More unwanted visitors...Mudbugs

[Valerie Johnson]

We have ponds in our back yard which have lots of small fish, frogs, a few turtles and even giant water bugs but I did not know they had crayfish in them, Well evidently with all the rain we have had lately the resident crayfish(crawfish/mudbugs ) have decided that they like our inground pool as much as our ponds, While it is not uncommon to find frogs, toads and even an occasional turtle in our pool and we even had a pair of mallard ducks visit and a grey fox actually fell in once I just never figured crayfish would manage to make their way into the pool but in the last week I have fished out 2 different  crayfish. Anyway...here are some pics
Mother nature always amazes me

[Lee Bowen]

Whee doggies! A couple more weeks and it's a crawfish boil.  Mm Mm good. ;D

[Duke Gilleland]

Would like to have about 5 pounds of them suckers! [smiley=TFRFA1045.gif] [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Valerie Johnson]

Now I am wondering how many are actually in my ponds...I may have to set a few burlap bags with kerosene soaked bricks out.
I have seen a few mud castles but originally thought they were voles...now I am wondering...yes I love steamed mudbug :D

[Lee Bowen]

5 pounds is a good taste test. We generally start with at least 3 sacks (roughly 105 to 120 pounds) with the obligatory onions, potatoes, corn, sausage, mushrooms, jalapenos, etc, all washed down with the breakfast of champions.  Too bad the commercial crawfish season in Texas only runs from January  to June.  I managed to attend three boils this year, so my mudbug fix should last until season cranks back up. 8-)

[Valerie Johnson]

Sounds good but I like my crabs,lobsters,crawdads steamed with just a tiny bit of old bay seasoning

[Lee Bowen]

Zatarains crawfish and shrimp boil bags and Louisiana crawfish and shrimp seasoning (in the yellow bag),  Season to taste. Add Parkay to boil (makes the tail easier to get out of the shell) and to cooler when you empty the bugs into it.  Shake well and let rest for about 30 minutes.  Load up a beer flat and dig in.

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

So, what is the proper etiquette? Do you eat the tail and then suck the head? Or, pinch the tail, suck the head, and then eat the tail?

[Lee Bowen]

I really don't know whether Miss Manners or Julia Childes covered the proper way to eat mudbugs, but after I got over the idea of "sucking head" (and several ice cold cans of "The Breakfast of Champions") my older brothers showed me how they had been taught, now more than fifty years ago.  I pull the tail off the head, suck the head till the eyes cave in, pinch the tail and use my teeth to pull out that tasty morsel of crawfish meat and wash it all down with an ice-cold Bud.  My wife takes the tail off the body, peels the hull off the meat, using a butter knife or a fork, eats it and throws the head away.  It is also possible to harvest the meat out of the pinchers of the larger bugs, like the ones that Valerie showed us. 
    The lady that baby-sat us while my parents were working would give all of us kids a long tomato stake, a piece of string, a rusty nail and a bacon rind and then send us out to the ditches along her driveway that stayed full of water until mid-summer and we would catch crawfish all day long.  When Mother came to pick us up, we'd take the 5-gallon bucket(s) of bugs home, peel the tails, and Mother would fry them, some taters and a skillet of tomato gravy, and we'd eat like royalty.
    No matter how you cook them or how you eat them, crawfish are haute cuisine.  Just ask Troy Landry or Bobby Flay.
   :D  [smiley=5158.gif]

[Duke Gilleland]

If he had still been around, Justin Wilson could have told you! [smiley=thumbsup.gif] [smiley=TFRFA1045.gif]

[Lee Bowen]

I imagine that Jerry Clower could have added a few pointers, also.  I Googled for instructions on eating crawfish, and found several videos on youtube with instructions for the proper way to eat them, as well as several songs dedicated to the Cajun freshwater lobster. I do know that crawfish  seem to have a better flavor when listening zydeco music performed by the likesFiddling Frenchie Burke, Doug Kershaw, Wayne Toups, Ronnie Richardson, Rosie Ledet, Rocking Sidney (author and original artist to release "My Toot Toot"), Jo-El Sonnier, and even Dr. John.  The list of zydeco bands and performers is endless.
       Of course, if any crawfish aren't eaten the day of the boil, ice them down overnight, peel the tails and collect as much of the fat as is possible, and freeze them.  Thawed out, they make great etouffee,  gumbo, or the quintessential crawfish pie.  Enjoy.