Signal Crayfish

[Alec Powell]

Hi guys,
Just started coarse fishing again after a long absence. I'm mainly
fishing the Thame, (not Thames :-), at Chiselhampton and Cuddesdon, here
in Oxfordshire. Great little river with a lot to offer. However, as with
a lot of rivers around this way it is infested with Signal Crayfish.
(Not supposed to take them in the Thames area BTW, but they are tasty!
:-)
Anyway, they seem to feed at early evening and dusk and I have noticed
the fishing going very quiet when this happens.
Question for all you learned types: Is there a connection in this or is
it just my imagination?
Pity this happens as I've been enjoying my return to coarse fishing
after fly fishing for the last few years. Work prevents any fishing at
other time of the day :-(
Thanks for your time,
Alec

[Phil.L]

Alec Powell wrote:
: Hi guys,
: Just started coarse fishing again after a long absence. I'm mainly
: fishing the Thame, (not Thames :-), at Chiselhampton and Cuddesdon,
: here in Oxfordshire. Great little river with a lot to offer. However,
: as with a lot of rivers around this way it is infested with Signal
: Crayfish. (Not supposed to take them in the Thames area BTW, but they
: are tasty! :-)
: Anyway, they seem to feed at early evening and dusk and I have noticed
: the fishing going very quiet when this happens.
: Question for all you learned types: Is there a connection in this or
: is it just my imagination?
: Pity this happens as I've been enjoying my return to coarse fishing
: after fly fishing for the last few years. Work prevents any fishing at
: other time of the day :-(
: Thanks for your time,
: Alec

I dont know a lot about crayfish i'm afraid, but is there no other waters
you could use?
have a look at http://www.fisheries.co.uk/ and see if theres one near you,
or think about joining a local AA and using their waters.
If you still want to fish the river, and especially at these times of day,
it seems your going to be plagued by crayfish, and i cant think of anything
to change that.

[Arthur]

Post by Phil.L
: Hi guys,
: Just started coarse fishing again after a long absence. I'm mainly
: fishing the Thame, (not Thames :-), at Chiselhampton and Cuddesdon,
: here in Oxfordshire. Great little river with a lot to offer. However,
: as with a lot of rivers around this way it is infested with Signal
: Crayfish. (Not supposed to take them in the Thames area BTW, but they
: are tasty! :-)
: Anyway, they seem to feed at early evening and dusk and I have noticed
: the fishing going very quiet when this happens.
: Question for all you learned types: Is there a connection in this or
: is it just my imagination?
: Pity this happens as I've been enjoying my return to coarse fishing
: after fly fishing for the last few years. Work prevents any fishing at
: other time of the day :-(
: Thanks for your time,
: Alec
I dont know a lot about crayfish i'm afraid, but is there no other waters
you could use?
have a look at http://www.fisheries.co.uk/ and see if theres one near you,
or think about joining a local AA and using their waters.
If you still want to fish the river, and especially at these times of day,
it seems your going to be plagued by crayfish, and i cant think of anything
to change that.

Alec, seems to me they are always on the feed, I wasn't aware they had
favourite times.
I was speaking about this with an EA bailiff a while ago and he pointed out
the Catch22 nature of this problem. You cannot take them for the plate
without a license, and you are certainly not allowed to return them as that
would be stocking a non-native species without permission. However, you do
have the choice of killing them or obtaining a (FREE) license from the EA
which would allow you to take them.
A trick to minimize the problem is to drop a substantial ball of bait in the
margins at your feet in attempt to draw them away from the area you are
fishing - has worked well for me on the Kennet. Better still, get your
license and use the bait in a trap, the more you take the happier I'll be.

[Marlow]

Post by Arthur
Alec, seems to me they are always on the feed, I wasn't aware they had
favourite times.
I was speaking about this with an EA bailiff a while ago and he pointed out
the Catch22 nature of this problem. You cannot take them for the plate
without a license, and you are certainly not allowed to return them as that
would be stocking a non-native species without permission. However, you do
have the choice of killing them or obtaining a (FREE) license from the EA
which would allow you to take them.
A trick to minimize the problem is to drop a substantial ball of bait in the
margins at your feet in attempt to draw them away from the area you are
fishing - has worked well for me on the Kennet. Better still, get your
license and use the bait in a trap, the more you take the happier I'll be.

The day ticket section of the River Lee at Dobbs Weir is plagued (paved)
with crayfish. A couple of weeks ago some professional crayfish catchers
were invited by Lee Valley Authority to come and remove as many as they
could. They concentrated on a couple of hundred yards of the river below
the weir and in one day caught over 200 kgs of the things. I understand
that they are being invited back for another go. In the meantime, since I
can easily catch a dozen or two when fishing, does any one have a good
crayfish recipe? I'm also told there's some sort of 'blue vein' in them
that you must remove to avoid poisoning - any advice?
As for their feeding habits I agree with Arthur, day or night, sunshine or
rain, warm or cold, they always seem to be hungry :-(

[Baal]

Try a Google search for Crayfish or Crayfish recipes. I got these in 20
seconds.

http://www.mackers.com/crayfish/

http://www.utahdiving.com/recipes.htm

Found this bit - Boil for 1 minute, then drain. Twist the middle tail fins
and pull sharply to remove the intestines. Perhaps that's what you are
interested in.

Enjoy!
--

I smile and go off waving
(Amiably) - for that's my way

Baal

Post by Marlow

Post by Arthur
Alec, seems to me they are always on the feed, I wasn't aware they had
favourite times.
I was speaking about this with an EA bailiff a while ago and he pointed

out

Post by Arthur
the Catch22 nature of this problem. You cannot take them for the plate
without a license, and you are certainly not allowed to return them as

that

Post by Arthur
would be stocking a non-native species without permission. However, you do
have the choice of killing them or obtaining a (FREE) license from the EA
which would allow you to take them.
A trick to minimize the problem is to drop a substantial ball of bait in

the

Post by Arthur
margins at your feet in attempt to draw them away from the area you are
fishing - has worked well for me on the Kennet. Better still, get your
license and use the bait in a trap, the more you take the happier I'll be.

The day ticket section of the River Lee at Dobbs Weir is plagued (paved)
with crayfish. A couple of weeks ago some professional crayfish catchers
were invited by Lee Valley Authority to come and remove as many as they
could. They concentrated on a couple of hundred yards of the river below
the weir and in one day caught over 200 kgs of the things. I understand
that they are being invited back for another go. In the meantime, since I
can easily catch a dozen or two when fishing, does any one have a good
crayfish recipe? I'm also told there's some sort of 'blue vein' in them
that you must remove to avoid poisoning - any advice?
As for their feeding habits I agree with Arthur, day or night, sunshine or
rain, warm or cold, they always seem to be hungry :-(

[Phil.L]

Marlow wrote:
<Snipped>
: two when fishing, does any one have a good crayfish recipe? I'm also
: told there's some sort of 'blue vein' in them that you must remove to
: avoid poisoning - any advice?

this is the gut, usually running from head to tail, and will contain,
amongst other things, lots of bacteria.

[leigh holman]

ive been told you need a license to take them for the table. Even the red
signal crayfish. As far as i can tell the license is free from the
enviroment agency.

Post by Marlow
that they are being invited back for another go. In the meantime, since I
can easily catch a dozen or two when fishing, does any one have a good
crayfish recipe? I'm also told there's some sort of 'blue vein' in them
that you must remove to avoid poisoning - any advice?

Twist the head off. Shell them. Run a razor sharp knife down the back
longitudinally and lift out the gut with the tip of the knife. Fry in
butter or olive oil with garlic and/or chillies. When cooked add some
sherry with sufficient cornflour to thicken the sauce.
Otherwise look for prawn recipes.
R

[Alec Powell]

Post by Arthur
Alec, seems to me they are always on the feed, I wasn't aware they had
favourite times.
I was speaking about this with an EA bailiff a while ago and he pointed out
the Catch22 nature of this problem. You cannot take them for the plate
without a license, and you are certainly not allowed to return them as that
would be stocking a non-native species without permission. However, you do
have the choice of killing them or obtaining a (FREE) license from the EA
which would allow you to take them.
A trick to minimize the problem is to drop a substantial ball of bait in the
margins at your feet in attempt to draw them away from the area you are
fishing - has worked well for me on the Kennet. Better still, get your
license and use the bait in a trap, the more you take the happier I'll be.

Thanks for this Arthur and all the others that replied to this thread. I
fished the Thame the other day and the problem seems to be as bad as
ever! I took your advice and wrote to the EA Fisheries Officer in
Reading to find out about a licence. I quite relish the idea of trying
to keep the numbers down whilst providing ourselves of some tasty food.
BTW do you fish the Kennet near Reading? Haven't done so for some years
but it used to be good water, (Barbel?).
I'll let you know how I get on :-)
Cheers,
Alec