Always get a lot of Red Claw at the big Dam outside Emerald, Qld. Forget the name of it. My procedure is to throw in 2 pots late afternoon and pull them in next morning. For bait, a can of sardines with holes punched in the top tied inside each pot. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Red Claw are found as far south as Greens Lake where I will be spending a few days mid April. Maybe too cold for them there. Also in Qld., the Govt. stock the Dams with Red Claw so I guess that doesn't happen in Victoria.

GaryKelly wrote:

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Yabbies, I take it.

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 Following is a paper that I put together about catching & eating red claw.

FISHING FOR RED CLAW in SE Qld

Red claw - Cherax quadricarinatus are native to the Gulf of Carpentaria area and some river basins in the far northern part of the East Coast of Qld. They are also prolific as an introduced species in many SE Qld streams & dams.(I would be surprised if they were deliberately introduced by the Govt.)

Traps

Red claw are usually trapped in Opera House collapsible funnel nets.

The traps are available at K mart, Big W, BCF and most fishing tackle stores for around $7-$10 each. Some great ones by Wilson are available for around $10 .. well worth the extra money in my opinion.

Only four traps per person are allowed and must be marked as follows :

• The trap itself must have a tag attached showing the owners surname and address.

• In most cases the trap is fixed to a float (with a recommended 6meters of thin rope). The float must be light-coloured and be a minimum of 15cm in each of its dimensions. The float must be marked with the owners first name and surname.

• There are strict bag limits in their native area but none in South East Qld.

        ( Both the trap and the float must be marked.)

Modifications to the trap -

Fix a plastic cable tie swinging from the inside of the entrance tunnel such that red claw can enter but are restricted from exiting by the cable tie.  A piece if wire will do the same job.

Tie the entrance tunnels to the top of the trap so that they point slightly upwards without unduly distorting the shape of the trap.

When using the traps from a kayak, it is best to permanently fix the 6 meters of thin rope to one end of the float and then make a loop in the trap end so that it can be simply fixed or removed, making it easier to transport several traps (& a large catch of a couple of hundred red claw). I use a bit of 'shrink wrap' tubing over the end of the rope at the knot to keep it from undoing but a Centauri knot or a Buntline hitch will do the job with 'nylon' cord and not come undone.

The rope is always wrapped round the float when transporting and when raising the trap. This eliminates tangles and makes it easier to manage in the confined space of the kayak.

To place the trap, carefully put it in the water on its base and let the rope unwind off the float as the trap sinks right way up, to the bottom.

To ensure that the trap doesn't open inadvertently, a reusable cable tie (e.g. One of the green garden ties) can be fixed to the centre of the trap opening.

Bait.

Red claw are omnivorus

We use a combination of cheap dog biscuit and a piece of water melon or rock melon.

Some use soap. Though I'm not sure that it a good idea to put soap into inland waterways.

Others use small tins of cat food with a few holes punched in the containers.

I have heard that citrus .. orange & mandarins, as well as avocado and over ripe mangoes are said to work well too.

Aniseed or Licorice is reputedly an effective attractant.

The bait is placed in a pouch. Good ones can easily made from small mesh size 'gutter guard'.

The pouch is made by holding each edge in turn in a vice with a strip of metal along the edge with around 5mm of mesh protruding. The edges are then sealed with a heat gun or similar.

After baiting up, the pouch is held closed with a piece of the common green garden tie wire and then fixed to the trap with the same tie wire. It is suggested that the pouch be fixed a bit above the bottom of the trap to lift it out of the mud.

Alternatively, pieces of stocking or panty hose can be tied into pouches to retain the bait.

Placement of the Traps

Of course every fisherman has his or her secret spots & techniques.

This is what worked for us.

Good catches were made in around 3 to 4 metres of water and around structure such as dead trees.

Some favour placing them near reeds and in shallower water.

All those that we talked to believed that best catches were taken overnight. That was our experience too, with daytime catches around 50% of the overnight take.

In any case it is pleasant to paddle a kayak out on the water at sunset to get the day's catch, re-bait & reset the traps.

First light is another great time to be back on the water to repeat the procedure.  Processing can then occur under a shady tree during the day.

Handling the catch in the confines of a Kayak

The main tool is an extra large woven plastic bag similar to the stock feed bags but larger. We got some from Bunnings.

The technique when kayaking is -

Put the bag between your legs. Opening uppermost and rolled back a bit.

Raise the trap and place it near your feet with the openable mouth facing towards you.

Tilt the trap & shake the red claw to the far end.

With the mouth end slightly raised, open the trap clips.

Place the bag opening over the partially open trap.

Lift the far end of the trap & shake the red claw into the bag.

Put the empty trap back on your legs, lift the bag & shake the red claw to the bottom.

Twist the top of the bag to stop the red claw from escaping.

Don't worry if a few fall into the kayak. They won't nip you like crabs or even the tiny salt water yabbies.

They just crawl about & are easily picked up with unprotected fingers. Just look out for the hard spikes on the body.

Processing the catch

You have the choice of Cooking, Blanching or storing Green (raw) red claw.

I prefer to keep a majority green for BBQ-ing in the shell and a few Blanched for curries & the like. Cooked ones are great for instant sandwiches, salads et al.

In any case I prefer to remove the heads & the 'vein'.

To remove the head, wear riggers gloves or similar as they have lots of spikes.

Hold claws & legs in one hand and the body/tail in the other, twist firmly in both directions & lever the tail away from the head.

To remove the black stomach/vein from dawn the back, use a pair of long nose pliers to grasp the centre flipper at the base of the tail. Twist it firmly in both directions to break it from the shell. Carefully pull it away from the tail using a gentle levering action & the vein will come clear.

'Cooking'-

To Blanch

Put the processed red claw in a bucket with a couple of handfuls of cooking salt.

Cover for two minutes with boiling water.

Replace the hot water with salted cold water

Alternatively tip into a large pot of boiling salted water.

To Cook

Bring salted water to the boil.

Tip in the red claw.

When the water comes to the boil again, remove from heat source & leave for 1 minute.

Replace the boiling water with salted cold water.

The meat becomes tough if overcooked.

Peeling -

Crush the shell of cooked or blanched redclaw by applying sideways pressure along the body.

Remove the top part of the shell.

Squeeze the tail portion from the rear to force the meat out.

Cooked flesh will have a pink tinge in places and blanched flesh is white. Green flesh remains translucent.

Note... Unless the red claw is cooked, blanched or chilled, the meat will stick to the shell & a very messy process of using a thin filleting knife under the shell will be required to extract the flesh.

Packaging

If you don't have a cryovac machine at hand ..

Place the processed red claw in cold water.

Half fill a zip lock sandwich bag so that the red claw are lying flat.

Pour a little bit of salted water into the bag.

Hold the bag in a bucket of cold water, with the top just above the water level & around three quarters zipped closed.

Carefully massage the bag to expel as much air as you reasonably can.

Close the zip lock.

Volar! Almost as good as cryovac .. & the salt water will help keep the flesh moist.

You can do the same with green unpeeled red claw but you will need to be careful that the spikes don't peirce the bags.

Recipes

Any recipe that is used for prawns is great for red claw.

I reckon that the simpler recipes are often the best.

e.g.

For a BBQ -

Split the green unpeeled tail in two lengthways with a strong sharp knife inserted in the centre of the back.

On the hot BBQ plate or frying pan, mix butter (for flavour) & olive oil, chilli jam*, garlic, salt & pepper.

Place the split tails flesh side down for around 1 minute.

Turn onto shell side down & sprinkle a little bit of crumbed parmesan cheese & a little chopped green (parsley, chives, shallots or whatever).

Again cook for a maximum of 1 minute. Until the shell just turns pink.

Eat by removing flesh with a fork. Some may wish to add a drop or two of Tabasco.

An alternate for a BBQ entree .. put the usual butter, chillie jam, olive oil & garlic in a hot pan for a few minutes.  Add a cup or so of cream & a liberal glugg or three of sweet chillie sauce.  A little salt & pepper and some de shelled blanched red claw.  Cook slowly for a few minutes.  Serve in lettuce cups with lashings of the cream sauce from the pan.

As a Sandwich -

Cooked tails cooled & sliced in two lengthways, on a bed of lettuce (or rocket if you like) with salt & pepper and a dash of vinegar, or lime juice, between slices of fresh bread.