When late summer arrives, it's time to go crawfishing, and we are blessed with an abundance of nice, big crawfish in most of our lakes and larger streams.
The crawfish, or crayfish, or crawdad — whatever you choose to call it — is one of the tastiest of all freshwater shellfish. Its admirers are legion.
Let me hasten to explain that the crawdaddy — while loosely related to the saltwater lobster — really doesn't taste much like lobster, no matter what some people will tell you. It doesn't taste like shrimp or prawns, either. It tastes like crawdad, and that's that!
Nearly everyone has caught and played with crawdads as a youngster, but they were generally little rascals a couple of inches long that were exposed by overturning rocks and boulders in a stream.
In the proper environment, crawfish of edible size can grow to 5 or 6 inches nearly anywhere, and in a few locations may reach nearly twice that size. Some of the largest in the west are found in Oregon's Crater Lake and in Perrygin Lake in Washington's Methow Valley.
Catching crawdads usually requires a simple wire trap with entrance tunnels at either end that allow the crustaceans to enter, but confines them when they can't find the way back out. The tunnels are funnel-shaped screen structures that simply confound a crawdad's IQ, which is only slightly higher than that of a nearby clam or smooth stone.
We have featured plans in the past for building a simple trap from hardware cloth, but after enough people discovered the gourmet quality of local crawfish, commercial models appeared on the market. Today, you can buy an excellent, vinyl-covered screen trap at Sunbird and other outdoor outlets for just a few dollars that is much more effective than a homemade design.
The best way to fish crawdads is to set a baited trap in fairly deep water, allow it to "soak" overnight, and pull it in the morning. Mostly nocturnal feeders, crawfish will come from long distances as they follow the scent of the bait.
Baiting a crawdad trap is kind of a personal, trial-and-error thing. Some people use a fresh fish, while others prefer an old pork chop or chicken leg in the last stages of spoiling. My friend John Wakefield, who caught the nice mess of crawdads pictured this week, has a preference for baiting with smoked salmon skins — and they are superb at attracting his prey — but baited this particular day with a couple of leftover hot dogs from his campsite. They worked pretty well, to which his big pot of boiled crawdads will attest.
Depth of water is a relative thing when seeking crawfish. In the Skookumchuck River, we usually try to find a hole around 12 feet deep to set traps, but the deepest spot on any stretch is fine. The same criteria works for the Cowlitz or the impounds at Riffe and Mayfield Lakes.
At Walupt, where these were taken, the lake drops to several hundred feet in places: Just find a nice ledge some 12-20 feet deep and set your outfit there. You don't want to be hauling 600 feet of rope up to retrieve your trap.
A rope affixed to the trap should terminate in a float to mark the spot and permit recovery. The trap should not be an empty plastic bottle or such, but an actual foam-plastic float with your name and address permanently marked. No license is required to take crawfish, but trap specifications, size limits, and daily weight limits can be found in the state Department of Fish and Wildlife fishing rules pamphlet.
Crawfish are available in almost all bodies of water in our area and are among the best "novelty" wild table fare you'll find anywhere. Pick up a trap and give the sport a try. With a dollop of drawn butter and a squeeze of lemon, you may just find still another reason for hanging around your favorite lake for half the summer.
