Minnesota Crayfish (or Crawfish) Trapping

Although formerly and presently from Minnesota, I managed to take a pleasant detour in life, and traveled to New Orleans, where I graduated from the University of New Orleans. During that time my Louisiana friends introduced me to the pleasures of shuckin' crawdads. On the way home after class, one of my top pleasures was to stop by Deanie's SeaFood in Metairie, LA, and and buy 5 lbs of crawfish, some crawfish flavored Zapp's potato chips and two bottles of Dixie beer. Yumm, what a great meal for a college student!

Of course, in Minnesota you don't eat crawfish (or crayfish as they're called here). Or do you? I am determined to find out.

I just bought my 2008 Minnesota fishing license, and in the license guide is a very, very brief mention of crayfishing. I've decided to drop a few traps in some local streams and see what I can catch. Here's what I've come to understand about crayfishing in Minnesota:

• The open season for taking crayfish is April 1 through November 30.
  Crayfish less than one inch in length from tip of rostrum to tip of tail must be returned unharmed to the water.
• Crayfish may be harvested with gear allowed for rough fish and minnows in addition to gear specified in this part.
• Crayfish traps must be tagged with a plastic or metal tag not smaller than one inch by three inches bearing the user's name and address.
• The mesh size for crayfish traps may not be less than one-half inch, stretch measure.
• Floats used to mark traps may not be larger than four inches square or four inches in diameter.
• Rough fish parts may be used within a crayfish trap as bait. So go catch some carp for bait!
• Crayfish traps may be lifted from one hour before sunrise until one hour after sunset.
• Crayfish traps must be lifted at least once in each 24 hour period weather permitting.
• All trapped fish must be returned to the water.
• Dead crayfish or the shells or meats of crayfish may not be returned to the water or deposited on any shoreline or adjacent area.
• The transportation of any crayfish in Minnesta from one body of water to another is prohibited.
• You must have a valid Minnesota angling license
• You may take and possess up to 25 pounds of live, whole freshwater crayfish.
• If you take live crayfish for bait, you can only fish with them the same body of water where they were caught.
• Crayfish may be harvested for personal use in any Minnesota waters of the state where fish may be taken by angling, and to which the harvester has legal access, unless otherwise posted.
• Crayfish taken for personal use may not be sold
• If you're a Minnesota resident under the age of 16, you can fish for crayfish without a license.

Here's where I found most of the crayfish rules. https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/rules/?id=6259

Some Minnesota crayfish, like the Rusty Crayfish, are considered invaders. More about Rusty Crayfish at the DNR site.

Here's another article about eating crayfish in Minnesota, and a page listing species of crayfish found in Minesota.

StarTribune has this article on eating Minnesota Crayfish. And be sure to watch this video about cooking Minnesota crayfish by the cute and woodsy Amy Thielen. Here's another article about eatin' da Minnesota mudbugs.

This is a good site for beginners to crayfishing.

My goal for this season is to catch enough crayfish to boil up with some Zatairan's crab boil, and try to make a meal out of them. I'll need at least 10 pounds.

I put in a minnow trap today with some old meat (I know, fish is better) and I'll check it later today. I would be thrilled if the local rivers would generously bear crayfish. I'm sure I'm the only guy in the area, perhaps the state, who would like to eat these mudbugs.

So that's my crayfish story for the day. If I get good at this, I'll invite you over for a crayfish boil. Catching your own is not as easy as popping into Deanie's, but I think will still be a lot of fun. If you're interested in Crayfishing, leaving a comment for me with your best tips.

Goodbye American Airlines, Hello Amtrack. American Airlines to gouge travelers who take a bag

So American airlines wants to gouge passengers another $15 for simply checking a bag? We will add our voice to loud chorus condemning American Airlines.

Have you ever noticed that the airlines are always blameless? "Don't blame us," says American. "Blame expensive oil!"

It seems that Airlines can never be held responsible for their customer relations fiascos, whether its treating passengers like crap, eliminating meals, or holding passengers hostage for 9 hours on the tarmac.

I call this the "Blame it on the weather," syndrome. Airlines have become so used to blaming their problems on acts of God, the weather, strikes.... its never, ever, EVER the fault of management. Never the fault of poor planning. Never a repercussion of lousey service.

For all the inconvenience, for all the "extra time" required to check in, for all the lack of amenities, for all the humiliation of passing through security, for the expense of parking, I would still rather drive. We have to leave home for the airport at least 2 hours before our flight, just to be sure that we can deal with all of the crap of flying.... so right off the bat before we get on a plane, that time represents nearly 200 miles that we can easily drive. Add in a flight delay, the time to collect my luggage and rent a care, and even at $5 a gallon for gas it is still a better deal for me to drive up to 500 miles than to fly. Now if I take 2 bags, thats an extra $30, about half a tank of gas --- go ahead and add another 150 or 200 miles to the range that it becomes more cost effective to drive.

So screw American airlines. Hello small cars and Amtrack.

So go ahead, American. Gouge your customers while providing lousey service. Your day of reckoning is close at hand.

If Microsoft won't buy Yahoo, then I will

Yesterday, Microsoft cut off talks with Yahoo and stomped away. Yahoo shares dropped 16% that morning.

I figured, this must be a good deal. Afterall, Microsoft is the company that, in their arrogance, balked at paying $1 billion for Google some years ago.

So I figure.... If Microsoft wants to pay something like $36B, then surefly, Yahoo must be worth much more. I dug deep into my pockets and bought 400 shares of Yahoo Inc. (YHOO).

Its not the first time I've owned Yahoo. Many years ago at a cost adjusted $8 per share, I bought them and held on to more than $300 per share. But the reality hit, and the stock plummeted to around $20 a share, and I sold. Although according to the IRS I made money and owed capital gains taxes, in my heart I felt that actually lost tens of thousands of dolalrs.

So this is the second time around for me and my new girlfriend Yahoo! But it wasn't just because Microsoft refused to take her to the prom just because she refused to put out.

I find that I'm spending more and more time on Yahoo. I love Yahoo Finance. I love their political buzz. The search is iffy but still not bad. They actually have "columnists" that I read. I also like the local news section for aggregating news from local sources.

Yahoo has come along way. Its profitable. Its clearly undervalued if Microsoft wants it. I'm glad to own Yahoo. They have a lot strong assets to build on.

Yahoo honey, I'm with ya till death do we part. I may not be as rich as Steve Ballmer, but I'm a helluva lot better looking.