another crayfish catching morning

[stubby]

so, had arranged with bakerboy to meet up at the river/hertford

anyhow, terry had thought about calling me to cancel, as it was raining cats and dogs, but too late, I had been up with the larks and was already on route

 

we arrived around 10am, and after a quick coffee and chat, took the bicycle wheels in my newly made carrier (thanks to the wife)upto the river and set up, getting the nets in by 10.30

 

 

 

a friend gave us around 15 old advertising banners, which we used as covers for shed roofs etc, and now crayfish net bags

 

anyway, I made a joke that we needed to catch at least 120 in the first hour, using all eight og my wheel nets, terry commented that his grandson's record was 135 in an hour back at the end of september

 

well exactly an hour later, we had caught 141 and also beating my record of 7 in one net, by doing an 8

 

after this we lost count as we walked up and down, lifting the nets one after the other, finishing on the second hour

 

 

 

once we had loading the 4x4 up and said our goodbyes, in was back home for a final count up and sort out, my missus has a couple of pictures on her phone not downloaded yet, of one of the biggest crays we have seen yet, posing with me and terry

 

we sorted them out, and re counted, the second hour we therefore caught 110 giving us a total of 251 crayfish in 2 hours

 

sorted in piles, Ive started freezer around 120, another 120 are being kept alive, just chilled, for using later in week, and the other few big un's, are going on the boil later tonight, as on arriving home, our neighbour had taken in a parcel for me, my big boiling pot from the usa, its not as big as I hoped, only 22 quarts, but it's a vast improvement on what we had on offer over here, am just awaiting a propagne burner to arrive, and then I'll be trying it the american way, of a proper crawfish boil, but probably instead of using CAJUN powder in the boil, will try reggae reggae sauce

 

Ill be on the look out for even bigger of this

 

and heres a few of the big ones

 

 

 

thanks again to bakerboy, another great day out, hopefully more to follow next year,

pm me your brothers name/address and I'll get some netting posted to him

[Spaniel]

nice write up, but what do they taste like

[stubby]

nice write up, but what do they taste like

 

 

between prawn and lobster, or I could just say, great

[holly]

nice write up, but what do they taste like

lidl normally sell the tails in brine like you get prawns but you can not beat the fresh caught ones

nice to be catching them so late in the year . i wonder what the chance of getting them closer to christmas is ?

would certainly make a different starter for christmas day

[bakerboy]

I had another great day with Stubby (Steve) it is not often I have to babysit a 40+ year old , stop running, stand still. wait a minute, give us a chance, are just some of the shouts I had to make.

The reply was, I have it in mind to catch 120 in 1 hour, and that is what I am going to do what is the record ?

I told Steve it was 138 by my grandson in 1 hour using 4 nets, I also said he was only 9 years old , I will still beat him said Steve, and he duly done so.

Steve has gone industrial not only in the catching (fantastic home made nets) but also in the cooking of them, with his new boiler from the States.

 

Once again the Crayfish we pulled out were big, maybe next time we will go by weight rather than quantity.

 

Steve and his wife are great company, quiet how she puts up with him I doo not know, she must be a Saint.

 

apologies to ME for another Crayfish thread

[bakerboy]

so, had arranged with bakerboy to meet up at the river/hertford

anyhow, terry had thought about calling me to cancel, as it was raining cats and dogs, but too late, I had been up with the larks and was already on route

 

we arrived around 10am, and after a quick coffee and chat, took the bicycle wheels in my newly made carrier (thanks to the wife)upto the river and set up, getting the nets in by 10.30

 

 

 

a friend gave us around 15 old advertising banners, which we used as covers for shed roofs etc, and now crayfish net bags

 

anyway, I made a joke that we needed to catch at least 120 in the first hour, using all eight og my wheel nets, terry commented that his grandson's record was 135 in an hour back at the end of september

 

well exactly an hour later, we had caught 141 and also beating my record of 7 in one net, by doing an 8

 

after this we lost count as we walked up and down, lifting the nets one after the other, finishing on the second hour

 

 

 

once we had loading the 4x4 up and said our goodbyes, in was back home for a final count up and sort out, my missus has a couple of pictures on her phone not downloaded yet, of one of the biggest crays we have seen yet, posing with me and terry

 

we sorted them out, and re counted, the second hour we therefore caught 110 giving us a total of 251 crayfish in 2 hours

 

sorted in piles, Ive started freezer around 120, another 120 are being kept alive, just chilled, for using later in week, and the other few big un's, are going on the boil later tonight, as on arriving home, our neighbour had taken in a parcel for me, my big boiling pot from the usa, its not as big as I hoped, only 22 quarts, but it's a vast improvement on what we had on offer over here, am just awaiting a propagne burner to arrive, and then I'll be trying it the american way, of a proper crawfish boil, but probably instead of using CAJUN powder in the boil, will try reggae reggae sauce

 

Ill be on the look out for even bigger of this

 

and heres a few of the big ones

 

 

 

thanks again to bakerboy, another great day out, hopefully more to follow next year,

pm me your brothers name/address and I'll get some netting posted to him

 

PM sent with address

[Spaniel]

between prawn and lobster, or I could just say, great

 

wow that sounds good... got to admit i like all my fish type food fresh, and this sounds like i need to give it ago at some point

[M.I.A]

wow that sounds good... got to admit i like all my fish type food fresh, and this sounds like i need to give it ago at some point

 

 

I dont normally like fishy foods but crays are great

 

Brilliant post, was a good read

[stubby]

I'll add, we thought that as were still waiting on the propagne gas burner, so we can do all this in the garden, that we'd try the new king kooker pot on our oven top/electric, well 3 hours later on the highest setting, we were still waiting for the water to boil, ended up doing it in a small saucepan, the big pan is deffo only for the gas ring/garden

[PhilR]

Use an electric kettle to boil the water first, transfer to the container and put heat under it, this'll keep the water boiling - then keep boiling the kettle and topping up the container to the desired level.

[stubby]

Use an electric kettle to boil the water first, transfer to the container and put heat under it, this'll keep the water boiling - then keep boiling the kettle and topping up the container to the desired level.

 

 

that was the whole point in ordering the american boiling bot, and getting a gas bottle and gas ring, doing it in the garden, means instant heat, a rolling boil, and the ability to boil perhaps 20 -25 crays at a time

 

rather than 5 at a time in the way you describe above

 

what amazes me is, pot from usa to uk 6 days

burner from slough to grays,essex 6 days and still waiting

[PhilR]

When you get your gas ring operating I'd be interested to know how long it takes to get the 22 quarts (5.5 gallons)of water in your American pot to a rolling boil.

[stubby]

the big daddy

 

 

 

 

[bakerboy]

the big daddy

 

 

 

 

To give you an idea on size, the key is 3.25" long and that was the lenght of the claw, add to that another 1.5" maybe a little more the arm from body to claw this would give a total span, including the body (approx 1")of 10" maybe a little more.

 

There will be some good claw meat on that one.

[stubby]

There will be some good claw meat on that one.

 

there was, samm ate it last night,

[Cosd]

Hey stubby

How do keep them alive for later in the week?

I lost a fair few just keeping them over night.

 

 

Cos

[stubby]

Hey stubby

How do keep them alive for later in the week?

I lost a fair few just keeping them over night.

 

 

Cos

 

sorry for the late reply, I think most people are pushed into thinking, that because they were caught from a river bed, that they need purging/keeping in a bucket of water, trouble is, unless its alot of water, or continuous running, the crayfish use up the oxygen very quickly and DROWN, so, we use old pillow case's, dunk in water and put in bottom of container, place crayfish on top and put a lid on with air holes, as the ******* can and will climb out if shallow trays

I kept 84 like this for four days, piled on top of each other, only lost around 10,

some that I put in the chest freezer for later, were still alive 19 hours later :o

 

I think keeping them in this damp condition, is a good enough way of purging, as they are not feeding, on cooking, I simply place into a water filled container, add a good amount of salt, which makes them up-chuck, cleaning out last little bits, swish about in water, transfer to another water filled bucket via the pot's sieve, one last rinse then into the boiling pot, although the claw meat is good to eat, I'd only bother doing it on the really big one's, far easier just shelling and eating tails, and we seem to have a never ending supply at moment

 

just watch a few utube clips on cajun crawfish boiling

 

we do still remove the intestine tract from tails before eating, but can be done so quickly

Edited December 5, 2011 by stubby

[Teal]

The best place to keep crayfish is in the bath, I've kept more than a hundred in there. Be warned though they can climb the plug chain

[stubby]

The best place to keep crayfish is in the bath, I've kept more than a hundred in there. Be warned though they can climb the plug chain

my missus puts up with lots of stuff, but I reckon she'd cut something off if I did that

[bakerboy]

my missus puts up with lots of stuff, but I reckon she'd cut something off if I did that

Has she got enough Cider Batter left for it? Stubby tails dipped in Cider Batter

[stubby]

Has she got enough Cider Batter left for it? Stubby tails dipped in Cider Batter

 

thankfully she loves me too much to batter them

 

 

but more battered tails for tea tonight

 

 

[Thunderbird]

That looks great.

[bakerboy]

My brother went today to test his new nets, made with the netting sent by Steve "stubby", 1 hour not a single Crayfish.

Nothing to do with the net, just the temperature now.

Edited December 6, 2011 by bakerboy

[stubby]

My brother went today to test his new nets, made with the netting sent by Steve "stubby", 1 hour not a single Crayfish.

Nothing to do with the net, just the temperature now.

 

what bait was he using terry?

Ive ordered a set of scales and measure for next year crayathon

although any meat from the fridge can be used, I think chopped up rabbit is good because of the blood released into the water, acting as an attractant

ask if he will come out again when I pop over for one last try...

Edited December 7, 2011 by stubby

[bakerboy]

what bait was he using terry?

Ive ordered a set of scales and measure for next year crayathon

although any meat from the fridge can be used, I think chopped up rabbit is good because of the blood released into the water, acting as an attractant

ask if he will come out again when I pop over for one last try...

 

Alan works nights, so let me know and I will come along with him.

Cheers

 

terry