Crayfishing

As part of being a seaside dwelling “Antipodean”, almost all kids and adults, families and individuals partake in crayfishing. England has a slightly different method of obtaining these fresh(not salt) water critters, which are not the shy humble creatures that dwell in cracks and smell of salt water, but small vicious beasties with oversized claws and tempers to match. We were fortunate enough recently to start up the ‘sport’ of crayfishing in the local river (Isis, which becomes the Thames) using an array of methods- active and passive. The most successful involved dangling stockings with a stone and a hunk of ‘quality’ fish (6 fillets a pound, care of Saisbury’s) and a scoop net made of another stocking and a wire hoop- 53 over two days (only 1.5 hrs active fishing time), of which there were two monsters worth noting: Prince Albert, a tough character weighing 110 g on day one and Brutus, a one-armed behemoth which would have topped 140g had he not been missing his claw. Attached are a few pics of the catch, and one of James (along with Marnie and Tara) a keen crayfisherman. Truly part of the Oxford experience and the eating afterwards is fantastic! Heading out again today, so watch this space for tales of the next colossus of note…