Mountain vs. River Crawdads

I've been interested in going out and laying some traps for some crawdads up in the mountain lakes. I always got the feeling that them being up in cleaner water at altitude the mudbugs would be better tasting. However other folks tell me that the high altitude crawdads have tougher shells, and are more of a pain to cook than their valley cousins. Has anyone tried both and can give me an opinion on which ones are better eating? Now that it's warming up I'd like to get those traps going and see if I can't get a few buckets for the pot. Thanks!

Best crawdad meal I’ve ever had was from traps set in Tahoe. Worst crawdad meal was at a restaurant in Isleton. Their crawdad as came from the nearby Sacramento River.
That’s all I’ve got, and it’s a pretty small sample size

Fallen Leaf Lake yields some tasty little bugs.  I personally think they are leaner and smaller than the bugs we got in Houston and Louisiana.  I've never had the bugs from Sac river.  I catch them in wire minnow traps

My experience is the mountain bugs are smaller and have tougher shells. No noticeable difference in taste for me. I prefer the mountain bugs because they are above the gold mining and presumably have less mercury. I tend to get more from the rivers. It’s a coin flip for 1-2 boils a year.

Hi All,
Love the bugs near tahoe..... get them also at Lake Folsom and my favorite meal is Stampede Kokes and crawdads with a small steak... and either a ripping IPA or a glass of cab.     I think the ones I have got are called signal crays..... I have never gotten them any where else so nothing to compare them to.  Going in three weeks for 4 days and can hardly wait.

Troy

Sounds like an opportunity for a blind test at a FnC, prepare exact same way and report results here.

Tried Pelagic Crabs (tuna crabs) at Pay it Forward one year.  They were salty and yielded little meat. I think Fishmaster1 cooked it for me

It looks like I might have to take a shot at both and compare. Thanks for the Fallen Leaf lake tip. I had heard that Fallen Leaf and Tahoe had quite a few, as did some of the lakes off 88. I get the feeling that I'd prob catch more up in those lakes than I would fishing the Sac directly. Last time I did that I only came up with a handful.  The sloughs are probably more productive. I'd hit the rice fields but from what I understand, most farmers out there charge people to drop traps out there nowadays since the trapping started getting out of hand. Kokes and crawdads sounds like an awesome catch and cook trip!

PM  me for a good location with big clean bugs off I80,,,==

Tahoe has some pretty big and clean tasting mud bugs. Lake Natoma used to have a ton of big tasty ones also; the water is fairly clean, and it’s a cobblestone type bottom, nearly flat across. Commercial guys, who are restricted to moving water, can’t come in  and overfish, like they did the lower Sacto River and Delta.

In my experience, if you're going to trap a lake, you'll need to throw traps where water is coming into a lake, preferably a good amount of year round water with a cobble bottom. (Not saying they aren't everywhere, they are, but better odds!) Signal Craws are my favorite (white blotches on claws, makes them easy to spot) . They're in most water systems from the Sac up to highland stuff and they're non-native so no biggie about taking a ton of them. And if you really find a good honey hole for them, they're large enough to get two solid bites of meat from each claw as well. Red Swamp craws are good, but rarely get them big enough to get claw meat, though some people prefer them for some reason. Clearwater craws rarely get big enough to eat, but they sure make good Spotted Bass bait!

You can also trap crayfish in state wildlife areas. Yolo Bypass WA has rice fields, and trapping near the control boxes near the ends of the checks can be pretty good. I’d have to think Sutter would be good. Also, rice farmers have no more love for crayfish than they do for muskrats, and they will likely give permission to trap private land.

Thanks for all of the reply's and the tips! I've had my traps for a couple of years but I've never really had a chance to use them. I had heard that Lake Natoma had a good number of them, but considering the traffic on that lake I was afraid of leaving my traps out overnight would lead to them getting stolen. Maybe I just need to be creative. I'll be in Stampede over the weekend, maybe I'll give it a try there and see what happens. Thanks again.

I have had great bugs at stampede,,,,aim for 8 feet deep or less in cobbles....