How do you catch crawdads? Do you eat them?

[AGarbers]

Can you get them out of the holes in the bank? Have often wondered if that is possible and how it could be done quickly and efficiently.

My wife used to drop a piece of raw bacon on a string down the hole, wait a few moments and then pull it out with the crawdad. A friend of mine used to go crabbing out east using the same basic principle. He would stand on a dock and drop a hand line down with bait on it, wait a few minutes and carefully bring it back up. Quite often he would have a crab on the bait and they didn't know enough to let go.

 

[AGarbers]

I've only caught and eaten craw dads in Florida. They were delicious. When I did do that I'd just put on a pair of scuba fins and a snorkel with a mask and put a mesh bag around my wrist to stuff the craw dads in. Then just swim up and down the river and pluck the juicy ones.

Do you remeber what types of areas you found them in? Rocky, sandy, muddy, log jam?

 

[AGarbers]

I wander down the streams at night with a headlamp on, bait net in one hand and a beer in the other. I have a mesh drawstring bag on my belt to hold them. Usually it is me and a buddy or two. You can catch about 5 lbs an hour in a good spot. I thought I was the only one who caught and ate hoosierdads!

What areas did you do best? Rocky bottoms, log jams, deep holes, shallow riffles?

 

[kalboy]

I used to catch crawdads for trot line bait simply by wading any wade-able creek( majority of it knee deep or less) with a bucket and two bait nets, just put one net behind him and other in front pushing him back. Wasn't much of a chore to get a couple hundred in a half hour or so.

 

[AGarbers]

Ive heard that the ones under the water are hardshell and the ones that make the burros on the banks are soft shell.
Any truth to that?

This is not correct. There are many different sub-species of crayfish in Indiana and each has their own preferred habitat. They are amazing and found around the world. They are related to crabs and lobster. Having processed and cooked lobster and crawfish I consider them just a smaller species as they look identical. Cajuns are not the only group that enjoy eating them. If I remember correctly people in Sweden love them as well.

From what I have read you can induce a crayfish to molt, (become soft-shell), by clipping their antenna. They soon molt and then die so you have a very short time to use them. While they are soft shell, the entire crawfish can be eaten. I however am not at the point where I can stick an animal with eyes, claws, antenna, and guts into my mouth without going into projectile vomiting soon after. (No, I don't eat sardines.)

Since this is introducing something new to a bunch of folks, just remember that crayfish are one of the few animals that can breathe just fine in or out of water. So, when collecting or storing them, DO NOT store them in water unless the water is always changing. Like minnows in a bucket they will rapidly use up all the oxygen in the water and with no way to get out, they will suffocate. It is far better to do as someone said and collect them in a mesh bag, or use a dry bucket. If you want to hold them over, keep them in a large moist container, out of the sun. Some say to use wet sawdust. Other places just heap them on top of each other in a dry cooler. They will fight and kill each other. I had the biggest crayfish I've ever caught that was almost mini-lobster in size get killed and half eaten by another smaller crayfish. Needless to say, I was not happy.

 

[Knight Rider]

Grandad and I would use an old screen door and dredge in the mud. Great for bait size, but also got plenty of eating sized.

 

[Fargo]

What areas did you do best? Rocky bottoms, log jams, deep holes, shallow riffles?

I generally do best in areas with a silty bottom littered with football size and larger rocks. Deeper spots of 1-2 feet will hold the most big ones. The shallower riffles hold the smaller ones. Also, places where a culvert enters tend to collect bajillions. I find my best spots are where something used to be built and there are chunks of concrete/brick along the stream bottom. They seem to like these for whatever reason.

I wade upstream so the silt flows behind me. What is really exhilarating is when you realize there is a snapping turtle right where you intend to take your next step! He made a mean snapping turtle gumbo although those things are about the hardest animal to dress out that I've ever done.

I keep them in a mesh sack in a cooler with a wet towel over the top. I will throw a bit of ice in to slow down their metabolism from time to time if keeping more than overnight. I've kept them up to 5 days that way with minimal loss. Just make sure you put a cooling rack or something like that under them so there is room for the melted ice to collect without drowing out the lower ones. They will rapidly consume the limited amount of oxygen in small amounts of water and die. They are much happier damp than submerged for storage IME.

 

[DRAIN SURGEON]

I have caught ones out of the yard by pushing a stick about 6in behind where he sits at the end of his hole and then pulling it almost out . Then waiting awhile and then sneaking up from behind and pushing the stick down and he cant back down the hole. Then you just dig a little bit around the top and pull him out.

 

[Kart29]

This makes me think of a scene from Raising Arizona.

Okay, I give up...

I've seen that movie probably 25 times and can darn near quote the entire script from memory. But I can't imagine what scene you must be thinking of.

 

[Slawburger]

Okay, I give up...

I've seen that movie probably 25 times and can darn near quote the entire script from memory. But I can't imagine what scene you must be thinking of.

Prison scene
"...and when there was no meat, we ate fowl and when there was no fowl, we ate crawdad and when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand."

 

[patience0830]

Easiest way to catch crawdads is a large clear Jif peanut butter jar. Put it behind him and poke something down in front of him. If you drill a couple of holes in the jar you can just let the water run out and then dump him in the sack.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

I have never eaten crawdad. Any restaurants in Indy offer them?

 

[PistolBob]

I have never eaten crawdad. Any restaurants in Indy offer them?

Popeyes Chicken has them from time to time.

 

[phylodog]

I have never eaten crawdad. Any restaurants in Indy offer them?

Do yourself a favor and make sure, at least for your first time, that the mud bugs were live just before they were cooked and served to you. I've had previously frozen and there is a huge difference. It helps to have an experienced eater along to show you the ropes or you'll spend a lot of time trying to peel them. There are very efficient ways to eat them and ensure the last one you have is still hot. Have a cold beer handy and partake of the corn and potatoes to enjoy the true experience.

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

bang a dirty mermaid.


we used to cut both ends off a coffee can. lower it over your quarry, then grab it. works best on soft or small gravel bottoms.

 

[AGarbers]

I have never eaten crawdad. Any restaurants in Indy offer them?

Zydecos in Mooesville always has "tails" in a side bowl dripping with butter for about $5.00. They should have fresh, still alive until they cook them for you, any day, if not already. They last until sometime in June. I agree with the statement that they need to be fresh. Kroger has whole cooked crayfish quite often but after eating fresh caught, there is no comparison. I find the Kroger offering very nasty and I could see folks being turned off if that is all they had to go on.
If you like lobster or crab meat, you really need to try catching and cooking your own crayfish. My last batch went from trap to plate in an hour or so. I tailed and de-veined them, dropping them in hot butter as I went. I can honestly say I have tried nothing better in my life. That being said, it takes a mess (3-5 pounds whole) to fill a person up, which is why it is good to have the corn and potatos. The limit in Indiana is 500 per fishing license holder.
Hard core lovers suck the remaining "fat" and crab boil from the head, then eat the tail. Chefs scrap the "fat" from the heads with the handle of a spoon or their pinky fingernail and use it in sauces. For those that watch Chopped, they had crayfish on the All-Star show last night. It was interesting to see what they did, so I recorded it to watch again.

I can say that I used northern pike bits last year as bait for two days and didn't catch a thing. Salmon worked great.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Zydecos in Mooesville always has "tails" in a side bowl dripping with butter for about $5.00. They should have fresh, still alive until they cook them for you, any day, if not already. They last until sometime in June. I agree with the statement that they need to be fresh. Kroger has whole cooked crayfish quite often but after eating fresh caught, there is no comparison. I find the Kroger offering very nasty and I could see folks being turned off if that is all they had to go on.
If you like lobster or crab meat, you really need to try catching and cooking your own crayfish. My last batch went from trap to plate in an hour or so. I tailed and de-veined them, dropping them in hot butter as I went. I can honestly say I have tried nothing better in my life. That being said, it takes a mess (3-5 pounds whole) to fill a person up, which is why it is good to have the corn and potatos. The limit in Indiana is 500 per fishing license holder.
Hard core lovers suck the remaining "fat" and crab boil from the head, then eat the tail. Chefs scrap the "fat" from the heads with the handle of a spoon or their pinky fingernail and use it in sauces. For those that watch Chopped, they had crayfish on the All-Star show last night. It was interesting to see what they did, so I recorded it to watch again.

I can say that I used northern pike bits last year as bait for two days and didn't catch a thing. Salmon worked great.

fresh it is. good to know guys, thanks.
i recall catching them as a kid all the time, just never ate one. My inclination is to try one thats been cooked by someone experienced, for the first try anyways

 

[LoriW]

I have never eaten crawdad. Any restaurants in Indy offer them?

Formosa's in Castleton has them (at least the last 2 times we've been there). I wasn't impressed but my husband approves. I 2nd having an experienced eater show you how to eat them (these were whole cooked crawdad's)

 

[Hammer]

Do yourself a favor and make sure, at least for your first time, that the mud bugs were live just before they were cooked and served to you. I've had previously frozen and there is a huge difference. It helps to have an experienced eater along to show you the ropes or you'll spend a lot of time trying to peel them. There are very efficient ways to eat them and ensure the last one you have is still hot. Have a cold beer handy and partake of the corn and potatoes to enjoy the true experience.

Just don't eat the dead ones.






From a 100% cajun, there are not enough crawfish in Indiana to mess with. But in Louisiana, they use a cloth net stretched by a small wire frame with a big diaper type clip in the middle for the bait. Bait can be anything, but beef liver, chicken, chicken innards, etc...... are some of the ones that are used.

 

[Cameramonkey]

So whats the best trap to leave behind in the water to catch them and come back daily to empty it? I'm going to Pelee Island Canada (in the middle of lake Erie) in July for my annual family vacation. A couple years ago my FIL and I were invited out on a boat by my neighbor and we were using his crawdads to get monsters. He mentioned that he drops his trap in a nearby ditch/canal. Most of the island was swampland when first populated, and a series of canals and ditches drain the island with the help of pumphouses.

We cant get that cottage anymore so I want to take a trap this year to get the bigger fish that tend to ignore my nightcrawlers and lures. Suggestions?