# Crawfish Transportation?



## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I know that it is against the law to transport live animals from the water, but there are times that I dont want to cook up crawdads at the lake and I'd like to eat them at home another day.

I have heard that crawdads will become toxic if you just kill them and throw the whole carcass on ice. So my question is: can I take the tail off and throw it on ice and cook it later, or is it best to just cook them and transport the tails home?

Also, is it true that the crawfish poison themselves before they die?


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## KennyC (Apr 28, 2010)

I don't know if they poison themselves before they die or not but either way I am still alive and I have eaten pounds of those things. Frankly I really likem just a lot of work. I don't think the law has changed but you can remove the tail portion and discard the remainder of the body. This will make them transportable.

The good book states: Use of live crayfish for bait is legal only on • the water where the crayfish is captured. It is unlawful to transport live crayfish away from the water where they were captured.

So as long as they are dead; and I am pretty sure when you pull them apart they are dead this applies.


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## manysteps (Sep 28, 2009)

I read a book on cooking crawfish years ago, and it said to stab them right in front of the tail which will kill them instantly to avoid whatever it is that they do when they die.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

Bax* here is a link to some good info from DWR. http://wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/crayfish.php


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Thanks for the info guys.

Cooky, thanks for the link. I read through the crawfish preparation portion and it doesnt appear that they poison themselves, but it appears that meat preservation requires some care. 

I have always cooked them lakeside, so I never really needed to transport them until now.

Thanks for the insight!


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

We need to go catch a mess of them this year man! I have yet to eat any of them. As far as transportation, I have heard that they do need to be dead. I know a lot of people like to eat the whole thing, but removing the vein in their tail and then removing the tail seems to be the best way to transport the most edible parts. Like you said, gotta be careful to not spoil the meat. A mess of crayfish sounds super tasty right now! Let's go soon!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

The important part is the decrapification process! Rock the middle fin of the tail to each side then pull out and the crap vein will come right out.


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## sinergy (Mar 6, 2008)

You can also can purge the crayfish before transporting them it does require freshwater. So you will need to either take up a few gallons of water or find an area with facilities like strawberry. Basically the crays with close there gills when there pulled out of water trapping dirt or silt in the gills. 

Take a bucket fill with clean water, add a cup of salt they will spit out the dirt thats trapped in there gills.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I have heard about the purging process, but never really figured out how beneficial it would be. Seems that de-turding them is the most important, but maybe that will help with the gritty feel they get?

Has anyone else noticed that depending on where they come from, they have different textures? East Canyon crawdads seem to be gritty, and Scofield crawdads seem pretty clean but a little more firm in texture.


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## sinergy (Mar 6, 2008)

Definitely devein them thats goes without a doubt but you will be amazed on the amount of dirt that ends up in the fresh water even after you got them cleaned and rinsed off.


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

I'm loving these crawfish posts!! I'll never eat a crawfish if it has died even minutes before I cook it. Seafood of that size spoils so fast it is unreal. This law would make me not want to eat crawfish if I have to kill them before I transport them home. If there is no way around this I will not even consider catching them in Utah!!
Take my advise here, I've prolly eaten atleast 2,000 pounds of crawdads in my life and caught most of them!!
As far as the purging YES it helps big time, it is not even an option just do it!! It not only cleans the dirt out of the gills and that keeps the water that you boil them in from turning into a mudbath but if you purge them all day it causes them to poop most of the intestine out and that makes them taste way better as well. 
If you need to take the head off of them to transport them which kills them they are now worthless!!
Throw them on ice and they "die", but don't drowned them in melted ice in the bottom of the chest !
Once you get them home purge them, they wake back up. You can even freeze them live and when you thaw them they will come back to life, pretty freaky to see!

let them purge and change the water a few times. Once the water is pretty clean then you want to season a big pot of water with TONS of seasoning like cayene and salt and lemon. If you can find it up here get Zaterains crab boil. while you are at it throw some good deer and wild boar sausage in that water, maybe some onions and potatoes but you gotta put the sausage in it!!
Bring that water up to a ROLLING boil and then add your LIVE not dead crawfish. The heat kills them instantly but you don't have to worry about food poisoning!! Let the water come back to a boil for about 3-5 minutes and then turn the fire off, move the pot off the heat and let them soak for about 1 hour (soaking them is VERY important).
Now pop the head off, peel the tail out, pull the vien out but make sure you don't leave the crawfish butter (fat) inside the head!! Dip that tail in a ****tail sauce and tear it up!! Goes well with Budlight!!
I've done this a my whole life, trust me you will love it!!! As for a gritty taste, that is do to not preparing them right, they should be as good as a king grab leg!!
The area you catch them in does cause some to be dirty ( requires a long purge) or clean ( needs a shorter purge). Purge till the water stays clear and they will all taste great. If you aren't purging then they are just mudbugs!!


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## hardman11 (Apr 14, 2012)

if you break off the tail and throw the rest live body back it will grow a new tail


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