Tahoe crayfish

[Gr8bawana]

Just got back from Reno/Tahoe. Family had a pretty good time since we only had to spend 2 days with the in-laws during the week we were there.
My daughter decided she wanted to eat some crayfish since we always see them in Lake Tahoe every time we go there.
We caught about 25 of them in about an hour using a rib bone and a piece of string, no trap. Boiled them in salted water for about 5 minutes then tossed them in garlic butter for a minute, they were quite tastey.
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[Colorado Cowboy]

We get lots of them locally. I usually boil them and take off the tails, then freeze. I save them up until I have 10# or so them we have a feast.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

Yummers! We LOVE crawdadding...and eating them. The small one's all go in our bass pond. My usually catch a couple gallons of them on an outing snorkeling in the river. When snorkeling the key we've found is to flip rocks and to not be afraid of the pinchers and just grab them. My daughter (my youngest) has been doing this since before she was 10 and she rocks at catching them! We will have our hands stuffed full as we swim over to the bucket.

One trick we learned...if you take the center flap on the end of the tail and give it a 1/2 turn twist the poo vein will pull out. This is only before they are cooked.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I was in South Lake Tahoe since Wednesday. We didn't see to many but we love catching them in the rivers and doing a boil. Those do sure look good.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

The small one's all go in our bass pond.

I have a couple of really good traps that I use. Bait them with canned cat food, just punch a few holes in the cans. Used to stock them all the time in my pond for the bass & catfish, but no more. Colorado Parks & Wildlife in their infinite wisdom has banned any transportation of live fish, minnows, crawfish, etc from their original place of capture. Dead yes, live no. They are worried about exotics and such being introduced where they don't want them to be.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I have a couple of really good traps that I use. Bait them with canned cat food, just punch a few holes in the cans. Used to stock them all the time in my pond for the bass & catfish, but no more. Colorado Parks & Wildlife in their infinite wisdom has banned any transportation of live fish, minnows, crawfish, etc from their original place of capture. Dead yes, live no. They are worried about exotics and such being introduced where they don't want them to be.

In Arizona almost all of the lakes and rivers are infested with crayfish. In some of the lakes it is almost impossible to catch a fish because whatever bait you use is immediately grabbed by a crayfish.
Nevada also has regulations against transporting live fish or bait and for a good reason. There is a small lake just outside of Ely Nevada called Cummins Lake that used to be a phenominal trout fishery but someone thought it would be a good idea to introduce some northern pike from a nearby lake. They have since eaten ALL the trout and bass that used to inhabit the lake. The lake is now a wasteland with only a few starving Pike in it.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

We do have the same problem here from illegal stocking, especially walleyes and smallmouth. But I really don't understand the ban on crawfish. In a couple of areas there is an exotic called Rusty Crawfish that has taken hold, but not anywhere near here. Being able to add crawfish to my 2 acre bass, catfish, crappie & bluegill pond occasionally, really helped out the forage for the bass & cats.

 

[Gr8bawana]

You would think it would be ok to put them in a private pond if there is absolutely no way they could migrate into public waters.

 

[packmule]

My wife's maiden name has 4 vowels in a row in it...we eat a lot of mudbugs.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

You would think it would be ok to put them in a private pond if there is absolutely no way they could migrate into public waters.

Ya think...so do I!

 

[Tim McCoy]

You would think it would be ok to put them in a private pond if there is absolutely no way they could migrate into public waters.

Just tell em, if you are in the great basin, all rivers flow down hill and none out of the basin. Of course, that presupposes they know geography. If you are not in the basin, you are one Nevada flood away from bug dispersal...

 

[packmule]

No way to stop it here. If you build it, they will come. Whites and stripers running in late Winter/Spring love them.

 

[geargrinder]

My kids love catching them at Tahoe. Especially on the rocks at Sand Harbor. They can fill a gallon bucket in an hour.

I like boiling them in my favorite pork rib rub.

Nice thing about Tahoe crawfish is that the water is so clean, they taste good even without a purge.

 

[packmule]

Yummers! We LOVE crawdadding...and eating them. The small one's all go in our bass pond. My usually catch a couple gallons of them on an outing snorkeling in the river. When snorkeling the key we've found is to flip rocks and to not be afraid of the pinchers and just grab them. My daughter (my youngest) has been doing this since before she was 10 and she rocks at catching them! We will have our hands stuffed full as we swim over to the bucket.

One trick we learned...if you take the center flap on the end of the tail and give it a 1/2 turn twist the poo vein will pull out. This is only before they are cooked.

That's what purging is for..then again, when you suck heads, what's a little poop going to hurt.

 

[Tim McCoy]

Ya all need to try a real Louisiana Cajun boil on ur bugs. I like to add extra vinegar and let em sit in it for a time to cool. As it cools, all the spices get drawn back into the bugs. Do the same with about 1/2 the Dungeness crab I get too.

 

[Tim McCoy]

...
One trick we learned...if you take the center flap on the end of the tail and give it a 1/2 turn twist the poo vein will pull out. This is only before they are cooked.[/QUOTE]

Not a trick I was ever taught, de-veining was taught as a required activity before the boil, just like gutting a deer. Now if I get a meal with shrimp at a restaurant, I always look for a good de-veining job. Me no likey eating poo, even if I can't taste it.

 

[Gr8bawana]

That's what purging is for..then again, when you suck heads, what's a little poop going to hurt.

How do you guys purge your crawdads?
I had a guy tell me to keep them for few days in a cold ice chest full of water then put 1/2 cup of salt in there. Supposedly it makes them sick and puke out anything left inside since they have not eaten for a few days.

 

[packmule]

Usually if they haven't eaten in a cpl days there shouldn't be an issue. If they come from a supplier in a sack, then the only thing is to put them in water and stir them to get them cleaner and to sift out dead ones. Salt method works, but you risk killing more for no reason.

The most important part though is to be sure to add a lot of red potatoes, corn, mushrooms & sausage so people will fill up on that instead of your crawfish. (I'll even thrown deboned dove breast and venison stew meat in the boil.)

 

[Sawfish]

How do you guys purge your crawdads?
I had a guy tell me to keep them for few days in a cold ice chest full of water then put 1/2 cup of salt in there. Supposedly it makes them sick and puke out anything left inside since they have not eaten for a few days.

Purging has nothing to do with what the crawfish have eaten. Whether Crawfish are wild caught, or farm raised, they accumulate a certain amount of mud in their gills. Purging forces them to regurgitate the mud from their gills. When doing a batch of crawfish, I usually set up three containers of water (most often washtubs). Live crawfish from the sack, washtub or whatever are rinsed in the first container. Sticks, trash, and the deceased are removed here. Second container is fresh water with a box of kitchen salt added. You can see the clean water turn brown almost instantly as the crawfish regurgitate the mud. Drain the muddy water, refill and repeat the regurgitation process. Transfer crawfish to a container of clean water for rinsing (I usually put them in the basket at this state). Next stop-the boiling pot. I have not had a problem with crawfish dying in the regurgitation process because they are only in the salt water for a short period. Regurgitation improves the taste of boiled crawfish significantly. I change my boiling water after two batches. If you notice boiling water that is green or brown, those crawfish are being boiled in muddy water. Potatoes, corn, etc., are boiled in a separate pot, so that water can be reused. This works well for batches of up to 200 lbs.. When I lived in Louisiana, we once boiled 1,000 lbs. on one day, and used 12' aluminum jon boats for our washing and purging containers. Also had a separate boat for beer and ice!