Raising Crawdads

[ONG]

Anyone have any experience with raising mud bugs? I have several traps and caught 100 or so last summer. I put them in our plastic lined water garden as a holding pen till I had enough for a boil.

A week later and they were all gone. So I guess this is a two part question 1.) what is a good way to hold them till you have enough for a meal(so they don't eat each other) and 2.) How would you go about raising them for future use?

[SilverJeep]

Never heard of anyone catching or eating them in Ohio? ? ? ?

In Louisiana the crawfish farms are just shallow (2 ft deep) man made ponds. I think they have to live more or less natural to thrive.

[Spike]

ONG,

Don't know about holding them...

But i would like to know what you're using for bait?

I have 2 traps I used last yr...love mudbugs..

[ONG]

ONG,

Don't know about holding them...

But i would like to know what you're using for bait?

I have 2 traps I used last yr...love mudbugs..

Blue gill heads and guts. The traps that I have use a bait box. I pre stuff the bait boxes and freeze them. All ready to go when I get to the fishing hole. I have used chicken also but the fish seems to draw them in better.

http://www.terrybullard.com/CrawfishMain.html

[keehah]

I had to share.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayfish

Another favourite is to suck the head of the crayfish, as seasoning and flavour can collect in the fat of the boiled interior. A popular double entendre laden phrase heard around crawfish season in Louisiana derives from this practice: "Suck the head, pinch the tail".

[Green Light]

I doubt it would be easy or economical for the average person to raise them. Do you have wetlands on your property?

[ONG]

I doubt it would be easy or economical for the average person to raise them. Do you have wetlands on your property?

Yes, not alot, maybe an acre of swamp. All that it grows right now is cat tails. I have yet to find a good recipe for cat tails.

[Heads_Up]

Yes, not alot, maybe an acre of swamp. All that it grows right now is cat tails. I have yet to find a good recipe for cat tails.

boil the roots a number of times, using fresh water each time. Not great, but you can eat it.

As for crayfish, I have caught and eaten them up here. You need a lot for a feed as ours are kind of small. We just use traps with bait, or if we're bored we just fish them after dark with a hotdog piece at the end of a string using a flashlight to see their eyes.

[Bellboy]

Born and raised in Louisiana. Did a lot of crawfishing in my youth usings melts in folding nets. Crawfish are harvested out of rice fields both in Louisiana and Arkansas. They are also harvested out of swamp areas. If you ever eat a crawfish harvested out of a cypress swamp, if they lived near cypress knees the crawfish will have a cypress taste. The best crawfish in Louisiana come out of Bell River. The crawfish there grow large and have thin shells, which make them easy to pell. They also have a pinkish color. Ten pounds of boiled crawfish equal 1 pound of crawfish meat. As summer drags on their shells get soo hard it gets to be a real pain to pell and eat them. People quit eating them. Hope this helps.

[Vendico]

Bet they'll eat dog food

[Cajuncoin]

Born and raised in Louisiana. Did a lot of crawfishing in my youth usings melts in folding nets. Crawfish are harvested out of rice fields both in Louisiana and Arkansas. They are also harvested out of swamp areas. If you ever eat a crawfish harvested out of a cypress swamp, if they lived near cypress knees the crawfish will have a cypress taste. The best crawfish in Louisiana come out of Bell River. The crawfish there grow large and have thin shells, which make them easy to pell. They also have a pinkish color. Ten pounds of boiled crawfish equal 1 pound of crawfish meat. As summer drags on their shells get soo hard it gets to be a real pain to pell and eat them. People quit eating them. Hope this helps.

Spot on, living in Lafourche/Terrebonne area and we lam (Like) nous ecrivisse, never get between Madam de Cajuncoin and a sack of crawfish, Cujuns go wild for the stuff especially on Fridays during Lent. Can use anything stinky for baid and yes dog food will work, but fish guts works the best.