Hold up! Hold up! I've just learned something epically new and it blows my absolute mind to smithereens. Growing up as a kid I would spend hours at local dams, creeks, water ways, anything inland with a body of water catching yabbies.
This fresh water crustaceans are everywhere, although recently their numbers are reducing. Given the growing water pollution I can understand. But they're still out in the bush and a great way to have fun.
You might be thinking, why would I think they're everywhere? Well for a few reasons. When I was a kid I thought these things manifested out of thin air. Stay with me here.
If I dig a hole, in the outback, maybe a bit bigger than a hole. Lets just make it. If I build a dam even like a 3x3 or 1x1 meter damn in the bush somewhere, anywhere. Come back 6months later and there would be yabbies in it.
How the Frick, does a animal that lives in water end up in a damn where the daily temps are 35 degrees Celsius in the middle of no where?
Fortunately, I'm an adult now and I know abit more, but I'm still blown away by them.
What are Yabbies?
In short, the Yabbie is a fresh water shrimp (according to google) I think this impacts its uniqueness. I'm going to label it the Supreme Leader of crayfish. You'll see why soon.
The Australian Yabby has the ability to change it's colour depending on it's environment. If the water is crystal clear it will be blue, if it occupies muddie creeks or rivers it will be brown or like the one I have here (might be hard to see) they were caught in the outback in a constructed damn in red soil so they appear red.
Yabbies tend to be 10 - 20cm in size but can reach upto 30cm in length. Happy days if you get one that size lots of meat!
So how do they get to remote areas?
Here's the amazing thing! These Aussies are climatised. They're mainly nocturnal so they leave their waterways at night (probably safer) and they can walk across the ground a whopping 60kms. That's huge! They also don't like the cold. If temps drop below 16 degrees Celsius. They go into hibernation.
They also use their pincers and dig holes in the ground and burrow to sleep and wait for water or warmer weather. So these things don't even need to live in water? I dunno. They're in water but don't need it to survive.
Literally, if a damn completely dries up. This does happen as sometimes these guys dig deep holes at the bottom of a dam which acts as a drain and the damn will empty. (Annoying if you have live stock that needs the water)
But, these crustaceans will wait, buried deep under the ground with no water, dry and waiting for the rain for several years.
So how do you catch them
There are plenty of ways to catch them. The best is by putting a small piece of meat on the end of string, securing the other end to the bank (tightly as they will grab the bait and run) and throwing the meat in and waiting on the bank with a beer.
Doesn't take long, when they grab the bait they will run off with it and the line will make a "twing" sound. Usually within minutes. These guys don't even like meat. They prefer plant based diet but for some reason, they like to clear meat out of their area.
You slowly pull the line in, they don't give a shit. They don't let go. Quite often you'll remove the line and the yabby will still be holding it. It will 100% want to fight you. It is an Aussie. Doesn't care it will lose. It will cut you open with its claws before it dies. DON'T GO NEAR THE CLAWS.
Rinse repeat and eat.
boring easier way
Boring easier way, get a yabby net. Put some meat in the middle, I find chicken works better. My cousin used lamb, it didn't work out to well. Cooked chicken had me bringing them in like no tomorrow.
After about a minute, in the water we caught one. You can leave it in there for a few hrs. If you do that you might end up with too many and then have to scramble putting some back while 20 or 30 lil bustards try to cut you to pieces with their pincers. Oh yes. Make sure you put them in the water and not near you on the bank. They may chase you. They move faster in water but pretty decent on land too. If you don't move it will get you.
Had a ball teaching my lil one how to catch them. We also brought in this baby whose pincers weren't fully developed and didn't have any strength to get me.
If you're in Australia, 100% grab a bear, head to a water way and throw in a line for these awesome crustaceans.
They taste great too! I won't tell you how we cook them, you can find that one out yourself.
Oh and if you stand in a damn barefoot for some time, these lil critters will come taste your toes so you can pick them up from your feet quite easily. Just not recommended, I did this as a kid and one grabbed my toe. It hurt. Had to rip him off, his claw still attached to my toe and then pry the pincers open. Was painful.