re: Ok, need the OBs help, first time crawfishing

This post will be long, so if you hadn't taken your adderall, or just flat out can't read long articles, please don't. But seeing those nets brought back wonderful memories for me, so I'd like to write about my crawfishing days as a kid. Hope it doesn't bore y'all, but it'll make me feel good to write it. Also, it may offer some help to the OP.

We moved to LaPlace when I was 12, from Metairie. I'd always loved to hunt and fish even before then, but rarely got to go - only when I went to my Uncle's up in North La. So, we move into this subdivision that ran right through a HUGE swamp. Think big like this...

If you're driving south on 55, and get on 10, just past where they meet, that huge palmetto/cypress/tupelo (few live oaks) swamp that you're looking at to your right (again headed east on 10 now), before you hit the marsh, was essentially the back of our subdivision. Almost true "uncharted" territory. I'd gotten back in there so far that I saw no sign of human intrusion in places. You could pull it up on Google earth, find Somerset Street in LaPlace (it's essentially off of Airline Highway), and look at the swamp behind it. It's massive. We killed squirrels, rabbits, woodcock, lots of wood ducks, a few big big ducks, two hogs, and one deer over the 10 or so years I hunted it consistently. This was in the late 70's and 80's. Basically, I was a 12 year old that had loved to hunt/fish, had been in Metairie, and overnight via a transfer by my dad's company, was thrown into Heaven. Before I got a motorycle, I'd tape my 20guage crack barrel to the handlebars of my bicycle, and ride to the back of the neighborhood, and hunt. Dern near every day of hunting season too. Later, I got a motorcycle, and even later than that, my parents let me drive back there when I was 14, even though I had no license.

Anyway, that swamp held tons of crawfish. The problem was, you can't get geared up to go crawfishing on a bicycle. That same swamp had a highline road that ran from Airline to Lake P. That was essentially the East border of my private swamp. I found out my dad (because of his job) had one of the few keys to the gate that locked it up on Airline, so we could go crawfishing, behind a locked gate, and set up on an actual shell road.

We were all from north la, and didn't know what we were doing. The foreman that worked for my dad was a local, true Cajun guy. He used to go with us, and taught us what to do.

These were some of my fondest memories w/dad as a kid. Usually, one of my Metairie friends would be with me. Some Rummel or Jesuit boy that didn't get out of the city much. They had a blast as well. We'd ride motorcycles, do the work of St. Patrick against a very prolific water moccasin population down that road, all in complete privacy. The goal was to "catch a sack", which I believe was 35# for the sack we had.

Our terrain was pretty much endless ponds, made from the diggings that build the road. So, it was series of ponds, however far it is from Lake P to Highway 61, at right about the Snake Farm/spillway.

Here's what I remembered as far as technique, again, taught by a local guy that actually spoke a good bit of Cajun French, was a winner of two "golden spoons" from the Andouille Festival, and knew what a swamp was about.

1. Get your melt from Jacob's. I think the only thing Jacob's sold back then was melt, andouille, Dixie Beer, and cigarettes. But, per this guy, they had the best melt.

2. Don't be stingy w/the bait. We'd use a piece about as big as the palm of your hand. So, think 5" by 5"

3. Put your nets as close to vegetation as possible, but not SO close that the bottom of the net wasn't for sure firmly on the ground, at all points.

4. After every run, do two things. Squeeze the melt with your hands (to release the blood), and also, muddy the water with your foot in the exact location of where you planned on placing the net.

5. Get yourself a square, floating basket to take on your runs. Dump the run into the floating basket, then dump the runs results into the ice chest.

6. If you lift net, and there's a GDCK in it eating your crawfish, drop net, squeal like a woman, and hall arse.

Side note - this may bring back some memories for the other old folks here.

Back in those days, you could not buy cleaned heads to make bisque. You could get tails, but they were 50/50 as far as getting a rancid batch. So, once a year, we made bisque, as a neighborhood. It took two days. Day one, you'd have a crawfish boil. A bigger one than normal, like two sacks instead of one. You'd do it early as possible too, like everyone done w/eating around 3.

Then, every kid/woman around that wanted in on the bisque sat their the rest of the afternoon and peeled tails, or cleaned heads w/toothbrushes. At the end of the day, you'd have a PILE of peeled crawfish tails. Dipping your hand into the peeled pile and eating some was a capital offense.

The next day (typically a Sunday), the same 3 women (there were 3 families in my neighborhood that participated) spent all day grinding crawfish tails, stuffing heads, making bisque balls, cleaning heads behind the kids that usually didn't do such a great job. They'd get started early Sunday am. By Sunday supper, the number 1, most fantastic creation to ever come out of a kitchen (IMHO) was home made crawfish bisque, that had never been frozen.

It was so time intensive that it was a big joke in my area of the river parishes. If someone invited you over and served you crawfish bisque, they either thought a whole lot of you, or wanted something from you.

In the words of Miiiiister Sppppppppportttz, thank you for reading my post.

quote:

---

TigerTreyjpg

---

Great post.

quote:

---

TigerTreyjpg

---

thanks for posting that...sounds like you have some nice memories...

Hey REB, I'd recommend checking out louisiana sportsman and craigslist, I've seen several posts there before by folks who make and sell them. I was fortunate enough to get some through a trade with a buddy, so I can't necessarily recommend anyone specific.

BTW, care to share your experience out at Sherburn? I've gone once last year and once this year and struck out both times.