The American crayfish is an exotic that is fairly easy to catch and therefore becomes a burden to pleasure. Making a trap for the American crayfish is fairly easy. The material required for a compact and productive trap is cheap. How can you make a step-by-step trap for the American crayfish yourself? Pay attention to the regulations! After all, tips for preparing crayfish come in handy if your trap has been a success.
- The American crayfish: bad and tasty at the same time
- What do you need to make a trap for the American crayfish yourself?
- A DIY trap for the American crayfish step-by-step
- Crayfish fishing legislation
- Preparing the American crayfish
The American crayfish: bad and tasty at the same time
The American crayfish is an exotic. As the name suggests, he is not originally from the Netherlands. This omnivore displaces the existing biodiversity and causes damage by making burrows in the banks. Water boards and farmers, but even road construction, companies and private individuals are experiencing enormous nuisance from the invasion of these freshwater lobsters. At the same time, it is a sought-after delicacy. But how do you catch these American crayfish?
What do you need to make your own trap for the American crayfish?
In terms of material you need the following:
- Chicken wire mesh width 1.3 mm, 50 cm high, for example a standard roll of approximately 2.5 meters of galvanized iron;
- Binding wire, approx. 1.25 mm, for example standard roll of approx. 5 meters long, galvanized iron or use the packaging wire that is wrapped around a roll of chicken wire;
- Tie wraps, black binding tape 100 mm, packed in 100 pieces;
- Possibly small carabiners;
- Piece of cardboard;
- Rope.
In terms of tools and aids you should keep this in mind:
- Side cutters;
- Scissors;
- Work gloves or the like
A DIY trap for the American crayfish step-by-step
The diy trap (‘diy’ = do it yourself) for the American crayfish consists of a number of parts: a cylinder, two funnels with ‘anti-snapping cylinders’, a hatch or door, a bait box, a handle and an attachment rope. Follow the step-by-step instructions for making the parts for a trap for the American crayfish.
The cylinder of a trap for the American crayfish
- Bend the 2.5 m roll of chicken wire in the middle and cut the wire there. You can keep the other part or use it for another trap later. Note: the mesh has sharp points, but they can be used conveniently.
- Bend the cut part (1.25 m) in half again and cut it. You are left with two pieces of about 62.5 cm: one for the cylinder and one for two funnel shapes, etc.
- For the cylinder: overlap the mesh a bit and use the extreme points to join both sides. Then reinforce it with some tie wraps.
The funnels of a trap for the American crayfish
- Make a mold for the funnels. This is quite a precision job, but it can always be adjusted.
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- Measure the diameter of the cylinder (this is the length of the straight line in the circle), for example 23 cm.
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- Make a semicircle from cardboard with a radius or radius (say width) of 23 cm and a diameter (say length) of 46 cm (this 2 x the radius of 23 cm).
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- Cut a second semicircle at the bottom in the middle of the semicircle with a radius of approx. 6 cm and a diameter of approx. 12 cm.
The anti-escape cylinders from a trap for the American crayfish
- Cut two rectangles approximately 4-5 cm wide from the remaining chicken wire from the two funnel shapes. Bend the rectangle into a round tubular shape and hold it in front of the small opening of the funnel. Cut the length of the rectangle and secure the part with the tips of the chicken wire to the funnels.
- Place the funnel shapes in the cylinder. Secure this on a few sides with tie wraps and then fasten the parts at the top as a whole with binding wire.
Hatch, bait box, handle and retrieval rope from a trap for the American crayfish
- Cut out three sides of a hatch or door somewhere in the middle of the trap. You can secure these with tie wraps or small carabiners.
- After cutting the chicken wire, make a small bait box from the residual waste, for example a bait box of six 6 cm squares, one of which forms the lid. The opposite sides must in any case be the same. Just use the dots again to confirm.
- With binding wire you can then make a handle on the trap.
- Finally, use for example two carabiners or binding wire to attach a disposable or catch-up rope to the trap.
Crayfish fishing legislation
With a fishing license you can (in 2019) fish for crayfish with a fishing rod. Except for the European crayfish, which has a protected status. You then use a clothespin instead of a fishing hook on the line. Put a piece of sausage on the clothespin, which then grips the lobster. The line can be attached to a fishing rod or stick, but can also be used separately. In private waters, such as ponds, quarries, etc., traps or fish traps may be fished by non-professional fishermen with the owner’s permission.
If you have caught and brought home American crayfish, eat them as well and never throw them back in the water elsewhere. This is to prevent further spread.
Preparing the American crayfish
In the book ?? The Edible City ?? are two recipes for the American crayfish. In one, the lobsters are cooked and eaten like king prawns. In the second recipe a bisque is made, a kind of lobster soup.
Experience shows the following: rinse the lobsters well in advance. When cooking the lobsters, make sure that you throw them one by one in plenty of boiling water, starting with the largest and then let the lobsters cook for about 5 minutes. Remove the lobsters with a slotted spoon, place them on a plate and let them cool for a while. Then you can peel them. Some salt on top or a garlic sauce with it turns out to be tasty.
For lobster soup, boil the lobsters first, then peel them and set them aside. Save the stock. Sauté some vegetables and herbs such as onion, tomato, fennel, red pepper and garlic and finally add the peeled lobsters. Then pour in the stock. Let it simmer and puree the soup after about 45 minutes. Then add some reserved shelled lobsters. Season it with salt and pepper.
Another option is to roast the lobsters on the barbecue or grill, bake them, put them through the pasta or in a smoker. You can actually prepare anything with American crayfish that you do with other lobsters or shrimps.
Enjoy the American crayfish!