Crawfish anyone?

bowriter

Well-Known Member
R.I.P.
Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
42,132
Location
Lebanon,TN USA
I cught me a sculpin on the Caney, once.

CaneyForkFish.jpg


And I have been know to boil a crawperch or two. Use to do it couple times a month.

AA-OLDPIC2.jpg
 

catman529

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2010
Messages
29,472
Location
Franklin TN
Question... will those wire mesh minnow traps at academy work for crawdads? I assume they would and want to get one or two...
 

bowriter

Well-Known Member
R.I.P.
Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
42,132
Location
Lebanon,TN USA
For creek dad, hard to beat a minnow seine. I reckon the minnow traps will work if the opening is big enough. Just bait it with beef melt or chicken necks.
 

Trapper John

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 13, 1999
Messages
12,162
Location
Murfreesboro,TN
$3 a pound live? That's better than I was thinking. Might need to swing by for that. I'm the only one in the family who likes them so at that price I could do some damage.
 

bowriter

Well-Known Member
R.I.P.
Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
42,132
Location
Lebanon,TN USA
Depending on the size, $3/lb is a dang good price. We use to figure about 2.5-3 lbs per person, a little less with good corn and taters. But here is the secret.

I use the powder boil, called just LA. Shrimp boil. When you take the crawfish out of the boil and drain them, put them in an old cooler or anything with a tight lid. put in a layer of crawfish and sprinkle with the powdered boil, then another layer etc. Seal the lid for about 45-mintes, then serve. You won't believe the difference it makes. I keep this cooler just for that. It will hold 50-pounds, easy.
forum-4-2.jpg
 

Trapper John

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 13, 1999
Messages
12,162
Location
Murfreesboro,TN
Just talked to the seafood people at the farmer's market. There's a chance they could run out of crawfish this weekend, but will have more next weekend. They have more shrimp than they know what to do with. Fresh caught a day or so ago.

I'm going next week to stock up.
 

bowriter

Well-Known Member
R.I.P.
Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
42,132
Location
Lebanon,TN USA
titansfan2104 said:
Man this sounds good, I gotta try it ..
Bowriter, if I buy about 20 lbs you wanna volunteer to cook em??!!!! Lol

Depends on how far in Smith you live. 20# should feed about 8-10 people. I would enjoy doing a boil on nice spring evening if I don't have to drive too far.

In that first picture, the one with my female, not too attractive money grubbin cousin, we ran the traps in the morning, got about 100# and that is half of them, the first boil. Then we did a second boil combined with a pig roast and some Cajun music. Fed about 40 folks and went until daylight the next day.

I was a heck of a lot younger then. My daughter was about three and Uncle Lloyd just sat and peeled bugs for her. I bet she ate two pounds. That would have been about 82. For three or four days, all we did was fish, run the traps, cook and eat. It was a great vacation from Music City.
 

Headhunter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2000
Messages
6,971
Location
Tennessee
My brother can COOK them. Several Louisiana people have ate the crawfish he cooked and swore my brother must be part coon ass and even they may have been the best they ever had. He may tell me what he does, if so I will share. I know after they boil he dumps a bag or 2 of ice in them to stop them from cooking. 100 percent of the time he cooks them, you break them in half, loosen the first section of the shell and pinch the meat out. Easy to eat. He has several seasonings he puts in them. He was trained by coon asses. 20 lbs would not feed 8-10 of the people that come to our boils. The last batch we got from Steamboat was definitely under $4 a pound and had a bunch of huge mud bugs.
 

bowriter

Well-Known Member
R.I.P.
Joined
Aug 31, 2002
Messages
42,132
Location
Lebanon,TN USA
I am quite familiar witht he Brush Creek area. Most of the folks from back then are gone now. Uncl Lester is still going strong and we usually get together once a year, somewhere and cook something and catch a fish.

We had a camp back in the swamp you usually could only reach by boat. It was built on pilings and was 12-feet off the ground on a large island. We would tie bateaus in a line with all our equipment and dogs etc. and go in and stay for up to two weeks, mostly eating what we killed or caught. One boat would pull two equipment boats. Had crawfish traps and trotlines all over the place. Shot deer, ducks and squirrels in the fall, caught crappie, bream and bass on rod and reel, catfish on the lines and crawperch in the traps. Lived well.

That camp is now a huge bean field. They built flood control canals and drained the swamp. Some of the area is a WMA. Back in the 50's, you could hunt two weeks and never see another person. Now, the road is paved right through the middle of it.
 

Latest posts

Top