| Re: Signal Crayfish
This seems one of the most popular threads on the site. Re cooking, purging sounds a bit fernickerty if you're going to boil them. I soaked mine in brine before popping in them in the pot and they were just as good as the ones in the shops, ideal with mayonaise. I bet they would be good in the smoker too but haven't tried that.
If you think putting them straight to boil is unkind, sticking them in the freezer first will dull their senses.
I used to live in Yorkshire and a popular way of fishing for them when I was young (didn't do it myself but a family friend did) was using a stick with a bit of fish attached. If you stuck that in Roundhay lake (Leeds) the crayfish would be round it pretty quickly and could be hoisted out in to a bucket.
There are licensed traps on one of my local chalk streams and the keeper collects the crayfish for the fishers.
It's a tough call for the EA as it doesn't want people getting at the native crays but I thought the Lake District case and fine was disproportionate in the extreme. |