Redclaw

[Anne-T-Dote]

put the opera house traps in at Forgan Cove. Not many redclaw around, but managed a feed.

[isaac]

Some good size ones there Macca, what were you using for bait?
PS thought you might have chanced the salt early this morn, looked good on the bom. cheers Ben

[Anne-T-Dote]

G'day Ben. I had to work this morning - :'( :'( I took a quick look on seabreeze earlier in the week and at that stage this weekend looked like a write - off. I hadn't checked the forecast again 'till this morning (to see what tomorrow looks like) and it was then that I noticed I should've been out on the water TODAY - lucky I had to work, coz if I had've stayed at home feeling sorry for myself and THEN realised I'd missed out - DOH!!

I'm looking forward to some reports appearing this arvo/tonight.

Ended up taking those redclaw over to Ed & Dee's for dinner. Yeah, some of 'em were whoppers, so even though there was only 14 of 'em, it was more than enough for the 4 of us when cooked up in a creamy cheese sauce on rice - yummo.

[Anne-T-Dote]

and oh yeah - for bait - this time was just a piece of old steak that had been in the freezer for about a year and was once used as a cold pack on an ankle injury :P

[isaac]

bloody work ey! I'm drooling over that recipe ;D

[Anne-T-Dote]

pretty easy recipe Ben


Preparation:

Whack 'em in the freezer in a bowl for 1/2 hour to "put them to sleep", but don't freeze
Pull the claws off
Pull the heads off
Twist off the middle flap at the end of the tail (this pulls the intestinal tract out of the entire tail)
Blanch the tails and claws in boilng salty water
Cut the tails in half and remove meat
Remove all meat from the claws

The amount of time to blanch the tails and claws for is a personal choice. The less time in the water the harder they are to peel, but the greener the meat is for cooking in the frypan, the longer they are in the boiling water the easier they are to peel, but will have less flavour in the dish. (a very short time would be 20 to 30 seconds, a long time would be a minute or two)


Stock:

Put the heads through a food processor
Whack 'em in a pot with one onion, a splash of white wine and enough water to just cover
Boil for 10 - 15 minutes or so
Strain once through a gauze strainer
Strain again through a fine clean cloth

The stock can be boiling away while you're shelling the tails and claws


The dish:

Fry up the meat from the tails and claws in some butter and garlic for about 1 minute
Add the stock - you don't have to put it all in, say 1 cup per dozen crays
Add a touch more white wine
Simmer for a bit - one minute or so
Add some cream, again say 1 cup or so per dozen crays, and reduce the heat - do not boil after cream has been added
Toss in HEAPS of grated cheese - I like the bitey tasty cheeses, like cracker barrel etc. (by "heaps" I mean probably 2 cupfulls per dozen crays) and stir into the sauce as it melts.
Thicken with cornflour dissolved in some more stock if necessary, maintaining low heat and stirring continuously as it thickens
Add salt and pepper to your liking
Serve up on a bed of rice.


Done like this one dozen good crays is enough to feed 4 people

Enjoy

[isaac]

mmmm mmmm....beauty macca [smiley=thumbsup.gif], I'll save that recipe for ron. cheers ben

[Anne-T-Dote]

My pleasure Ben

I've also tried this with green prawns and it works a treat, but as you know salt water crustaceans have a lot more flavour than fresh water ones, so the prawns actually go better in simpler dishes.

Man, you should try my wife's crab soufle - absolutely mind blowing - just ask Ed

[isaac]

stop now please I'm hungry again ;D

[Louis]

A good result.

Well done




Louis

[Piscatorial_Prowle]

Lovely cooked in a bit of garlic and cream served with Jasmine rice

[big_steve001]

hey guys is there any places close to the redlands where i can get a feed of nice crayfish like those. cheers steve

[Always_Sunburnt]

Great catch!!!

I am new to the redclaw game and went out and bought 4 nice new opera house traps last weekend.
A few questions:
-Do you just wade in and put the traps near the bank?
-Do you have floats on your traps?
-What do you look for eg weed, or can you put them in anywhere - I went out to Bullocky's Rest on the weekend and could see no weed, and I don't have a canoe to get out on the dam.
-What can I use for bait ie: pilchards?
-What time is the best?

Sorry about all the questions, but I really want to catch some of the little (or not so little) buggers!!!

Cheers,
Jason

[-spiro-]

macca i tried them out the B/Banks 3 times on the parrot and they wont eat them...buggers i thought i would clean up ;D

[Anne-T-Dote]

G'day Spiro,

I've heard of people trying them as bait for reefies offshore - I even spoke (albeit very breifly) with a couple of guys redclawing at Forgan Cove one night about 4 years ago who were specifically targeting them to use as bait for their offshore trip the following day. You're the first person I've heard say if they actually work or not, so thanks for the info - I was considering giving them a go, but now will just keep throwing them on the barbie or in the pot instead... ;)

[Anne-T-Dote]

G'day Jason,

I don't claim to know the best way to catch them either, but I'm only too happy to share the info on how I got these few - there's got to be literally millions of these things in north pine dam, and considering access is only permitted on a limited few areas of the shoreline, I'll take a stab and say that over fishing them is virtually an impossibility. :-?

Anyway, I note that someone else has answered your questions in another post, but here goes (probably very similar to the others):

1: No need to wade out - just tie about 10-12m of line (light but strong) onto the opera house trap and fling it out as far as you can from the bank, sort of like a frisbee so it spins flat and lands on the water in the upright position. The line sometimes wraps around and around the trap as it spins in the air, so you've got to tie the line down low on the trap and try to get it hanging under the ttrap as it flies. Even tying it in the middle on the underside might work well - but I've never tried this. Remember to hand on to the end of the line with the other hand.

2: No need for floats, just tie it off to a stump or stick or whatever is close by. Remember to have your traps tagged with name etc.

3: They say to look for weed etc, but at the moment there is none because the water level is so low. I just look for the steeper parts of the bank. I'm told the crays generally live in the areas due to ease of borrowing in a more vertical section of the dam floor - but i dunno about this?? I do know that I have caught more in the steeper areas than the shallower areas though.

4: the topic of bait is a greatly debated one. They say they eat just about anything - boiled potatos, soap, meat of any kind - raw or cooked, tins of cat food etc. etc. But I saw on Creek to Coast that raw chicken bones the best. I deceided to put this to the test - I bought some whole raw chicken carcases from the local butcher and chopped them up into about 4-6 smaller bits - one bit in each trap, left overs in the freezer for next time. Well, all I can say is that I've only been redclawing about half a dozen times, and the most successful trip (by far) was the trip with the chicken bones. I've since heard that a whole raw chicken carcase is also the best crab bait - so guess what I'll be trialling next time I go crabbing.. ;)

5: Definately night time is best, either by:
- putting them in, going home to bed and waking up early to go and pick them up (leaving them to the mercy of the pot raiders), or
- starting at sunset and checking them every half hour or 45 minutes 'till whatever time you can manage.
I think summer time is supposed to be the best too - definately more pleasant to be there at night in summer than winter anyway.

Hope this all helps,

Cheers,

Macca

[major-defect]

chickens pretty good but i reckon dog bones are better.In the rivers up here anyway,but in Tinaroo half cooked potatoe.

[Always_Sunburnt]

Thanks for all the tips Macca. I have been out a couple of times using pillies for bait and come back with eight decent ones each time.
Are there pot raiders up there??? That's a real bummer as I had my first crab pot theft a few weeks ago... bastards!!!
I will definately give the chicken bones a trial next time I go up that way. I was thinking of fishing for some gar up there while I wait for the Redclaw? Can you fish for gar at night?? I heard that gar makes great bait.

Cheers!!!

Jason