The great Crayfish hunt report....

[Greenheart]

Having bought some Crayfish traps on evilbay last year which I had still not tried out. And having been meaning to meet up with Fullcreel to try them out for some time, I eventually arranged with Fullcreel to meet up yesterday evening. I met up with Fullcreel & his charming friend Badgergirl around 7pm & we set off for a local stream that fullcreel assured me contained the invasive alien species of Signal Crayfish. We arrived at the waterside about 7.30 to find what is usually a small gently flowing stream, flowing somewhat faster than normal & with very muddy coloured water. Not to be deterred, we set off downstream to look for some suitable slack water in which to place my three traps. I'd brought along a variety of baits including some very smelly German sausage, Monster Crab pellets, Frikadelle's & a chopped up mackerel. We soon found a likely looking spot where Fullcreel had seen other people setting traps in the past, baited our traps & placed them in the stream. I had been expecting to leave the traps in overnight, but Fullcreel said that other people usually only left their traps in for about 45 minutes. So we went for a stroll downstream to look for some likely looking spots for some normal fishing. I was keen to see if it was possible to do some Fly fishing for the resident Brown Trout. I'd read an article in Trout & Salmon fisherman magazine by the well known game angler Jon Beer, who said it was one of his favourite Trout streams. Fullcreel had brought along a small telescopic rod & a few worms, so we tried these to see what was biting. Sadly, the only two fish that were hooked, managed to free themselves before we could get a look at them. But having spotted some fishy looking spots, I'm quite keen to try wetting a fly there. By about 8.30, it was starting to get dark, so we headed back up-stream to see what, if anything, our traps would produce. I'd thought we would be lucky to catch 2 or 3 Crays, but when we pulled in the first trap, I was quite shocked to discover it was stuffed full of them. The second trap only contained three, but the third trap was also full & in only one hour, we had a good bucketfull.
I've also been looking into the legal aspects of what we had been doing & it appears we were breaking the law. Sadly, although this is an alien species which has virtually wiped out our native species & is creating havoc on our fisheries, getting permission to set traps for them is almost impossible. As with most other forms of fishery management, our current Government hav'ent got a clue... The following is a quote from Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall's excellent book, The River Cottage Fish Book, with which I heartily agree......

Of course, by catching, cooking & eating them without all the form filling, you would be breaking the rules. But as long as you don't harm other animals, you would be doing you bit for the conservation of our poor beleaguered native Crayfish...and experiencing some of the most delicious freshwater crustaceans. This is the kind of civil disobedience we feel entitled to recommend!

Hopefully I shall be doing my bit towards the conservation of the native White Clawed Crafish tomorrow lunchtime with the aid of some Garlic butter & fresh salad...

[pingu]

enjoy mate

looks a fair feast there

dave

[fishypaul]

yummy ! looks good ian

[fullcreel]

That eve was quite fun. A fair haul, shame the middle trap was not so lucky, but perhaps some weights to ensure it stays on the steam bed would wok. The kind of thing we used to use on our keep nets to keep them steady in the river current, esp when boats were about.
Am more than happy to guide other who are keen on civel disobedience.

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Amazing

Never tried crayfish Mmmmm might have a go

Wonder if they would be good smoothound bait ??

[fullcreel]

For anyone interested here is a link to badgergirls band
www.myspace.com/slovakiaband
I think they're pretty good, but they are friends of mine so I'm a bit biased.

[Greenheart]

For those who are interested in trying Crayfish & are not sure what to do with them..... I left them in a tank of clean water for 24 hours to purge through. Then I brought a large pan of water to the boil, added plenty of salt & dropped them in. Let the water come back to the boil & cook for five minutes. Rinse the Crayfish under cold water & peel them immediately, otherwise it's difficult to peel them. The edible parts are the tails & don't forget the larger claws which also contain a lot of meat. To crack these, use a pair of nut crackers or a small hammer. When you peel the tail, make sure you remove the little black line that runs along the back of the Crayfish under it's shell. This is the intestine. The are various ways to serve them. You can roll them in a small peice of streaky bacon. Put them on skewers like Kebabs & Barbecue them. Or they can be briefly stirfried in garlic butter. Or just serve them with Garlic mayonaise or Seafood dressing on a bed of lettuce or advocado as you would a prawn salad. Serve with a good dry white wine.

[Greenheart]

Just found this link to a site full of Crayfish recipes. Mouthwatering stuff

http://www.utahdiving.com/recipes.htm#50

[Banana Steve]

Save me some Ian

[Greenheart]

Originally Posted by fullcreel

For anyone interested here is a link to badgergirls band
www.myspace.com/slovakiaband
I think they're pretty good, but they are friends of mine so I'm a bit biased.

Very good music & well worth a listen.... Can you get me an autographed CD Matt?