Hunting Washington Forum
Other Activities => Fishing => Topic started by: Shrimper on May 10, 2018, 10:46:03 AM
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Okay more organized this year and I almost got this started before the opener.
Same as last year largest crawdad measured from tip of the claw to tip of the tail and ending on the season closing October 31st. I'm not big on rules, we have too many in our lives, use your moral compass, live hogcraw pics preferred but not required.
Winner with the largest Hogcraw gets... a Bayou Classic cooker
(https://s14.postimg.cc/x3qrw1fe5/How_Craw_Prize_2017.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/x3qrw1fe5/)
Post pics of your crawdad boils and we will vote at the end of the year for best boil. The winner will get a few cool things to enhance their boil.
(https://s14.postimg.cc/xhs3vup9p/Old_Bay.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/xhs3vup9p/) (https://s14.postimg.cc/y7aw8903x/Scoop.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/y7aw8903x/)
Let the catching begin!
(https://s14.postimg.cc/caod7rkbh/Big_Daddy_2014.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/caod7rkbh/)
(https://s14.postimg.cc/4hxpfton1/Boil.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/4hxpfton1/)
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Let's get this party started!
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Time to catch a mudbug..
:hello: South pole..
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Time to catch a mudbug..
:hello: South pole..
:chuckle: ... Hi Mr.piss, nice to see you show up to the ring of crawpa luv :llam:
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Good luck all! We will try to be more proactive this year! Can't believe Crawfishing got put on the back burner. On a good note got some prime Spring Chinook carcuss for bait. :IBCOOL:
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What is the best bait you use when you trap Crawdad?
Beef pancreas (know in Louisiana as the melt)
Raw bacon
Any type of fresh meat
Flour mixed with a chopped up raw hot dog
Dead Minnows
Canned Cat Food (plenty of holes punched in the can)
Fish with the Guts
Doug
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I made this during the offseason with some crawfish that I froze. Plan on going after some in the next few weeks.
Crawfish Bisque Stock-
25-50 crawfish shelled meat removed and reserved
3 leeks or yellow onions
4 celery stocks
3 carrots
1 bulb garlic
2 bay leafs
10 pepper corns
Boque garni-
Parsley
Thyme
Dill
Cover ingredients with water and simmer for at least 4 hours. Strain stock through cheese cloth. Make sure you have at least 2 cups total.
Sauté 2 minced shallots. Add 1/4 cup brandy or cognac and ignite. When flames stop deglaze pan with 1/2 cup dry white wine. Whisk in 3 TBS tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon worcestershire and seasonings. Add 2 cups crab stock and heat.
In another pot melt 1 stick of butter. Add 1/2 cup flour to make roux. Slowly add 2 cups cream while whisking. Add besumel to stock and whisk. Also whisk in a squeeze from half a lemon. Garnish with reserved crawfish meat and thyme.
Seasonings:
1 teaspoon smoked salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
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:EAT:
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What is the best bait you use when you trap Crawdad?
Beef pancreas (know in Louisiana as the melt)
Raw bacon
Any type of fresh meat
Flour mixed with a chopped up raw hot dog
Dead Minnows
Canned Cat Food (plenty of holes punched in the can)
Fish with the Guts
Doug
All of this would work, these little suckers chew up my line if its sitting on the bottom. Fresh fish "trout" carcases work best for me.
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Catch them by hand it’s way faster.
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Catch them by hand it’s way faster.
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Says the diver expert >:(
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Caught some. Decided to dedicate a cooler for just purging crawfish. With two different pumps, and three different power options. Regular plug, cigarette lighter plug and solar power. Some versatility while camping. Purged these guys for 24 hours.
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Crawfish Paella.
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Wow merkaba93 great purging idea...your Paella looks amazing!
Nice 7.5 incher that's how you get us started. :rockin:
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One the board :tup:
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Sorry for my lack of expertise but what are the benefits of purging crawfish and how do you do it? I bought my first trap last weekend.
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Sorry for my lack of expertise but what are the benefits of purging crawfish and how do you do it? I bought my first trap last weekend.
:yeah: im not real sure either
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Ok, I can explain. You know what we call the mud vein in shrimp and crawfish? Well it's a part of the digestive track to put it nicely. With shrimp it's easy to remove because its on the outside of the meat. Crawfish it's a bit harder because it's kind of imbedded into the meat.
By all means you can eat shrimp or crawfish with the mud vein intact. It barely changes the flavor. But if you wanna up your flavor game and have the cleanest crawfish you've ever tasted, then you purge them.
Keep them alive for 12-24 hours and drain/change the water every 4 hours or so.
You'll need an air pump because they take up a lot of O2.
It's just one extra step. Not necessary, however if you have the time and the equipment, I personally think it's worth it.
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I'm interested! Where can a person find crawfish? (On the west side or on the Olympic peninsula?)
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Clarktar...Crawdads are everywhere, creeks, sloughs, lakes, rivers...look for areas with a lot of cover "rocks" where crawdads can hide. My honey hole has a sandy bottom with a hard clay layer they dig tunnels into for cover.
Leaving traps overnight seem to work best for me. Good luck!
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Mmmm......
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Ok, I can explain. You know what we call the mud vein in shrimp and crawfish? Well it's a part of the digestive track to put it nicely. With shrimp it's easy to remove because its on the outside of the meat. Crawfish it's a bit harder because it's kind of imbedded into the meat.
By all means you can eat shrimp or crawfish with the mud vein intact. It barely changes the flavor. But if you wanna up your flavor game and have the cleanest crawfish you've ever tasted, then you purge them.
Keep them alive for 12-24 hours and drain/change the water every 4 hours or so.
You'll need an air pump because they take up a lot of O2.
It's just one extra step. Not necessary, however if you have the time and the equipment, I personally think it's worth it.
Definitely worth it. I've done up mud bugs fresh and that's kind of rough. The difference in purged bugs is well worth it
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Ok, I can explain. You know what we call the mud vein in shrimp and crawfish? Well it's a part of the digestive track to put it nicely. With shrimp it's easy to remove because its on the outside of the meat. Crawfish it's a bit harder because it's kind of imbedded into the meat.
By all means you can eat shrimp or crawfish with the mud vein intact. It barely changes the flavor. But if you wanna up your flavor game and have the cleanest crawfish you've ever tasted, then you purge them.
Keep them alive for 12-24 hours and drain/change the water every 4 hours or so.
You'll need an air pump because they take up a lot of O2.
It's just one extra step. Not necessary, however if you have the time and the equipment, I personally think it's worth it.
Does it do anything to put cornmeal in the water for them to eat and flush out their pooper?
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Ok, I can explain. You know what we call the mud vein in shrimp and crawfish? Well it's a part of the digestive track to put it nicely. With shrimp it's easy to remove because its on the outside of the meat. Crawfish it's a bit harder because it's kind of imbedded into the meat.
By all means you can eat shrimp or crawfish with the mud vein intact. It barely changes the flavor. But if you wanna up your flavor game and have the cleanest crawfish you've ever tasted, then you purge them.
Keep them alive for 12-24 hours and drain/change the water every 4 hours or so.
You'll need an air pump because they take up a lot of O2.
It's just one extra step. Not necessary, however if you have the time and the equipment, I personally think it's worth it.
At the very minimum I place my catch on ice on the way home (make sure the melted ice water will drain out). Then, before cooking, pour them into a bucket of water, add salt and stir them around for 5 minutes or so. It's supposed make them vomit a great amount of waste out of their bodies. It won't be as super duper clean as keeping them alive for a day but it's better than not doing anything at all, which I have done and it's not recommended.
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Whitenuckles boil looks good!
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Finally found some good ones, its been slow so far this year for us, untill....
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Tried a new way of purging too...closed the tunnels shut with zip ties and let them soak lakeside for 24+ hours. All came out fairly clean.
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Wow, that’s a good one. Nice dark claws on that sucker. You’re on the board :tup: !
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Boil turned out good too...always amazed how big the claws get on the mosters...the biggest claws were 3+ inches.
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Wow, that’s a good one. Nice dark claws on that sucker. You’re on the board :tup: !
Oh yeah defiantly an old warrior.
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When does the crawdad rut start? That’s when the big ones are out.
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When does the crawdad rut start? That’s when the big ones are out.
Not real sure but it does not matter because I did not get drawn for the rut tag. :chuckle:
In all seriousness, have you had any luck hunting crawdads yet Ben?
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Water is to cold
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Finally found some good ones, its been slow so far this year for us, untill....
That is a beast!
I bet the claw meat was great! One thing I noticed after making that paella. I had like 50 pieces of tail meat (kept all the shells for stock) and left a few 7 inches whole as a garnish. But I think the claw meat tastes better than the tail meat. I mean we are splitting hairs here, both taste great. But my personal vote would go to the claw meat.
Which is surprising because if I'm eating dungeness, I think the legs taste best, then the honeycomb body meat, then last is the claw meat. The muscle fibers go the opposite way in claw meat in dungeness compared to the leg meat.
Am I just crazy? Anyone else notice this?
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Finally found some good ones, its been slow so far this year for us, untill....
That is a beast!
I bet the claw meat was great! One thing I noticed after making that paella. I had like 50 pieces of tail meat (kept all the shells for stock) and left a few 7 inches whole as a garnish. But I think the claw meat tastes better than the tail meat. I mean we are splitting hairs here, both taste great. But my personal vote would go to the claw meat.
Which is surprising because if I'm eating dungeness, I think the legs taste best, then the honeycomb body meat, then last is the claw meat. The muscle fibers go the opposite way in claw meat in dungeness compared to the leg meat.
Am I just crazy? Anyone else notice this?
I actually prefer the tail meat texture wise over the claw meat but my son thinks otherwise, he is the big claw eater in our family. Taste is really hard to discern between the two but I do think the claw meat is a bit sweeter. I have noticed the tail size between the 7 inchers and 9 inchers are not that different proportion wise but the claws can be three times the size on the nine incher.
My son spotted a huge claw sticking out of a hollow log while we were scouting and I dove in pulled it out but it was just the claw, it was 4 1/2" on the ruler, regret not getting a picture. I set a trap at the entrance of that log for three days and never caught that one. Probably got eaten by something is why we found the claw.
Agree with you on the Dungeness meat I prefer the big leg sections the best, then claw meat and body meat after that. Although, the first section of claw meat is comparable to the leg meat IMO.
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Interesting observation about tail/claw proportion size.
Some of us haven't had the opportunity to catch 9 inchers yet. Ha.
Super Jealous.
Keep up the good work!
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I spend quite a bit of time in the Chelan / Manson area. Without disclosing any honey holes, are there any places around here where a newbie bug hunter could find a few?
Thanks!
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I spend quite a bit of time in the Chelan / Manson area. Without disclosing any honey holes, are there any places around here where a newbie bug hunter could find a few?
Thanks!
I have not fished those areas before but I do know East of the Cascades is better for Crawdad numbers and size, so you have that going for ya. This is just my personal experience.
Good Luck...
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Anybody have success in lake Roosevelt? Above the Spokane confluence?
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Camping last weekend
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Looks great, jagermiester! :EAT:
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My daughter helped me do the boil.
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nice looking boil jagermiester!
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Crawfish recipe experimentation. Crawfish Andouille sausage corn dog. And crawfish Vietnamese salad roll.
Both were good.
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Caught a few.
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I wanted a snack while waiting for most of the crawfish to purge the full 24 hours. So I tried something new.
Crawfish Hush Puppies and a Remoulade sauce for dipping. It was really good.
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And, this meal took a while. Planned it a few months ago. Playing the slow game.....
Crawfish boil from scratch. Yukon Golds and Red Onions. Then Venison/Pork smoked country sausage. Then a healthy helping of crawfish. Only thing that could have made it better was if I was eating it while camping.....
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Making me hungry! Well done! :drool:
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Tried this past week under some docks in south lake union without any luck using a home made trap and a variety of bait (catfood or tuna or hot dog). Tried depths from 15ft at first to about 2-3 ft. Any advice for a newbie? Only tried SLU due to closeness of location. Planning to try lake washington or possibly farther east if I can find the time.
Cheers
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I am admittedly not good at catching these things and am on the 'open for suggestions' bandwagon. I threw a cage trap with entrances at both sides out off the dock with a bbq'd hot dog in it a couple weekends ago overnight. Pulled the trap in the morning, no crawdads but there was maybe only half an inch of the hot dog left and that little piece was well chewed. Is it possible they all climbed out somehow?
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Tried this past week under some docks in south lake union without any luck using a home made trap and a variety of bait (catfood or tuna or hot dog). Tried depths from 15ft at first to about 2-3 ft. Any advice for a newbie? Only tried SLU due to closeness of location. Planning to try lake washington or possibly farther east if I can find the time.
Cheers
Never fished these areas so I have no infomation but I do know Lake Washington has a successful commercial fishery for crawdads.
With that being said areas with heavy weed growth usually are not good fishing areas. Whereas, open areas with a lot of structure like big rocks or concrete debris will usually hold good numbers of crawdads. Also crawdads will hang out in areas like points and outwashes where currents drift food to them.
The bait I have found that works the best for me is fresh fish. I catch trout, perch or whatever is avaliable in the lake and use the fillet, I just hang it in the trap. In areas where there are a lot of crawdads a bait bag is a must or the crawdads will eat all the bait and leave or when they get full.
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Never fished these areas so I have no infomation but I do know Lake Washington has a successful commercial fishery for crawdads.
With that being said areas with heavy weed growth usually are not good fishing areas. Whereas, open areas with a lot of structure like big rocks or concrete debris will usually hold good numbers of crawdads. Also crawdads will hang out in areas like points and outwashes where currents drift food to them.
The bait I have found that works the best for me is fresh fish. I catch trout, perch or whatever is avaliable in the lake and use the fillet, I just hang it in the trap. In areas where there are a lot of crawdads a bait bag is a must or the crawdads will eat all the bait and leave or when they get full.
Thanks for the advice. Found some Lake Washington spots that fit that sort of description that I am going to try.
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About three weeks left anyone doing some fall trapping?
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Elk steak, vegies from the garden and a couple bugs
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Awesome Lewy!
Nothing better than a plate full of what you raised, caught and shot.
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:tup: The kids get a kick out of it
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:tup: The kids get a kick out of it
:tup: Jim Shockey might add now that's a Natural plate of fine food!
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Found a few more.
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What a haul! :tup:
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Really!! You guys kill me!!! You win... :( ... good job though :tup:
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I just stumbled across this thread. Those are some fine looking crawdads, just not what I'm used to in Louisiana. Are there some other Cajuns on here?
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Well that's a wrap for the season.
Kind of sparse for entries this year but some nice crawdads none the less, merkaba93 you win with a nice 7¾” incher! PM inbound
I will get the boil poll up later today but my gut is telling me merkaba93 might have this in the bag too! :tup:
Thanks all for sharing this year...such a great pastime for all ages.
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Poll is up...get your votes in!
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I didn't realize Washington had that many crawdad enthusiast's!
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Crawfish Paella
After you get a batch of crawfish, cook and shell 25-50 of them reserving the tail meat. Leave 3-5 of the biggest ones whole to use as a garnish (optional). Use the shells of the others to make a seafood stock, make at least 5 cups of this stock.
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
3 teaspoons paprika
1/4 cup peas
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cup calaspara or bomba rice (can usually find this in nice grocery stores, but if you need to amazon always works)
1/2 teaspoon saffron
5 cups seafood stock
1 cup dry white wine
Parsley diced
Lemon sliced into disks
Heat grill on medium. On your stove or side burner of your grill toast saffron in small pot for 2 min. Add 3 cups broth and wine bring to boil then keep warm. Also in a separate pot keep remaining 2 cups plain broth warm. Place paella pan on grill and heat. Add olive oil and saute onion for 3 min. Stir in tomatoes for and cook for 8 min. Add garlic peas paprika and salt for 30 seconds. Stir in rice until evenly coated and pat out level. Pour hot saffron liquid over rice. Cook for 12 min. Then pour plain broth so rice is just covered add crawfish tails around the pan. Cover grill and cook for another 10 min. Remove and let stand for 5 min. Garnish with parsley and lemon.
This recipe was made with a 16 in pan in mind. Works well for 2-4 people.
https://smile.amazon.com/Garcima-16-Inch-Enameled-Steel-Paella/dp/B000VX2036/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1541170132&sr=1-1&keywords=garcima+pan+16&dpID=31t%252BGk-LO2L&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
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Crawfish hushpuppies.
In a large bowl mix
3/4 cups medium or fine grind cornmeal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Then add in
3/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
Whisk for about 5 seconds.
Fold in diced tail and claw meat from about 5-10 crawfish and 2 diced green onions.
Fry in veg or peanut oil at 350 until golden brown.
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Thanks for sharing your recipes merkaba93 :hello:
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:yeah:
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These two were the hits of the season. Of the new recipes i was working on anyway. I'll be making them again for sure. If ya got the time and want to do something different with your crawfish I definitely recommend giving it a try.
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merkaba93 wins the boil poll, good job and some great dishes you shared thanks!
Prizes will be sent out...
Thanks everyone for another fun year.
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There were some big crawdads this year. Water was good and very little pressure this summer. Next year is gonna be a 12”er for sure.
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I enjoy a good crawdad feed like the rest of you. I have a place that I visit once per summer and catch enough to enjoy through out the winter. Here is one day of the three we go.
(http://)
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I enjoy a good crawdad feed like the rest of you. I have a place that I visit once per summer and catch enough to enjoy through out the winter. Here is one day of the three we go.
(http://)
Wow! Impressive.
What kind of crawfish are those?
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I do not know my crawdad varieties... so I don't have a clue. They taste good that is for sure.
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Those look like Rusty's to me with the bumps on the claws.
Plus that is quite a haul!
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Those look like Rusty's to me with the bumps on the claws.
Plus that is quite a haul!
I was looking at the claws and definitely knew they weren't signals.
Didn't look like red swamp either.
I've only seen Rustys alive, not cooked so I wasn't sure. I think you're right!!!
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Congrats to all entries! Some great pics this year. Boy where did the year go?
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No need to "purge" crawdads. While alive and whole, grab and twist the center "fin" - at the end of the tail - 90 degrees and pull. Do this just before cooking. Vein comes out easy 99% of the time.
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No need to "purge" crawdads. While alive and whole, grab and twist the center "fin" - at the end of the tail - 90 degrees and pull. Do this just before cooking. Vein comes out easy 99% of the time.
I have never heard of this but I'm gonna give it a try this yr.
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Vein comes out the same way after cooked. Learned this from Bob hansler on you tube center fin grab twist side to side and pull works great
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Tip- I’m heading out to Westport next weekend for fishing. Is there any crawfish near by?
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What kind of pots do you use? I know you can only have 5 and how long do you soak?
Do you use rot cord? I’m in spokane and looking to get some crawfish I was also wondering if you can get them on a trot line like crabs?
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I bought my pots at Bass Pro. While they didn't come with rot cord I set mine up that way to be in compliance with the law. Soak time is all dependent on how many crawfish are in the area. I've soaked some over night and they have had plenty in there while other over night soaks I've had them clean me out and leave the pot. My honey hole I can soak for 4 hours and there are so many in there that they are hanging on the outside of the pot waiting to get in. Good luck & have fun!
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Anybody doing any good yet this year? Me and the kids checked out a new spot this morning after a night soak got a few nice sized ones for my area!
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Was supposed to be hitting right now but WA Parks cancelled our camping reservation. Will be setting pots later in August.
Good luck everyone.
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Seasons is getting near, can we update this thread to 2021 crawdad mania?
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Yeah that !
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🤔
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Come on guys it's time to soak them pots! Did a test run in my local river last night with roadkill gray squirrel for bait, pleasantly surprised with a dozen, 11 of them keepers. Big one of the day at 5 1/2"(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210725/44fe607100ccc246ebed56c4d27f2042.jpg)
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mmm mm tasty with a dribble of butter!(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210725/65219f1f8e349a177cfac1d457dd50fa.jpg)
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Nice...way to keep it going. I see true.hog craws......like.hog craw big pappy that feeds on smallies, not.the other way around, often while swimming. I gotta grab a few!
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Nice score Norman! :whoo: