Where have all the crayfish gone?

Last summer we visited Strawberry and Scofield reservoirs. Both locations are excellent for catching lots and lots of crawdads. At one reservoir we caught 5 crayfish and at the other 200 crayfish. Both locations had the following:

• Warm, sunny weather.
• No wind.
• No rain.
• Same traps.
• Same bait. 
• Spent a few hours at each location.

So what was the difference? Water temperature.

This is one of the main reasons you might not catch a lot even at your favorite hot spot. Sometimes lakes, rivers and reservoirs still have cold water flowing into them from nearby mountains. Crawfish usually become active when water temperature start rises into the high 50 F / low 60 F.

CrayDad's Tandoori Crayfish

As a child I remember visiting a new Indian restaurant in town. I watched from behind the glass as the cook would place skewers red marinated meats and flat bread in what i thought was a million degree oven.

This marinade can be applied 30 minutes before grilling.

Ingredients:

• Red chili flakes / powder
• Cayenne pepper
• 2 TBPS Ginger Paste
• 2 TBSP Garlic Paste
• Coriander
• Greek Yogurt
• Cashews, dry roasted, medium chopped
• Lemon, juiced
• Cilantro, finely chopped
• Beet Root, chopped
• 1 TBSP Turmeric
• Kosher Salt
• 1 TBSP Garam masala

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth.

Cooking Tips:

Prepare a charcoal grill for direct cooking.

Blanch crawfish for 30 seconds in salted boiling water. Transfer immediately to an ice water bath. Once shocked cut crayfish in half and clean internally. Marinade crayfish (shell side up) for 30 minutes.

Place marinaded crayfish into a grill basket and cook for about 5-6 minutes shaking often. Once the shells turn bright red and the meat is no longer translucent.

Which bait to use?

There are a lot of different choices in what bait to use in your traps. This post will focus on what we consider to be the best bait choice. Time and time again the bait that has returned us the most crayfish has definitely been salmon. Salmon is an oily, non-predatory fish that crayfish love.

In our area $4 will buy you a good sized bag of frozen boneless skin-on fillets and when cut up will typically fill the 2 inch bait cages of all of my traps. Check with your local grocery store's fish department if they have any salmon scraps (heads, tails, etc) which also work well.

Crayfish Keeper

Crayfish keeper, opened

This weekend I realized I had some extra wire mesh just occupying space and decided to leave no scrap behind. I decided to make a crayfish keeper - perfect for those quick last minute crawfishing trips. The dimensions for this was 11 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches. I plan to test this at our next excursion.

Crayfish keeper, closed

CrayDad's Liquid Boil

In this method we use a French technique known as sous vide to extract the flavors of our dry ingredients into our liquid boil. Some flavors are better extracted through oil infusion. Sous vide also gives us precision over cook time and temperature.

Ingredients:

• CrayDad's Dry Boil
• 2 cups - neutral cooking oil (extra light, extra virgin olive)

Directions:

Carefully mix the dry boil and 2 cups of neutral cooking oil. Pour mixture into silicone ice cube molds and freeze until solidified. Then seal one end of a vacuum-sealable bag and carefully place all of the cubes into the bag. Avoid touching the cubes to the sides of the bag then vacuum-seal. Place into pre-heated water bath set at 140 F for 3 hours. The color of your oil will start to pickup the colors of the seasonings. After finished, strain the infused oil through cheesecloth, and pour into a sealable glass bottle. Keep in a cool, dark location.

Building A Trap - Part 4

This is the final part of a series called Building A Trap. In this blog post we will finish our crayfish trap. 

For this part we will need:

• Para cord.
• Scissors.
• A J-clip tool.
• 4 J-clips.
• Carabiner.
• 2 wire clasps.
• 2 heavy duty rubber bands.
• Pool noodle.

Measure and cut two 14 inch long sections of para cord. Fold the para cord in half and then tie a knot so you have a 2 inch loop created shown on the first image below. Then tie each end to the red lines on cage shown in the second image below. Secure a J-clip directly on the para cord right above where you tied the knot.

Flip over the cage and take one of the rubber bands and tie it to the middle of the bait door. Then attach the other end to the wire clasp and then carefully pull and attach it to the cage so it is somewhat tight shown in image below

Take one of the rubber bands and tie it to the middle of the large door. Then attach the other end to the wire clasp and then carefully pull and attach it to the opposite end of the cage.

Measure and cut 25 feet of para cord. At both ends tie a knot so you have a two inch loop created. Use a J-clip to secure each knot. Measure and cut a 2 inch piece of pool noodle and tie the other end of the 25 foot para cord to the pool noodle shown in the image below.

Attach the carabiner to one end of the 2 inch loop on the 25 foot para cord and also to the two 2 inch loops connected to the cage.

The trap should now be completed. In a future blog post will we test out our newly built trap.

CrayDad's Preserved Lemon Butter

When life gives you lemons...

Last year my parents were very kind to share with our family a large box of lemons. The only problem with lemons is they usually don't last that long. Some genius from Italy, northern Africa or India (who will remain uncredited) figured out a way to preserve these yellow wonders all throughout the year.

Preserved lemons are a powerhouse of lemon flavor. When made into a compound butter it will take your crawfish to an entirely new level.

Ingredients:

• 1 Preserved Lemon
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter
• Kosher Salt (optional)

Directions:

Allow the stick of butter to come to room temperature before continuing with the recipe. Separate the fruit from the peel. Finely dice the peel until it resembles extremely tiny cubes. Combine ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Taste and only add additional salt if needed. Place in the center of some plastic wrap and role carefully into a log shape. Refrigerate until hardened.

Building A Trap - Part 3

Assembled Trap

This is part 3 of a series called Building A Trap. In this blog post we will start assembling our trap. If you spray painted your pieces make sure they are completely dry before proceeding. 

For this part we will need:

• All of the previously cutout pieces.
• A J-clip tool.
• 74 J-clips.

Start by taking pieces A and I and 12 J-clips. Attach each piece with the J-clip tool and a J-clip according to the image below:

Take piece D and bend each section until a cube shape is formed. Then take 8 J-clips and attach each side as shown in the images below:

This is the bait box.

Next attach the modified piece D to piece A where the 2 inch by 2 inch cutout is using 4 J-clips shown in the images below:

Next, locate piece F and attach it underneath piece A where the 2 inch by 2inch cutout is using 2 J-clips shown in the images below: 

This is the hinged door to the bait box.

Next, locate pieces G and bend each to fit along the red line shown on piece I in the images below:

Then attach the modified pieces G to both pieces A and then to pieces I using 12 J-clips shown in the images below:

Locate pieces E and bend the bottom half inch by 1 inch mesh areas to match the red lines shown on piece I in the images below:

Locate pieces H and bend the half inch section of cut wire to match the red lines shown on piece I in the image below:

Next, attach both of the modified pieces E and pieces H to each other using 8 J-clips shown in the image below:

Next, locate pieces B and C and attach them to each other using 4 J-clips shown in the images below:

This is the hinged door where you remove the caught crayfish.

Next, attach pieces E to pieces I using 4 J-clips shown in the image below:

This is the hinged entrance for the crayfish to enter the trap.

Next, attach piece B to pieces I using 12 J-clips shown in the image below:

Finally attach pieces E to piece B using 8 J-clips shown in the images below:

Now you should have a fully assembled trap:

In part 4 we will finish the trap and make it ready to catch crawfish.

Building A Trap - Part 2

This is the second part in a series called Building A Trap.

Using the 4 foot by 2 foot section of mesh begin measuring out and cutting the individual pieces listed below:

---

Piece A
10 inches by 14 inches

Cut mesh to match image - 2 inch by 2 inch cutout

Quantity: 1

---

Piece B
10 inches by 14 inches

Cut mesh to match image - 7 inch by 8 inch cutout

Quantity: 1

---

Piece C
8 inches by 8.5 inches

Cut mesh to match image - cut off last half inch

Quantity: 1

---

Piece D
6 inches by 6 inches

Cut mesh to match image - cut off 2 inch by 2 inch sections on each corner

Quantity: 1

---

Piece E
10 inches by 4 inches

Cut mesh to match image

Quantity: 2

---

Piece F
2 inches by 2 inches

Quantity: 1

---

Piece G
4 inches by 10 inches

Cut mesh to match image - cut off last wire at 4 inch mark

Quantity: 2

---

Piece H
2.5 inches by 9 inches

Cut mesh to match image - cut off last wire at 2.5 inch mark

Quantity: 2

---

Piece I
6.5 inches by 14 inches

Quantity: 2

---

In part 3 we will begin assembling our trap. 

CrayDad's Chili Honey Butter

Heat meets sweet...

Our family's first crayfish boil was probably the most memorable partly because one of our condiments immediately disappeared. Who knew that when you take butter and combine chili with honey something magic happens. Smother it over corn, potatoes or crawdads and it will leave you longing for more.

Ingredients:

• Chili Pepper Flakes or Chili Powder
• Honey
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter
• Kosher Salt

Directions:

Allow the stick of butter to come to room temperature before continuing with this recipe. Slightly warm the honey until spreadable but not liquid. Add small amounts of chili, honey and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly to combine then taste. Once it is to your liking then place it in the center of some plastic wrap and carefully role into a log shape. Refrigerate until hardened.