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by Curt Kuester
Crayfish (crawdads?) fun to catch, good to eat
They are called crayfish or crawdads, it all depends on where your childhood took place. The mere mention of this crustacean can conjure up visions of the Beverly Hillbillies or fish bait or, best of all, one of the finest meals that one can have.
I am from the latter school. My father, who grew up in Illinois, was convinced he truly had been born in the South, and had been kidnapped by a couple of Midwest farmer types so that he could be raised in the Corn Belt. It was from him that I learned about, and came to love, this odd little creature.
As kids, my friends and I would spend our summers catching crayfish and selling them to my father. He, in turn, would boil them up and serve them back to us. All summer long, the kids and parents would dine on gumbo, jambalaya and etouffée made with our catch. In my opinion, there are very few meals better than fresh boiled crayfish tails and corn on the cob.
There are roughly a hundred-plus species of crayfish in the U. S., and they inhabit every type of water, from the brackish bayous of the Gulf Coast to lakes that sit high above timberline. While their sizes will differ, they are all related to the famed lobster.
That's right. The little crustacean of Southern cooking is really nothing more than a freshwater lobster. The taste is very comparable to the $35 Maine lobster tails that you can get in the finer restaurants. In fact, in a local store, crayfish tails can be purchased.
When my sons and I head out to catch us some crayfish for dinner, we usually make an entire trip out of just that. In the past, I have carried a few crayfish traps along on fishing trips, but trying to check them and catch fish can be somewhat hectic. Now, we go to catch the crayfish and we might catch a few fish.
The crayfish trap is pretty much whatever design that the fisherman desires. Large traps that resemble the lobster traps of the East Coast can be purchased through a number of outlets. Smaller traps designed specifically for crayfish are also available. The design that I regularly use is a modified minnow trap.
These conical shaped traps can be purchased locally and consist of two halves that clip together, each side having a funnel type entrance
These traps need to be modified to allow the crayfish to enter through the funnel. Simply cut back the opening to two inches. Once the crayfish crawl through the opening, they are unable to get back out. The beauty of using the modified minnow traps is that they stack together for transportation.
Once the traps have been modified, simply bait them up, tie a retrieval line on the trap, and lower them into the water. It is common to tie an old plastic milk jug to the end of the line. The floating jug marks where the trap has been set.
Now for the really fun part - the bait. Old chicken pieces or fish are both excellent choices for baiting the traps and are inexpensive. In most cases, you can get the old chickens that the store is throwing away for no money. Tie the pieces to the inside of the trap and you will be ready to go.
Crayfishing is a great way to hang out with your kids. My kids have never complained about the time spent chasing crayfish or the meals that we had when we got home.
