Friday, April 16, 2010

Scott's 2010 guide to catching crayfish in Minnesota!

Minnesota has an abundant crayfishing resource, yet very few “crayfishers.” This must change, because crayfish can be a very fun and delicious activity that we can enjoy for six months out of the year.
Because the Minnesota angling guide includes very little information about crayfishing (also known as crawfishing down south) I have collected this information from various sources, and where possible I will reference the law in Minnesota code.

Crayfishing is good for Minnesota. By using rough fish for bait (which is permitted), crayfishing helps to make use of this underutilized resource. In addition, crayfish are good eatin’! They are a delicacy in the deep south, where crayfish aquaculture is big business, and trapping is a serious sport. In areas where crayfish are abundant or invasive, crayfishing can help to control the population.

General Rules

Season: The open season for taking crayfish is April 1 through November 30. (6259.0100 sub1). You’ll need a Minnesota angling license (unless you are a resident under the age of 16).

Size Restrictions: Crayfish less than one inch in length from tip of rostrum to tip of tail must be returned unharmed to the water. That’s too small for eating anyway, so toss them back. (6259.0100 sub1)

Trap Requirements: Crayfish may be harvested with gear allowed for rough fish and minnows (minnow traps). Mesh size for crayfish traps may not be less than one-half inch, stretch measure (6259.0100 2.B).

Minnesota law requires that you tag your trap with your name and address. This can be done by cutting out a 1” by 3” piece of plastic from a used plastic milk container, and writing on with a sharpie pen. Attach your tag to your Crayfish traps with a piece of wire. Be sure your tag is “legible.” (6259.0100 2.A) If you attach floats to your traps, they must not be more than 4” square or 4” in diameter (6259.0100 2.C), which is about the size of a regular bobber. It seems a bit small to me, but there you go.

Traps can be checked from sunrise to sunset, but DNR doesn’t want you lifting traps at night. Nighttime is when crayfish are most active.

I found no restrictions on the number of traps that an angler can set.

Bait: Minnesota allows the use of rough fish for bait, which is very effective for catching crayfish (6259.0100 2.D). I’ve found carp and bullhead to be easy to catch and very good bait. If you don’t like the mess of rough fish, you can bait your traps with inexpensive cans of cat food (tuna flavor works well). Puncture the cans with a screw driver and place them in your traps. I’ve found that a single can will attract crayfish for up to four days.

You can use the crayfish you catch as fishing bait, but only the body of water where they were caught. You’ll discover that bass, northern pike and even muskie love crayfish!

Transporting Crayfish:

The Minnesota DNR is concerned about invasive crayfish species like the Rusty Crayfish. It is not lawful to transport crayfish from one body of water to another or to release them into the wild.

Using Crayfish

A licensed angler (or a Minnesota resident under the age of 16) can have up to 25 pounds of crayfish for personal use.

Of course the best use for them is food, because they are delicious when boiled up with some crab mix.

If you are catching crayfish for bait, you can only use them in the body of water where you caught them. If you want to move them from one lake to another, harvest them commercially, or sell them, you will need to obtain a permit from DNR.

Getting Started

Getting started is easy. Go buy a minnow trap at your favorite bait shop, and a can of cat food at the grocery store, tie a rope to it, and drop it in the water.

Finding a good hole will require a bit of trial and error. You never know where you will find crayfish. Don’t overlook the boat marina, or even the golf pond.

Generally on lakes, you can find crayfish along the shoreline, particularly a rocky shoreline. I have trapped them in one foot to ten feet of water, but not much deeper than ten feet. Shallow ponds may contain crayfish. On rivers, look for eddies and places where water moves slowly.

Species

Click here for more information on the species of crayfish available in Minnesota. All of them can make a good meal for you! In my area, calico and northern clear water crayfish are abundant.

The Rusty Crayfish is a large clawed invasive crayfish species that outmuscles Minnesota’s native crayfish, and its spreading. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Rusty is good eating, with meaty claws! Concentrating your trapping the Rusty while using rough fish for bait would have the triple benefit of providing you with a delicious meaty catch, reducing the rusty population and reducing the rough fish population. Visit the DNR website to find information about lakes infested with the edible rusty crayfish.

Eating Crayfish

Five pounds of boiled crawfish (or crayfish) will make a very nice meal.
In the southern U.S., crawfish are a delicacy. In Minnesota, there is absolutely no reason why our crayfish should not be a delicacy, except that culturally we haven’t discovered the joys of crayfish.

Before boiling your crayfish, place them in a cooler filled with cold clean water and leave set for several hours or overnight. This will help purge the dirt in their digestive track. All crayfish will turn red after they are boiled.

There is no shortage of advice on the internet about how to cook and eat crayfish. Crayfish can be boiled in a crab boil seasoning. Their meat can also be added to any dish of your choice (try them in a chili, a gumbo, or with a wild rice dish!).

Enjoy!

14 comments:

PopRiveter said...

Hi, I'm Reed. I commented on your previous crayfish post. I caught my first 2010 batch of Rusties today. I still have only had success with the minnow-scoop/meat-on-a-piece-of-wire approach. It looks like you've found success with your traps. I am glad to see that. It gives me hope to try my traps again! If you haven't tried this yet, take a bunch of boiled Crayfish tails, some chunks of kielbasa, butter and seasoning and toss it all in a pot of angel hair pasta. Oh yeah, and make sure there is a beer nearby.

Big Al said...

Hi, I just found your blog. You were looking for good crawdad holes. I can't speak for the present, but years ago I spent a few weeks on White Earth lake on the White Earth Indian Reservation. It was absolutely infested with them. You could go out with a snorkle and pick them up by the bucket full. One yerd of lake bottom would have 20 or thirty of them. They wer so thick that fishing with a worm would bring up more crawdads than fish.

Here is a series of videos on building your own traps.

Michael Moore said...

Scott,

Thanks for the informative post!

I used to catch crayfish all the time in Upper Michigan (by hand, mainly) and have been wanting to cook some up recently...Google led me to your site.

Do you have any suggestions on where to go? I'm in Fridley (NW twin cities metro), but I'm a recent transplant, so I'm not familiar with where the good crayfish spots would be.

I'll keep my eye on the comments here, or you can email me at stuporglue@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Hey Scott,

so myself and a few others are avid bow fishermen, and during the summer arrow quite a few carp. I am also pretty new to the twin cities, and would appreciate a heads up on particular areas where crayfish are abundant?
Thanks

Brent.

You can email me at lential@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Hello,

I was wondering where I can find Rusty crayfish in SE Minnesota? Example, somewhere by Rochester,Mn!Please get back to me because the Minnesota DNR website sucks at showing in which areas the rusty crayfish has invade. My gmail is tkahth095@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Anyone crawfish on the Miss? I'm Minneapolis and wondering if those mudbugs will dig the murky water.
_sam

Unknown said...

You ever find any good crawfish holes in southeast Minnesota

Unknown said...

No, I haven't found any holes for crawfish yet. I do see the native crawfish by the rocks.

CJMcB said...

So, I've started catching some crayfish! I caught 8 in one excursion, which is not many. I've eaten crayfish in Louisiana and they are huge. I'm pretty sure I'm catching Calicos. I caught them in late September and most of them are females with eggs. They are holding their eggs internally. That was a bit of a surprise. Do people eat crayfish caught in the fall that have eggs? Do people eat any other part of the crayfish. I know people eat the claws if they are big enough, but there is a lot of stuff inside the carapace. . .
Thanks for this awesome article, I'm about 6 years late

Unknown said...

How big does the open have to be or how big should it be in the trap for the crawfish to get into the trap.

Unknown said...

How big does the open have to be in the trap for the crawfish?

Unknown said...

Any good places in the twin cities metro area. I hate having to drive 100 miles to get them

Unknown said...

Hi Scott. Do you know the size limit on traps and their openings? Couldn't find in regs. Seeing grandkids in MN this summer and want them to catch some. Thanks.

Darren said...

Crayfishing is governed by DNR Rules in chapter 6259.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/6259/date/2011#:~:text=Crayfish%20traps%20or%20harvesting%20devices,%2Dhalf%20inch%2C%20stretch%20measure.

It wouldn't hurt to read through the rules. There is a mesh width requirement, but the rules say that crayfish can be harvested with gear allowed for rough fish and minnows, so you'd be good with any minnow trap.

The answer is found in subp 2:

Subp. 2. Gear and marking requirements. The following provisions in this subpart
apply to gear and marking requirements on the taking of crayfish:
A. Crayfish may be harvested with gear allowed for rough fish and minnows in
addition to gear specified in this part. Crayfish traps or harvesting devices must be identified
in a permanent and legible manner with a plastic or metal tag not smaller than one inch by
three inches bearing the user's name and address.
B. The mesh size for crayfish traps may not be less than one-half inch, stretch
measure.
C. Floats used to mark traps may not be larger than four inches square or four
inches in diameter.
D. Rough fish parts may be used within a crayfish trap as bait.