Fishing for Crayfish in Alberta.

Last night Josh and I went and place the trap ( just one today , because this is a test to see the size and amounts of crayfish ).

The trap is a simple tube made out of square wire with round openings on both sides, the crayfish goes in but it can't get out.

We have a favorite spot , that is at lake Mcgregor close to Lomond Alberta which is about half and hour from Vulcan.

We placed the trap under this bridge yesterday around 9am , and left it in the water until today . I was really surprised to see how made crayfish were inside our trap. In total 31, our average last year was 27 per trap , so maybe this is going to be a good year.

These creatures are trouble for the fish in this lake, crayfish will eat just about everything in sight, from fish eggs to plants that other fish use to feed them selves. Plus crayfish will multiple like wild fire and they survive the cold winters with out any issues.

These water will become overwhelmed with crayfish very soon I figure , due to that there is no control over them, people don't really know what the hell they are or how to say the name . Should I call it crayfish or crawfish , well in reality these little lobster like eating machines will destroy our fish population if there is nothing done.

Time to prepare our beasts for our feast:
Place them in the sink and rinse them with fresh running water at this point you can add your salt etc. to clean them better.

After they sit nicely in the clean water , I prepare a pot with water , fresh garlic,sliced onion , cilantro , pepper, salt , one whole lemon squeezed plus peel. Bring this water mix to a rolling boil and place the crayfish quickly into the pot.

Cook for 15 minutes , you will start seeing the shells turning reddish , this is a sign that they are almost done.

This time I didn't prepare them as one should or how they do it in Louisiana , when they have their crayfish boils. Those Louisiana folks are the pros on cooking crayfish. They use corn , sausage ,potato and spices. I do a similar boil but today I was showing my neighbor what a crayfish is and taste like.

The taste is very similar to lobster but they are a lot of work for the amount of meat that you get from one. What I like about the whole process is that the family bonds together for the week end to do it , then we all sit around our kitchen table and talk about how much work it is to eat them but it's all good.

Thanks for reading.