So what do crawfish taste like? I never even thought of eating them.

Let me guess they taste like chicken

Jim, they taste like miny lobsters... what else!  You only eat the claws (if they are big enough) and the best part is the tails.  Infact, the fun is trying to grip the live ones behind the claws without getting clamped on to, breaking each claw off, (they break off easy) and then RIPPING their tails off!!!  Gory but somehow deeply satisfying!!!

Then, on the tail there are 5 end fins.  You take the middle one and break it off, and what ever entrails go down the tail come out with the fin.  Easy cleaning!  When you boil the tails and claws, they all turn orange.  Boil them in Old Bay seasoning powder - and start eating.  Now don't get me wrong - there's a little work to opening and eating them - but I think they are worth it!

As far as taking away from the bass' food resources - believe me, some of these crawfish were so large they probably eat bass for dinner.  I'd like to see the bass that could eat the big ones!  But the lake is crawling with them... and the majority of them only come out at night.  That's the best time to leave the pots out - over night.  

There are several commercial crawfish companies who work Lake Washington - imagine how many they harvest in a season!  And they use dozens of pots - I've seen on the camera as many as 16 pots stretched out over a hundred yards - attached by rope to one another.  Larry saw one pull a line up once near the I-90 bridge and every pot was full.  I don't think my two pots are going to ding the population too bad.

By the way, I found an abandoned line of commericial crawfish traps last year with the camera, (the rope had broken that went to the float, I guess) and the Fish and Game department eventually gave me permission to yank em.  They are round with two openings, but they work!  I've got 16 of them.  If anyone wants a pair of them, (free of course) I'll bring them to the next meeting.  You'll need to get rope (I've never gone deeper than 30 feet) and a bouy, (a can of cat food, a salmon head, or whatever you got that stinks for bait) but then you're in busness!  Let me know...

No, no, no... You don't boil the whole crawfish.  I was talking about getting them out of your live well!  (only the claws and tails) They are still quite alive and quite strangely offended at the fact that you want to rip them in two while still alive.  (Hmmm... go figure!)

I heard that's how they do it down south, ....but I'm a Yankee for sure!

Hey Rev, I might want to take you up on the free trap offer.  I've never had crawfish, but wouldn't mind giving them a try! 

A freind of mine ordered some from Louisiana alive and kept them in a plastic pool for a week till his feast....he still finds discarded shedded shells in his backyard....escapees......

My mom and stepdad freeze shrimp from the saltwater all the time. They clean them, leave them raw, and then freeze the meat with water into a large block of ice. Does anyone know if this is possible for 'dads?

This talk is making my mouth water. If we end up doing this for September, I volunteer to bring a bunch of different hot sauces for our sampling pleasure!

Chris