Set Your Hook

Posts Tagged ‘Crayfish’

Crayfish, also called crawfish, mudbugs, or crawdads, are closely related to the lobster. (I will admit that that’s one point in their favor!) They are pretty easy to catch and very easy to cook. Plus, they’re nearly free.

(Okay, in my opinion the FREE bit makes them better than lobster!)

Before you go out to catch these guys, be sure you know what the fishing regulations for your area are: In Arizona there is no limit, but they can’t be transported live.

I do all of my crayfish fishing at night, in the early evening at sunset until I get too cold to continue. My favorite crayfish lakes are near Flagstaff, Arizona, or in the White Mountains.

While you’re out fishing for game fish, keep an eye out for likely crayfish hiding spots: large rocks along shore, under boat docks, etc. A sure-sign is to find claws in the water.

There are two ways of catching crayfish:

1. One at a time with bait and a string
2. A bunch at once with a baited trap

If you’re going to go after crawdads with a baited string, you’ll need the following:

• A flashlight
• Bait, tied to a long string (I like fish heads)
• A net
• An ice chest
• Dry shoes, clothes, etc.

Tie the fish head to the string by poking the string through the mouth and out the back of the head. In Arizona, it’s okay to use fish heads, but not pieces of the game fish.

Fish guts work well, but they’re hard to keep on the string. I would try putting the fish guts in a nylon stocking or a little mesh bag.

Other baits can be raw chicken or pork, canned cat food, or hotdogs. I always use cotton string because it fills with water and sinks; nylon string usually does not.

No matter what type of bait you try, be sure that it s fresh. Crawfish are scavengers but aren’t too keen on eating anything that’s rotten or spoiled. I can’t say I blame them!

Then, gently toss the head into a crevasse between rocks or just at the edge of the dock. Keep gentle tension on the string and when your fish head starts walking away, you’ve got a crayfish! Pull up gently until your friend can get the net under it.

TIP: Don’t bring the crayfish all the way up to the surface of the water: it’ll let go! Slow movements are the best, and remember, crayfish usually swim backwards, so you can get them to swim back into the net!

Then, put the crayfish into your ice chest. Make sure there is some water in the bottom of the chest first! Make sure you don’t over-crowd the ice chest with crayfish. Live crayfish should not be transported, because they can get into any other body of water.

I’ve never had any problems taking them back to a campground adjacent to the lake to cook them right away, but, again, check with your state’s regulations before moving them. Arizona prohibits the transport of live fish (crawfish included) but I did as Game & Fish if it was okay to take them back to camp live. The officer requested that I put a bag of ice in with the crayfish and return to camp immediately and cook them.

Now that I’m older (not 9 and thinking that falling in a cold mountain lake after dark is fun) I use crayfish traps from Trapper Arne. ESP Boss and I use the same types of bait: fish heads! The trap has a large safety pin the in center that I pass through the fish head.

And yes, I bait the traps. It might be a bit gross, but it’s worth it to have fresh crayfish for lunch!

Tips for placing traps:

• Make sure the trap is fully submerged.
• Tie the trap to something so you can pull it up the next morning!
• Label the trap with your name and address. In Arizona, we also have to put the number of our fishing license on the trap as well.
• Make sure you remember where you put it!

Early the next morning, we pull the traps up and take it back to camp for cooking. A huge advantage of the traps is that we’re not cooking and cleaning crayfish by lantern light!

I like The Trapper, which is made by Trapper Arne himself, in Payson Arizona.

What’s a keeper and what gets thrown back?

We keep crayfish that are big enough not to fall through our net holes, about 1″. If they’re smaller, they get tossed back. Any females carrying eggs under their tails get put back immediately- they’re a mess to clean!

Although I imagine we should keep them to further limit population growth… What are your thoughts about it?

Tomorrow, I’ll share my favorite crayfish cooking recipe and cleaning tips! So be sure to check TheOutdoorPrincess.com for the article!

Readers Weigh In:

Have you ever caught and eaten crayfish?

Would you rather catch them with a string or a trap?

Do you remember how I said that there are now Northern Pike in Ashurst Lake? Well, I did a bit more digging into that and I found out that not only are the pike a non-native, invasive species, they were also introduced into Ashurst Lake by somebody OTHER than Game & Fish.

Now, that might not seem like a big deal to you. Ashurst Lake can easily support a population of pike. However, Ashurst has always been managed as a trout and catfish lake. By some angler moving Northern Pike from another lake (probably Upper Lake Mary which IS managed for pike) into Ashurst, that person effectively killed the trout population.

There are invasive species that get introduced into our waterways through all types of means. Sometimes a well meaning person “frees” the crayfish a 5-year-old caught, not knowing that it was just introduced into a new water area. Or the invasive species hitchhikes from one lake to another on the bottom of a boat, like the quagga mussels that are invading Arizona.

And another way is somebody just DECIDING to introduce a species.

However it happens we all have to do our part to not knowingly continue the spread of invasive species.

Game and Fish Department officials are asking for all boaters and anglers to help fight the continuing spread of these and other invaders by routinely taking simple precautionary steps:

Know Your Fishing Regulations:

For example, any Northern Pike that is caught in Ashurst Lake must be killed. It doesn’t matter the size of the fish, it cannot be caught and released back into the water. But, if you didn’t know that and caught a little one, you might think you were doing everyone a favor to release it back into the lake for it to grow a bit more!

Game & Fish officials are usually the nicest people around. They are passionate about maintain habitats for everybody to enjoy. Before you head to a new fishing area, give them a call and find out if there’s anything specific you need to know.

Kill Your Catch At The Lake-Side

One major rule in Arizona prohibits the transportation of any live fish. If you catch a fish (or a crayfish) it must be killed at the lake before transported.

If you can’t clean the fish at the lake because there are no facilities or trash service, then usually you can put it on ice until you get home. That’s how we transport the crayfish we catch at a lake when we’re taking them back to camp to cook.

Know What Species Are Invasive

Again, being familiar with your state’s invasive species and the state’s policies goes a long way towards helping maintain healthy waterways.

The quagga mussel invasion in Arizona has advanced from the Colorado River lakes to the state’s interior. Arizona Game & Fish got very concerned over finding just one mussel since they knew that it there was one, there were more.

A single quagga mussel can produce 30,000 to 40,000 fertilized eggs in a single breeding cycle, and one adult female quagga can release up to a million eggs in a single year.

Yuck!

Maintain Your Boat

Before leaving a lake or other waterway, always:

• CLEAN the hull of your boat
• DRAIN the water from the boat, livewell and the lower unit
• DRY the boat, fishing gear, and equipment
• INSPECT all exposed surfaces
• REMOVE all plant and animal material

After you leave a lake or other body of water, please wait five days before launching your boat someplace else. This five-day-waiting period will aid tremendously in killing those hidden hitchhikers on your boat, such as the microscopic quagga mussel larvae.

Also, it is a good idea to wash the hull of your boat with high-pressure water either at the lake, if washers are available, or after leaving the waterway.

Remember, many of these aquatic hitchhikers can harm your boat as well. These invaders will attach themselves to boats, and can cause damage to boat motors if they block the flow of cooling water through the engine.

It’s a lot easier to prevent the spread of an invasive species than it is to get rid of it after it has a foothold in a waterway.

Readers Weigh In:

• What species have invaded your area?
• What steps do you take to prevent the spread of invasive species?