Crawfish Days….Boil & Lemon Cream Pasta…..

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civilsmoker

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Jan 27, 2015
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It’s been crawfishing time in the high Idaho Mountains!!!!!

Didn’t get any pics but had a quick catch day so tossed the craws in a boil pot (crab boil oil, old bay, vinegar, and a bunch of other spices) with some baby spuds, corn, and shrimp……plated with a grilled prime NY and topped with some herbed butter….. just yum!
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Money shot on the timber china!…… man this was good!
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So been doing some experimenting on how to increase the catch in less pot time….. so made up a whole fleet of pots……I designed these pots to have 4 entrance points to increase the opportunity for a catch without having the craws not competing……
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I didn’t get them in the pic but also made up a few more tub traps “minis” so we have 9 traps in all…..going to make up 6 more mini tubes so we have a total of 15 pots…….

The new trap in action!!!!!!
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Did some experimenting with depth of pot and yield and found at this particular fishery the sweet spot is 30-35 feet vs the 10-15 feet most recommend……….

FYI at 30ft this is the type of craws that come to eat…… just shy of a 4” claw!!!!!!!!!
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I mean talk about blown away with these monsters!!!
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So scored 44 craws in 2 hours with the 9 traps and 2.5 whole tilapia for bait…..
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In the pot and now being chilled for the fridge and freezer…..
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These babies were from the deeper pot…..
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Next experiment will be running all the traps at 30-38 feet…..last year we ran at 40 ish and scored almost 100 in two traps in 4.5 hours……

Ok now after all that work, the reward……. Tails and claws…..LOOK at the claw meat…..it’s more than the tails!!!!!
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These went into some lemon cream sauce the wife wiped up…..
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Then over some pasta and served with my wife’s Caesar…….
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The money shot!!!!! Talk about home grown flavor town!!!!!
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Oh I will say all the effort the bring these to the table was WORTH IT!!!!
 
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Wow! That looks AWESOME! But those ain't crawfish...those are baby lobsters!!! LOL!!! What a great thread! Congrats on making the spinner!
Thanks swamp! Yea these baby’s were HUGE!
I like the design of your new traps. 40ft. deep...wow! Huge crawfish indeed!!!! those claws dwarf any I have ever seen on a crawfish!
I borrowed the hinged gate from the local shop that makes top shelf traps. Their hinged trap design is patented….

Close up of hinged gate that I made up….it keeps the craws captive but lets babies get out….

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Gate open….
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Just another view…..
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The inside of the pot is “congested” as well so they can’t swim around, ie they get trapped!!!!

Here is my mini tubes…. 7.6 inches by 20 inches…..
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That looks great. Now I'm hungry again.
Thanks Chris! It makes me hungry again posting it!
Never had them but they look awesome! Some baby lobsters I'll go with!

Ryan
These babies are tasty…..a cross between lobster tail and snow crab….. we love them at our house…..hence the fleet of pots to bring them home!!!!!
 
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Those look fantastic! There's got to be somewhere around here that I could try that, but outside of a few farms that are no longer around, I never hear of anyone trapping or raising them. I know that we have them in our lakes and rivers, though, just may not be the numbers and/or size to make people go after them...
 
It’s been crawfishing time in the high Idaho Mountains!!!!!

Didn’t get any pics but had a quick catch day so tossed the craws in a boil pot (crab boil oil, old bay, vinegar, and a bunch of other spices) with some baby spuds, corn, and shrimp……plated with a grilled prime NY and topped with some herbed butter….. just yum!
View attachment 704510
Money shot on the timber china!…… man this was good!
View attachment 704509

So been doing some experimenting on how to increase the catch in less pot time….. so made up a whole fleet of pots……I designed these pots to have 4 entrance points to increase the opportunity for a catch without having the craws not competing……
View attachment 704511
I didn’t get them in the pic but also made up a few more tub traps “minis” so we have 9 traps in all…..going to make up 6 more mini tubes so we have a total of 15 pots…….

The new trap in action!!!!!!
View attachment 704512
Did some experimenting with depth of pot and yield and found at this particular fishery the sweet spot is 30-35 feet vs the 10-15 feet most recommend……….

FYI at 30ft this is the type of craws that come to eat…… just shy of a 4” claw!!!!!!!!!
View attachment 704513
I mean talk about blown away with these monsters!!!
View attachment 704514
So scored 44 craws in 2 hours with the 9 traps and 2.5 whole tilapia for bait…..
View attachment 704515
In the pot and now being chilled for the fridge and freezer…..
View attachment 704516
These babies were from the deeper pot…..
View attachment 704517
Next experiment will be running all the traps at 30-38 feet…..last year we ran at 40 ish and scored almost 100 in two traps in 4.5 hours……

Ok now after all that work, the reward……. Tails and claws…..LOOK at the claw meat…..it’s more than the tails!!!!!
View attachment 704518
These went into some lemon cream sauce the wife willed up…..
View attachment 704519
Then over some pasta and served with my wife’s Caesar…….
View attachment 704520
The money shot!!!!! Talk about home grown flavor town!!!!!
View attachment 704521

Oh I will say all the effort the bring these to the table was WORTH IT!!!!
Wow! Just a whole lot of deliciousness!
 
Very well thought out design on those traps....
Thanks swamp! I nerded out watching vids of craws and there interaction and then looked and hundreds is crab trap designs to get ideas is maximizing entrance points and keeping the bait front and center and close enough keep them encouraged to go after!
Wow just Wow! Pretty awesome. I will pull up to that table anytime.
Thanks Brian! It’s a sharing kind of meal for sure!
Those look fantastic! There's got to be somewhere around here that I could try that, but outside of a few farms that are no longer around, I never hear of anyone trapping or raising them. I know that we have them in our lakes and rivers, though, just may not be the numbers and/or size to make people go after them...
Many thanks GS. You can get very economical traps to try. If your lakes and rivers have them then it’s likely the population is very good as well. There isn’t a supper strong commercial side of them so it’s not surprising it’s not common. The tick is to use a white fish, put cuts through the skin to release the oils and add a gill section to each trap. The head section is the money maker for bait. Oh and the fresher the better!
Wow! Just a whole lot of deliciousness!
Thanks WRat! It’s full flavor but also very rewarding as it home caught!
 
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Awesome Civil, meal fit for a King! I’d be all over that plate. Just looks phenomenal!

Nice traps as well. I was seeing that Guns and Gear in IF is having a sale Wednesday only for $30 off the Crayster traps.

We are headed out this afternoon to soak a couple traps for overnight.
 
That lemon cream sauce dish is speaking to me. Looks fantastic Civil.

Point for sure
Chris

We don't have any crawfish in our waters, and the only ones I can buy are farm raised from some Asian country.
 
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Awesome Civil, meal fit for a King! I’d be all over that plate. Just looks phenomenal!

Nice traps as well. I was seeing that Guns and Gear in IF is having a sale Wednesday only for $30 off the Crayster traps.

We are headed out this afternoon to soak a couple traps for overnight.
Many thanks Rafter!!!

Not counting my time I’m about $25 per traps in materials but these things will last forever!

Good luck and you will have to report back. Be sure to be in a rocky area!
 
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That lemon cream sauce dish is speaking to me. Looks fantastic Civil.

Point for sure
Chris

We don't have any crawfish in our waters, and the only ones I can buy are farm raised from some Asian country.
Thanks Chris, I have posted the lemon cream sauce process many times. My wife does a roux and then builds the flavors from there. It is magic for many many things!

We are lucky these particular crawfish don’t kill all the fishing as such but they are tasty particularly because of the clean water they come from. I call it passive fishing these days……never come home empty handed….
 
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That lemon cream sauce dish is speaking to me. Looks fantastic Civil.

Point for sure
Chris

We don't have any crawfish in our waters, and the only ones I can buy are farm raised from some Asian country.
yeah none down here, only place I can get them is the aquarium section of the pet stores. I have kept them over the years, but they are escape artists in the tank, then the cat gets them...lol
 
yeah none down here, only place I can get them is the aquarium section of the pet stores. I have kept them over the years, but they are escape artists in the tank, then the cat gets them...lol
When I had my fish tanks running. I bought what the store called a blue lobster. I'm pretty sure it was just a crawfish injected with a blue dye, and your right. It could escape with ease.

Chris
 
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