crawfish on paste - is this normal?

[Keith M]

We used to empty the crayfish nets every few days.

Keith

 

[S-Kippy]

They are with a bankstick or heel of a boot

Not all of them. I once stomped a brute of a thing into the mud and still it tried to have a go at me. Like the Black Knight in Monty Python & the Holy Grail.

"Tis but a scratch"

 

[rich66]

They are with a bankstick or heel of a boot

Yep a size 8 boot usually does for the sods!

We have Turkish ones in our club waters, one cut my hand with its pincers a couple of weeks back. Nothing major but enough to draw blood

 

[steve2]

A few years ago following a pollution on a local stream the EA estimated that 30000 cray fish died as well as most of the fish.
One thing always puzzled me is just how did they spread so fast even to water with no river connections,
I have heard rumours that anglers deliberately planted them in some rivers to boost the size of chub and barbel.

 

[Ray Roberts]

One of my club waters was absolutely infested with them. About three years ago they got a professional trapper in and he trapped five huge polystyrene fish boxes of them. The trapper couldn’t have trapped them all but the population collapsed and they have not so far reappeared in any significant numbers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rayner]

Good luck with that. I certainly wouldn't mess with a trap full of signals. Like I said some of them are huge, they are very aggresive and have claws like bolt cutters.....they are not nice things and once they are in a water you'll never get rid of them.

Folk manage very easily with Lobster and Crab, I mean how ferocious can they be. How would you rate them out of ten for being fierce?
Would you liken them in a similar fashion has Jason Statham or more like a Larry Grayson.
Cod came very close to being fished out in our waters I sure crayfish wouldn't stand a chance if our lot were to be let loose on them.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Even the most lively of their species calm amazingly after a couple of minutes immersion in boiling salted water . . . .

Any longer cooking makes them go tough and unpleasant to eat . . . . best when cold with lots of citrus mayo'

There is something of an anomaly in the law inasmuch as an invasive species it is illegal to return them to the water (from whence they came) but also illegal to take them away without a licence . . . . go figure . . . .

 

[steve2]

I never have understood why you need a licence to trap and kill this invasive species.

 

[rayner]

Rod licence holders should be afforded the right to trap them before they spawn. That would surely deplete their number, there could be a short season annually to rid waters of them.
We need to start a movement to that aim.

 

[markcw]

Folk manage very easily with Lobster and Crab, I mean how ferocious can they be. How would you rate them out of ten for being fierce?
Would you liken them in a similar fashion has Jason Statham or more like a Larry Grayson.
Cod came very close to being fished out in our waters I sure crayfish wouldn't stand a chance if our lot were to be let loose on them.

Jason Statham Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris rolled into one,
I know two of those have passed away but you get my drift.
If I had them in a pool I would be stocking big perch and chub to get rid of them.

 

[markcw]

Even the most lively of their species calm amazingly after a couple of minutes immersion in boiling salted water . . . .

Any longer cooking makes them go tough and unpleasant to eat . . . . best when cold with lots of citrus mayo'

There is something of an anomaly in the law inasmuch as an invasive species it is illegal to return them to the water (from whence they came) but also illegal to take them away without a licence . . . . go figure . . . .

Simples as the Meercat says dont take them away, kill the sods on the bank and let the resident wildlife dispose of them .

 

[mikench]

I have a feeling of deja vue . They are an invasive species which eliminate our native crays, eat fish eggs, damage river banks and apart from their takes tasting nice, have no endearing qualities. Eat them or kill them but don't put them back.

Personally I would not bother obtaining a licence which is free as that activity is utterly pointless. If we humans set our mind to it they would be an endangered species in months.

 

[S-Kippy]

Eventually they'll have eaten everything except themselves and.....maybe that's the solution.

 

[rayner]

A few years ago I caught a terrapin with an expander pellet, it was around 8" long. I had really difficulty killing that, I prevailed it took time but be assured it died.
The first obstacle was when I told the bloke in the next peg what I'd caught he came for a look saying I'll put it back for you.
I said you f###ing will not, he tried to kick it in the water as my net was on the floor I said get out you c##t do that and they'll be bother. F##k off or watch me kill it! off he went.

I didn't have a knife apart from a small knife I use for cutting meat, the knife has no point so to stab the terrapin was impossible.
I ended up stabbing the sod with my scissors that proved very difficult, I had the sod trapped in my landing net with my left foot holding it still trying to stab it in the neck, the head as you would expect kept being drawn into the shell making the sod think it had a chance of survival, it was mistaken, the only way I could stab it in the neck was to put my forceps around its neck when it tried to bite my scissors.
I had my foot on the shell with my forceps trapping its head while I stabbed it with my scissors. I finished by having to almost cut off its head, within half an hour it was deceased, I got thanks from the bailiff when he saw the sod, that gave me vindication.
Why folk think they can just let things go because they can't be bothered to look after them is beyond me.