A.k.a. wonderful freshwater seafood that we enjoy all winter long. Yes, you can eat crayfish out of your local river as long as the river isn’t polluted or scary in some other way. They look, act, cook up, peel and taste like lobster, just on a smaller scale. Do you ever see an unhappy Cajun chef? Me neither and I believe crayfish are a large part of their happiness. They have catching and preparing crayfish down to an art but here in northern WI, there are fewer resources to learn how to trap and prepare these little buggers. I am no expert, but I can at least get you started. You can substitute crayfish in any recipe that calls for lobster or seafood. Or just melt some butter and make it disappear! I’ll post some of my crayfish specific recipes on the Kitchen page in the next few days.
How to find crayfish. First, check your state’s regulations and do your best to follow them. Crayfish won’t taste as good if they get confiscated or you get a fine. Then go river exploring. You’re looking for areas with sandy/rocky bottoms, and some plant material around. Crayfish like digging food out of crevices so watch for areas that things flowing down the river can get caught up in rocks. They also like to hide in those crevices, under logs, vegetation etc. They will also burrow into mud. All of that means that you should look everywhere there is oxygen rich flowing water. Just watch for them moving along the bottom or throw some bait in the water and see if they show up. We have the best luck in late spring when the high water has receded through most of the summer. Ours turn off in late summer.
Set up your trap. We use the kind pictured here. I got them for less than $20 at the big box store (online in our case). The rope, weight and float were not included. This type of trap has a funnel shaped opening at each end. When my hubby sets them in the river, he tries to orient them so the openings are upstream/downstream. Crayfish seem to escape less in this orientation. Escaping is also why we use this style; we’ve had better luck with it. We’ve also attached zip ties to the opening to help keep them in. They are crafty little escape artists. Tie the trap to a rope that you can tie to a tree or stake on the shore. We also put a weight inside so the river’s current won’t throw the trap around so easily.
Bait. Crayfish like dead, stinky, oily, meat-based stuff. The thing we’ve found works best is a bait fish sliced open or flattened with a rock so that its guts are exposed to the water. We have used small cans of cat or dog food (the kind with the gravy) with the label peeled off and a few holes poked in it. Dry cat or dog food will also work. Tie a handful in an old sock or nylon and zip tie the nylon to the inside middle of the trap. Little smokies type cocktail wieners are also a good bait. If it’s likely to make someone gag, crayfish will love it. Once the bait is inside the trap, use a clamp, small carabiner or wire to hold the trap shut.
Catching. Drop the trap in the water, tie it off to something that won’t float away and wait. We check ours a minimum of once every 24 hours for state regulations. We’ve found that if we set them in the late afternoon, we can pull them up an hour or so after sunset and have quite a few in the trap. You’ll have to experiment a bit to find what works best for you, ours seem to like shady times and areas. When harvesting, fill an empty bucket with the cleanest, coldest water you can get. Crayfish rely on high oxygen levels and will die quickly if you put them in warm dirty water. Change the water every few hours or use multiple buckets if you have a lot of crayfish. Change the crayfish water a couple of times to let any mud come off. Ours don’t get into the mud so we have it easy.
Cooking. It’s helpful but not mandatory to ‘clean’ the crayfish before cooking. Dump a half cup of salt into their water and let them sit for 20 minutes. This will cause them to defecate which clears out their internals before you prepare them. Fill a pan about halfway with water, add a teaspoon of salt (add other seasonings if you like), put a lid on it and set it on the stove to come up to a boil. You’ll want to have enough water to cover the crayfish in the pan when boiling so choose as appropriate for your quantity. We are not professionals, so we usually boil about 6 at a time to keep them warm while we peel to make the meat easier to remove. When your water is at a good rolling boil, put the crayfish in the water and set the lid back on the pan to keep the boil going. If you intend to eat them right away, boil them for about 10 minutes and remove from the water. If you are going to freeze the meat to use in cooked recipes later, boil for about 6 minutes and remove from the water. Spread newspaper on your table and if you are freezing the meat, put out a dish for meat. We usually have some toothpicks, paper towels, and pliers, fork, or lobster tool handy. If you didn’t just eat it all with butter, you can roll the meat up tightly in a zipper bag or vacuum seal for the freezer. It takes only minutes to thaw and add to your favorite seafood recipes.
