For which crayfish?
In our Poitevin marsh, the Louisiana crayfish reigns in the canals and conches. Its scientific name is Procambarus clarkii . It is an invasive species classified as harmful to the environment. It is therefore authorized to fish for it throughout the year. However, the Louisiana crayfish is active only part of the year. The best time to fish for them is between March and October, when they are most active. In the fall and winter, the Louisiana Crayfish buries itself in its submerged gallery to hibernate and only comes out in the spring when the water temperature becomes more pleasant. It is an invasive species classified as harmful to the environment. It is therefore authorized to fish for it all year round.
A specific regulation
Crayfish fishing is a very simple static fishing, but be careful, not everything is allowed and you must know the regulations in force. Here are a few tips to avoid going home empty-handed and endangering local ecosystems.
The first condition is that you hold a valid fishing permit, which gives you the right to fish with up to six scales, provided that they are no more than 30 centimeters in diameter and that the mesh size of the net is greater than 10 millimeters. Smaller meshes are not allowed to prevent small fish, sometimes protected species, from being caught. If this happens, they must be released immediately.
The daily pass costs 13 euros, the weekly pass 33 euros, the discovery pass under 12 years old 6 euros. For young people between 12 and 18 years, it will cost 21 euros. The discovery card for women is 35 euros and for all adults, the fishing card is 78 euros and the inter-federal card for adults EHGO 2022 is 100 euros.
To fish this small freshwater lobster, you must already know the opening and closing dates. For American crayfish, in waters classified as second category, it is all year round. It is forbidden to fish for crayfish at night, it is necessary to respect the legal hours which go from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, but exact tables are provided by the fishing federations.
You should not exceed a total of 6 scales per angler and be careful not to catch them by hand directly in the river or stream, as this is considered poaching.
Material and baits
This fishing is practiced with scales of 30 cm in diameter maximum (6 per fisherman) and meshes of 10 mm minimum. A forked stick or a simple forked stick will allow to put and to raise delicately the scales in the water. Crayfish have an excellent sense of smell and it only takes a few minutes, 5 minutes on average, for the first crayfish to enter the scales placed at the bottom of the water and start eating your bait.
There are several types of baits to fish crayfish. Mainly, we use meat baits: liver, tripe, dog food...
The literature gives multiple recipes ranging from meat to fish to put on the bottom of the scale. One of the simplest recipes, inexpensive and without problems of conservation of bait is to use dog food. You just have to pierce them in the center to pass the string to connect the scale.
Action and best fishing spots
In the Marais Poitevin, the Louisiana crayfish is present in all the canals, but some places are better suited than others to this fishery. Although expanding throughout the territory, the Louisiana crayfish nevertheless has some predators in the calm waters of the marsh. This is the case of the grey heron, the otter, the stork and freshwater predators such as the pike, the black bass or the eel.
The population of Louisiana crayfish is therefore quite well regulated naturally in maintained canals, which have a bottom and thus a developed ecosystem. On the other hand, the Louisiana Crayfish likes to take refuge in places that are less accessible to predators, such as canals that are very silted up with barely 30 centimeters of depth and not maintained, and which thus reveal numerous possible hiding places.
To fish, nothing could be simpler, gently place the baited scale on the bottom of the water, wait a good 5 minutes and lift it up with a sharp blow to trap the crayfish that came to eat the bait. Several scales are usually used (up to 6).
Be careful with your fingers, because the claws of the Louisiana crayfish are formidable. Catch them with your thumb and index finger just behind the claws, at the top of the abdomen.
Plating to transport
To transport American crayfish ( orconectes limosus known as American crayfish, pacifastacus leniusculus known as California crayfish or signal crayfish and procambarus clarkii (Louisiana crayfish), you must kill them before transporting them, as they are considered harmful and invasive in our waterways.
The simplest and most radical way is to neuter them. This consists in removing the digestive tube of the crustacean. To do this, you take between your fingers the central part of the tail (called telson), you make a quarter turn in both directions and you pull. The digestive tract comes out of the abdomen. The crayfish dies in a few seconds.
If you release any of them, without neutering them, you will be fined for introducing species likely to cause biological imbalances.
The kitchen
Rinse your crayfish with clear water once or twice and make a court-bouillon. After having plunged them in, cook 8 to 10 minutes after boiling, add a mayonnaise and we pass to the table.
It is in the narrow, shallow channels that the most Louisiana crayfish are found. Crayfish fishing is child's play, and it is quite simple to combine business with pleasure when fishing with family or friends.
