Try a size 14 rocket-red corkey, tag of white yarn, size 4 Gamakatsu, and a half or quarter of a crawdad tail. They will almost always hit it on the first two or three casts. I think the scent bleeds out quicky.