Crayfish in Ontario
- Thread starter mmm...chicken
- Start date
I would think that the ones you have there are very similar to the creatures we have in our rivers and lakes here in Southern BC. They are edible, not something I would call tasty, but using prawn traps, they can be caught by the dozens. Cooked much the say way you would a live fresh ocean caught prawn. Much the same texture, just not as tasty, and a lot of fun catchin too.
Crawdad boil
Thanks for the response RMG. I think I have an excuse to use the big jug of Cajun Crawdad boil I picked up in New Orleans. In the headwaters of this river, are some pretty big dudes. On average they're about 2 - 5 inches long from nose to tail, and don't fit in a standard minnow trap. Only the little guys get in. Maybe I need to build a special one.
Thanks for the response RMG. I think I have an excuse to use the big jug of Cajun Crawdad boil I picked up in New Orleans. In the headwaters of this river, are some pretty big dudes. On average they're about 2 - 5 inches long from nose to tail, and don't fit in a standard minnow trap. Only the little guys get in. Maybe I need to build a special one.
- Location
- In the Land of Lies Being Exposed!
Polluted? I'm not sure.
I encountered them while diving years ago, 6-8" of the ones I saw.
(My need for corrective vision on the surface at the time, worked to my advantage underwater as I saw things as the were, not supersized like others would see) Of course my Diving parteners would see Kempenfelt Kelly with these Crawfish...
I encountered them while diving years ago, 6-8" of the ones I saw.
(My need for corrective vision on the surface at the time, worked to my advantage underwater as I saw things as the were, not supersized like others would see) Of course my Diving parteners would see Kempenfelt Kelly with these Crawfish...
- Location
- Oromocto, NB
so do you eat them whole or actually pick out the meat? i would assume if you like a cruncy texture that you'd just plop them whole in your mouth?!?
trubluscrew
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- SW Ontario
If it's anything like the southern Crawdads "Suck head and pinch tail"
Twist it in half (where the tail starts) suck the head end where you twisted it in half. The tail end, pinch it by the tail and suck the meat out, while moving your thumb up the bottom of the tail to get the meat.
I remember trying them when I was younger. Grabbed a couple of 6-8"ers, popped the tails off and cooked the tails like you would a lobster. As I remember they tasted like the bottom of a river.
Maybe I didnt clean them right?
Maybe I didnt clean them right?
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Hmmm... I stocked them in my pond to feed the bass, they have reproduced 'fairly' well despite heavy predation. Since they are not overly soft bodied/shelled I think you'd want to eat them the way trubluescrew suggested.
I think you are allowed to harvest/posess 36 of them ... at least for bait use... I assume it would be the same for eating them.
Try them out. let the rest of us know how they were if you can get any big enough to be worth it. I have the feeling mine would taste exactly as gth says: "...like the bottom of a river" or in my case bottom of a pond.
I think you are allowed to harvest/posess 36 of them ... at least for bait use... I assume it would be the same for eating them.
Try them out. let the rest of us know how they were if you can get any big enough to be worth it. I have the feeling mine would taste exactly as gth says: "...like the bottom of a river" or in my case bottom of a pond.
- Location
- British Canuckistan
where in Southern BC are they? 
where in Southern BC are they?
All the crayfish that I have personally experienced in BC were on Vancouver Island. Shawnigan Lake, a couple small creeks running in and out of Shawnigan, and the river that runs past the new ferry terminal south of Naniamo.
The ones out of the clear running water are better for eating, but they are still bottom feeding bugs.
Then there's the mud shrimp in the flats along the Fraser and in the muddy areas of the Lower Mainland "beach"... Great steelhead bait, too!
Cheers
Trev
open-sights
Regular
- Location
- Aldergrove BC
Crayfish develop in Southern BC in any slow moving to standing water system.
If anyone finds a way to cook them so they don't taste like mud, please forward, I am starting to see crayfish traps specifically designed for cray's in the sports shops.
If anyone finds a way to cook them so they don't taste like mud, please forward, I am starting to see crayfish traps specifically designed for cray's in the sports shops.
I think you are supposed to soak them in brine for 12 hours before.
Nothing a healthy dose of Bourbon and hot sauce won't cure ... I've eaten some in the deep South, the less spiced ones definitely tasted a bit "muddy" to me.
... I've eaten some in the deep South, the less spiced ones definitely tasted a bit "muddy" to me.I used to catch crayfish for fun in a small arm of a river close to an arena I used to play lacrosse in. We never ate them but I recall hearing from someone that the reason that they taste like dirt is because what you are eating is dirt. Before cooking, while still alive, you should put the crayfish into a salt water solution, which makes them spit all the sand and mud out that they keep in their mouths. Give it a try.
