another crayfishing trip

[stubby 175]

so, had arranged with bakerboy (pigeon watch member) to meet up at the secret location on the new 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,

[WILF 44,880]

Good thread Stubby, the Arena is lifting with them and the Warren has a population as well.

Do you freeze them cooked or un-cooked?.........normally, un-cooked shellfish turns to mush.

[Simoman 110]

Great thread, i bought some traps at the midland.........

[whin 463]

good crack any outlets for them or just home use we have prawn pots would be good for crays to ,good haul we tube the praws and kep them alive then sell them on ,any market for fresh cray fish guys

[LUMPHAMMER 324]

Good man & good riddance to those USA invaders

[Simoman 110]

good crack any outlets for them or just home use we have prawn pots would be good for crays to ,good haul we tube the praws and kep them alive then sell them on ,any market for fresh cray fish guys

 

Think there are a few places that will take them. but the majority buy their crayfish from commercial breeders.....

[Guest long-tail]

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Edited December 4, 2011 by long-tail

[stubby 175]

Good thread Stubby, the Arena is lifting with them and the Warren has a population as well.

Do you freeze them cooked or un-cooked?.........normally, un-cooked shellfish turns to mush.

 

freeze them raw, defrosted some last weekend and did'nt find anything wrong with them, although we cooked on a bbq, this lot will get boiled so I'll find out, a few indian take-aways near to where they are caught, pay roughly £7 per kilo, reckon we had well over 10kgs today, but so far its all been for us and friends consumpton, your not the first to mention the lake (predator lake?) at arena wilf, but finding someone to ask for permission is like a needle in haystack

[whin 463]

just go at nite under the cover of winter darkness of do they hole up like some shellfish

[whin 463]

there good prawn creels going for 12 pound be good for crayfish not to heavy either

[mackem 24,660]

just go at nite under the cover of winter darkness

Imagine the ignominy of being caught crayfish poaching Whin thats like a member of this forum who was caught goldfish poaching :laugh:

[stubby 175]

just go at nite under the cover of winter darkness of do they hole up like some shellfish

 

and people wonder why hunting/foraging gets a bad name some of us prefer to keep within the law, it helps with our work, plus WHY??? I had a great morning out last week, caught a lot of crays, and had permission from the EA

[3175darren 1,093]

What a brilliant service that will definatly support our native,crayfish well done,fella keep going,make em extinct

[GOSSYOVSLAND 15]

welldone stubby and co!!how far have they spread has there been any reports in tyne and wear or near by?

[mackem 24,660]

There have been a couple of Signals taken out of the derwent Gossy,havent heard of any in the wear though.