Wilderness food: How to catch crayfish – a guide to crayfish fishing and preparation.
Watch our video and read more below
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Video by: Signe Nørager.
Crayfish fishing and crayfish parties are a tradition associated with late summer and autumn. It is a fantastic delicacy and genuine wilderness food!
The crayfish party comes from our Swedish neighbors and involves large amounts of schnapps, sticky fingers, good tall tales – and of course, lots of crayfish!
But when is it good to go crayfishing? How exactly do you do it? And what on earth do you do once they are caught? All this and more will be covered here in the article.
Some crayfish are better than others
In Denmark, there are 3 different crayfish species: the noble crayfish, the signal crayfish, and the Galician swamp crayfish. The noble crayfish is a native species in Denmark, while the signal crayfish and the Galician swamp crayfish are invasive species.
Crayfish live throughout Danish lakes and streams, but some species dominate more than others and will eventually outcompete other species if the population is not kept in check.
At home, the signal crayfish dominates because it is somewhat more aggressive than the noble crayfish and can carry the crayfish plague disease. A disease it can survive, but which kills the noble crayfish.
When is it allowed to catch crayfish?
There are no closed seasons or minimum sizes for signal crayfish and Galician swamp crayfish because they are invasive species. Therefore, it is allowed to catch them year-round, and they do not have to be released even if you catch some that are too small.
However, different rules apply for the native noble crayfish. It is legal to catch both male and female crayfish in August and September, but since the females need time to breed, it is only allowed to catch them from August 1 to September 30, after which the hunt for females ends. Male crayfish may be caught from April 1 through September 30.
Regardless of gender, the crayfish must be at least 9 cm long before you can take them home, measured from the rostrum to the back edge of the tail fan.
Last but not least, crayfish fishing requires a fishing license and permission from the owner of the land down to the lake or stream.
Here you will find crayfish
Crayfish have high demands for water quality, as they thrive best in streams and lakes with clear, clean, and oxygen-rich water. They live in places with good underwater vegetation and relatively close to the shore in lakes and ponds. It is also important that there is plenty of lime in the water, as crayfish need lime to renew their shells.
Crayfish are nocturnal, so the best time to catch them is at dusk. During the day, they hide under tree roots, stones, or holes they have dug in steep areas near the shore.
3-2-1 start the hunt!
There are several different methods to catch crayfish. First and foremost, you can lure the crayfish out by throwing bait to them. This can be, for example, leftovers or pieces of dead freshwater fish or cat food.
To catch the crayfish, you can use different equipment. Some use crayfish traps, which need to be checked once every hour, others use crayfish cages, which are checked once a day, but if you really want to get your adrenaline pumping and save money on equipment, you catch them with your hands – and yes, you can do that!
Clothing
If you own a wetsuit, drysuit, waders, or high rubber boots, wear them. If the weather and water are warm, you can also just wear shorts and a pair of shoes that can get wet. In fact, it just requires that you are prepared to go into the water to catch the crayfish. Because even though crayfish live close to the shore, the bottom is often sandy and muddy, and very easy to sink into, which means you can suddenly be standing in water up to your hips.
Equipment
Crayfish hunting doesn't require much equipment, but there are still some things that are nice to have with you.
A good headlamp/flashlight
(the catch takes place in the dark, and the higher the lumen of your light, the easier it will be to spot the crayfish).
It could be one like this
Work gloves/neoprene gloves:
-We have them for both adults, girls & boys
(so you avoid getting pinched by the crayfish).
Buckets and a good large tub
(possibly a black mason's tub, which can be bought cheaply at hardware stores)
Fish net
Tactic
How should you approach a crayfish hunt? And what is the tactic?
When crayfish flee, they shoot backward with their tail. They can be lightning fast, so you need to approach them slowly and carefully, so you don't scare them away and so you don't stir up the muddy bottom around you.
When you have the crayfish within reach, make a quick movement down into the water and grab the back of the body, just behind the claws. This is the safest place to hold the crayfish so you don’t get a finger pinched by the claw.
Crayfish hunting this way can take a few hours, and the yield can vary greatly, but if you’ve used bait and found a good habitat for crayfish, the tub can quickly fill up.
I’ve caught crayfish – what do I do now?
The next phase of crayfish hunting is a bit more extensive. The crayfish must go through a 3-day purging process before they can be cooked, meaning their intestines must be emptied and the muddy taste removed, otherwise they taste terrible. This is done by placing the crayfish in a large masonry tub, filling it with tempered water, and connecting an oxygen device (e.g., an aquarium pump), otherwise they risk dying. The water must be changed once a day.
After 3 days, the crayfish are ready to be cooked. If any crayfish have not survived, they must be sorted out.
How to prepare the tastiest crayfish!
The difficult part
Crayfish must be boiled, but it’s very important that you don’t kill the crayfish and put them in the fridge some time before cooking. Crayfish contain enzymes that cause them to spoil very quickly, which can cause severe stomach pain. That’s why crayfish are boiled alive – it’s the fastest and safest way to kill them.
If you don’t like boiling them alive, you can also kill them just before putting them in the pot by making a cut with a sharp knife from the neck to just between the crayfish’s eyes. It doesn’t matter if you place the crayfish on the cutting board back down or up. The problem is that you need to be quite skilled at this, and it may take a few tries before you get it right.
Wilderness food - the best recipe is the one with beer
Let it rumble and tumble! Inspired by Nikolaj Kirk and personal experience, here is the perfect recipe for a crayfish brine that really brings out the flavor in the crayfish meat.
Ingredients for crayfish brine:
- 20-30 crayfish
- ½ bunch dill
- 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp salt
- ½ tbsp sugar
- 1 dl beer
- Water to cover the crayfish
Dressing:
- 2 dl mayonnaise
- 1 dl crème fraîche, 38%
- 1 bunch fresh dill
- Lemon juice
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions:
- Fill a large pot with water and add dill heads, salt, sugar, and lemon slices. Let it boil for 10 minutes. Add beer.
- When the water reaches a rolling boil, add the crayfish to the pot. Let them boil for 6-7 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat when you’re done with the crayfish and let them soak in the brine until it’s cool.
- While the crayfish soak in the brine, you can make the dressing. Stir the finely chopped dill with mayonnaise and crème fraîche. Then season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Serve the freshly boiled crayfish on a platter, with warm baguettes, dressing, and plenty of schnapps.
Enjoy your meal!
