Crawfishing

[Touchdown_Texas]

There seems to be a lack of information online on where to go crawfishing. Plenty on how to build traps, but locations seem to be a guarded secret. Has anyone done this and have any suggestions on where to go (in Houston), what methods work, licenses, etc? Feel free to pm me if you want.

 

[TXSNOS]

In Houston, just go find a ditch somewhere.

 

[flaco]

I think I would have to be quite a ways from Houston before I ate anything outta the ditches there.

 

[The Big Unit]

Me and my buddies used to do it all the time when we were kids growing up in East Texas. We'd take a strand of fishing line three or four feet long and tie a safety pin on one end. Then slip a hunk of bacon onto the safety pin. Grab a 5 gal bucket to double as a seat as well as a holding tank for crawfish. Then we'd head down to one of our favorite spots at a local creek or drainage ditch. Toss in the line and wait for a tug. You could pull them right out of the water and drop them in your bucket. Greedy little ******** would hold on to the bacon no what you did to them. I remember doing that for hours and catching maybe 50 to 100 crawfish on a good day. We never ate them. It was strictly a catch and release program. We knew we'd fish them out in no time and the fun would be over if we didn't release them.

 

[flaco]

We did the same thing as a kid in Abilene except we found diabolical ways to dispose of them.

 

[TexasEd]

As a kid in San Antonio I was amazed to find them in our creeks. Not in great numbers, but they were there. I thought they were some kind of exotic import or something. (I was 7).

I used an old coffee can that had holes poked in the bottom with an ice pick. I put a hole near the rim and tied a string to it. rigged up some bologna inside the can and waited for them to walk in. In hind sight using a fish net would have been quicker since the water was so clear.

 

[Brak]

We used to catch them in the creek that goes by Reed park in Austin. I'll never forget that in 6th grade I caught one that was literally the size of a small lobster from Taylor's Slough. We never knew people ate them, they were just something to catch.

 

[judgroybeanbag]

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[Touchdown_Texas]

Yeah, we don't plan on eating 'em...don't think we'd find enough to eat anyways. More for fun esp with some kids. So maybe I should be more specific - are there any shallow streams/creeks in West Hou/Katy or nearby...something clear so you can wade thru, as opposed to a lake? Surely someone knows of some in the area. I checked Buffalo Bayou where it goes thru GB Park and yikes...dirty.

 

[Scipio Tex]

I used to catch them with a stick with a string tied to bacon. Pull it up carefully and they'll be clinging to the bacon.

There used to be some great creeks in Austin where you catch a dozen or so in an hour.

If you can find a creek that empties into a deeper section with brackish water, you'll find lots of them.

Just submerge the bacon in a promising area and chill for a while. You'll feel them.

 

[pulque]

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[BigWill]

is there anything that bacon can't do?

 

[Mrmyke709]

It can't keep OU from sucking.

 

[kevwun]

Used to catch them with a cane pole and bacon with my grandpa. Then we'd use them for as bait for catfish.

 

[LAktownhorn]

we did the same thing with string and bacon. they're idiots for holding on.

my uncle caught one and gave him to me. i put him in a jar filled with water and wondered what would happen if i put coke in with it. his body split in two the next day.

 

[flaco]

Maybe he was just molting his skin. Or pining for the bayou.

 

[IRC]

My grandmother would often hand us a length of string and a couple of slices of bacon and tell us to get lost.

We had a favorite crawdad hole we would fish. We would usually throw them back, but even then, (say the mid-60's), we knew some people ate the tails, so one day I decided to peel 'em and bring 'em home.

They weren't very appetizing after three hours in the sun...

 

[Friday]

I grew up in that part of Houston. We used to catch crawfish, turtles, snakes, and bullfrogs in Rummel Creek. That was 25 years ago. I have no idea what condition it's in now.

 

[ChiroHorn]

Call me old school, but we'd catch them by hand or nets in a local creek. They like to hide under medium sized rocks. Lift up the rock by tilting it away from you which allowed for unwanted animals (snakes) to slither away peacefully. Knowing that crawdads swim backwards, place the net behind them & coax them towards it. We'd get dozens/day, boil & wolf 'em down. The ignorance of youth!

 

[zzzz]

As a kid, in NW Houston, we used to catch them in the ditch in our front yard after it rained (bacon and string, or simply by hand). When the ditch would begin to dry up, they would build "crawdad towers" out of mud. I don't think the crawdads are there any more. Maybe because of all the development that has gone on in the area in the decades since?