Crawfish, crawdads, crayfish, mudbugs, mountain lobsters, or whatever you choose to call them, are disgusting to some and a delicacy for others. If you can’t imagine missing a low country boil, this is the article for you.
Believe it or not, these tasty little critters can be caught by anyone during certain seasons like any other edible creature. But, it can be a tricky business. So, let’s go over the ins and outs of catching your own tasty meal.
The best time for catching crawfish
Crawfish are nocturnal creatures, meaning that they tend to do the majority of their moving around at night. Therefore, it is recommended to fish for them in the evening and night time.
Also, they are much more active in the warmer months, and it is easier to get more. It isn’t impossible to fish for crawfish all year round, however the yield will be much higher during the warmest months of the year.
Where should you expect to find them
Crawfish are strictly freshwater crustaceans. They can be found in lakes, ponds, and rivers and they prefer to be in areas with shallower water and plenty of rocks and greenery to hide themselves.
So, search the banks and places with rocks and such in the water, and warmer water is always a bonus to them.
The best method for catching crawfish
The best method for catching large amounts of crawfish is by the use of traps. Given that they are more active at night, lots of people prefer to use what are known as close in traps that have a one way funnel for the crawfish to enter into, and leave the traps overnight to trap as many as possible.
Under the right circumstances, some people catch as much as 20 pounds of crawfish in a single trap with the overnight trap method. That will definitely make for some fine eating boiled up just right.
What can you do with crawfish besides eating them?
Nobody wants to eat the same meal every day of their lives. So, crawfish every night isn’t an option. One thing that you may not know about crawfish is that we aren’t the only ones who find them tasty; so do bass.
Lots of bass fishermen will use live crawfish or even crawfish lures that mimic the look and movement of real crawfish to attract larger bass to bite their hook. Bass have the same natural habitat as crawfish and are the perfect size for a large mouth dinner, so it only makes sense that they would be a good bait for catching the bigger bass you want to reel in.
Tiny, tasty, useful: Swamp bugs
Whether you catch them to make them into a delicious meal or you use them to catch a different delicious meal, crawfish should not be overlooked in the food chain. Not only are they an abundant source for tasty meat, they can be a sort of secret weapon in catching the biggest of bass.
Don’t let the look of these miniature lobster looking critters scare you off from them. It is a meal that I highly recommend everyone who isn’t allergic to give a try. Maybe you hate it and never eat them again, maybe you discover your new favorite food. Who knows if you don’t give it a try?
If nothing else, there may come a time when we have to find our own food, and being familiar with such an abundant and easy to get food source would be great knowledge to have. Knowledge is power, especially when it involves basic necessities of life.
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