# Caught These Monsters



## Brettix (Oct 21, 2007)

Went yabbying this morning and caught these monsters only got 2.
They are a bit dirty and have lots of parasites so im going to treat them.
They look like they will turn out bright blue when they are cleaned up.
Glad my fingers didn't get in the way of these big girls.


----------



## falconboy (Oct 21, 2007)

Geez, I didn't know they grow that big. They are freshwater yabbies? Does that mean the ones in my 1.5ft fish tank will grow that big???


----------



## Viridae (Oct 21, 2007)

Jesus, they are big and dirty.


----------



## bylo (Oct 21, 2007)

mate there huge 

what species are they ??


----------



## Brettix (Oct 21, 2007)

falconboy said:


> Geez, I didn't know they grow that big. They are freshwater yabbies? Does that mean the ones in my 1.5ft fish tank will grow that big???


Theres alot of different species they all grow different sizes,prob not the ones you have these have big spikes all over their tails.


----------



## Helikaon (Oct 21, 2007)

Brettix said:


> Theres alot of different species they all grow different sizes,prob not the ones you have these have big spikes all over their tails.


 

i had a normal blue claw that got bigger then that, im not sue how big red claws get, i tried to establish a breeding olony in our dam but there must have been some blues in their still cause they all dissapeared.

H.


----------



## grimbeny (Oct 21, 2007)

I love yabbying the old fashioned way (string net and a chunk of meat) I havnt done it in a fairly long time but i remember a fewtimes in my childhood catching yabbies by the bucketload. They were the smoothed body ones (like the ones in the pet shops but not blue obviously). We definatly caught some big ones maybe not quite that size but definatly comparable.


----------



## Brettix (Oct 21, 2007)

bylo said:


> mate there huge
> 
> what species are they ??


Dont know greg,they are vey blue just very dirty.
They could be blue marrons


----------



## Helikaon (Oct 21, 2007)

grimbeny said:


> I love yabbying the old fashioned way (string net and a chunk of meat) I havnt done it in a fairly long time but i remember a fewtimes in my childhood catching yabbies by the bucketload. They were the smoothed body ones (like the ones in the pet shops but not blue obviously). We definatly caught some big ones maybe not quite that size but definatly comparable.


 

hahah yeah i developed a way to catch yabbies like that, what we did is we got a big ceramic pipe thing, and we'd stick the in the water and pass the fishing line with the chunk of meat down through the pipe. get a yabby grabbing it and you'd pull him in slowly till he was in the pipe and the cover the end and bring him in. :lol: though i was also a silly child who used to stick his arm down their hole and pull em out. oh so many time did i get nipped


----------



## slim6y (Oct 21, 2007)

what's the treatment you use?


----------



## Joshua VW (Oct 21, 2007)

And I thought the ones I last caught were big.
Where were you when you caught those?


----------



## Brettix (Oct 21, 2007)

slim6y said:


> what's the treatment you use?


Might try mela fix as its very gentle on my fish so will try it on them.
She has a tail full of eggs so i might treat her after they hatch as i dont want to kill the eggs.


----------



## Brettix (Oct 21, 2007)

Joshua VW said:


> And I thought the ones I last caught were big.
> Where were you when you caught those?


Arr thats a secret,lol


----------



## PhilK (Oct 21, 2007)

Face only a mother could love! But still very very cool. Would taste excellent on the barbie


----------



## Jozz (Oct 21, 2007)

maybe freshwater crays?


----------



## sockbat (Oct 21, 2007)

They're huge!!!!! I've never seen them that big.


----------



## Joshua VW (Oct 21, 2007)

Hope the eggs hatch ok.


----------



## Brettix (Oct 21, 2007)

Joshua VW said:


> Hope the eggs hatch ok.


Thanx joshua hope so too.


----------



## reptyle (Oct 21, 2007)

i think you may find they are a type of marron.
do a seach on them. theres a few different types and they grow very big like yours.
just a guess though....may be wrong.
nice catch!!!


----------



## Brettix (Oct 21, 2007)

yes that what im thinking.cheer rep


----------



## RevDaniel (Oct 21, 2007)

Very impressive Brett.


----------



## wicked reptiles (Oct 21, 2007)

Brettix said:


> Might try mela fix as its very gentle on my fish so will try it on them.
> She has a tail full of eggs so i might treat her after they hatch as i dont want to kill the eggs.



Correct me if I'm wrong, but it isn't it illegal to take yabbies if they have eggs? But otherwise they are some beuts, I have only ever caught one that big, and it looked exactly like that, except a bit cleaner, I just saw it in the entrance of its hole and i got a spade and net and stuck the shovel through its hole behind it and put the net in front and made him swim into it, but I usually use traps, I am presuming you use opra house traps?


----------



## bitey (Oct 21, 2007)

They are monsters alright , sure beats anything we ever caught as kids.


----------



## Recharge (Oct 21, 2007)

people who call them yabbies should be shot 
damn nice size tho


----------



## JasonL (Oct 21, 2007)

They are spiny crays, might be protected? can't remember....?, I know they can't be sold in aquariums. They arn't worth eating anyhow, not much in their squat tail. They usually have small leaches on them. Yabbies (destructor) arn't found east of the divide unless they have been intoduced.


----------



## gillsy (Oct 21, 2007)

Whateve ryou tream them with be careful.

Alot of those treatments contain copper sulfate which is great for parasites as it kills any inverts, which of co**** includes crustaceans. 

So just read the ingrediants, its more commonly found in marine treatments but can be in fresh.


----------



## Magpie (Oct 23, 2007)

I caught 112 good eating redclaw over the weekend.
No pics this time but here's some from the last trip.













I find the parasites are best treated by boiling salted water.


----------



## waruikazi (Oct 23, 2007)

Aren't they a protected species?


----------



## waruikazi (Oct 23, 2007)

Mags

Do you find the weather affects the ammount of red claw you catch? I tend to only manage to get them up here when the weather is really really cold. I would have thought it was getting too hot around Cairns area to still gt them in good numbers.


----------



## Magpie (Oct 23, 2007)

Nah Gordo, never found that. The dam I catch them in is up on the tablelands though and water temp is still only 23C.


----------



## Moreliaman (Oct 23, 2007)

Now thats big crayfish...



Can you eat them ? What do they taste like ?


----------



## Colin (Oct 23, 2007)

when I've been camping up past Putty on the Macdonald River and we've run out of food have eaten freshwater yabbies like those. 
they were covered in leaches as well  

they tasted putrid in my opinion and would only eat them if I was literally starving


----------



## Helikaon (Oct 23, 2007)

Colin said:


> when I've been camping up past Putty on the Macdonald River and we've run out of food have eaten freshwater yabbies like those.
> they were covered in leaches as well
> 
> they tasted putrid in my opinion and would only eat them if I was literally starving


 

mew and my brother had a tonne in our dam back home and we foudn if you caught them and kept them in clean water for a few days before eating them they tasted much much better. 

but ours never had any parasties on them


----------



## Colin (Oct 23, 2007)

Helikaon said:


> mew and my brother had a tonne in our dam back home and we foudn if you caught them and kept them in clean water for a few days before eating them they tasted much much better.
> 
> but ours never had any parasties on them





ok. maybe thats what we did wrong. we coooked them up .as soon as we caught a bunch of them. It was summer and the river water levels were down and I guess thats why they tasted like mud flavoured with an old boot.


----------



## Brettix (Oct 24, 2007)

wicked reptiles said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but it isn't it illegal to take yabbies if they have eggs? But otherwise they are some beuts, I have only ever caught one that big, and it looked exactly like that, except a bit cleaner, I just saw it in the entrance of its hole and i got a spade and net and stuck the shovel through its hole behind it and put the net in front and made him swim into it, but I usually use traps, I am presuming you use opra house traps?


I am not sure,but i didn't know they even had eggs till i got home and put them in a tank.
No i dont use opra house traps,i just used the old meat on a string trick,its more fun.


----------



## krusty (Oct 24, 2007)

they look very yummy..........


----------



## cris (Oct 24, 2007)

Colin said:


> when I've been camping up past Putty on the Macdonald River and we've run out of food have eaten freshwater yabbies like those.
> they were covered in leaches as well
> 
> they tasted putrid in my opinion and would only eat them if I was literally starving



yeah i ate some C.destructor's out of a water hole and they tasted like pond scum mixed with dirt :lol:

I have also eaten redclaws in and they tasted great(a bit like a prawn but less salty). it would probably depend on what they eat, where they live and how they are cooked.


----------



## scorps (Oct 24, 2007)

they look like spiny crays i thought they are protected


----------



## Pike01 (Oct 24, 2007)

They are Euastacus spinifer,the large Sydney Crayfish, or Large spiny crayfish.I use to catch some whoppers when I was a kid in the seventys,I think they are protected now,cause the big ones are really old and they dont take to over collection too well.


----------



## Inkslinger (Oct 24, 2007)

Recharge said:


> people who call them yabbies should be shot
> damn nice size tho




Why?


----------



## Renagade (Oct 25, 2007)

has any one ever cought marron?? i used to water ski in an irrigation dam near harvey in south west WA. we used to get pretty big ones as a kid. i also cought a beast that was about 1 ft in nannup several years ago.


----------



## Magpie (Oct 25, 2007)

Renagade, we used to go marroning down near Dwellingup at least 3 times a year and often to other places as well. We caught one monster one year and checked out the guiness world record, wasn't even close.


----------



## Renagade (Oct 25, 2007)

i heard the legacy of the 3ft marron that was ment to exist near the pilon (deepest part) of the dam. some guy lost the outboard off his boat and went for a dive to get it. apparantly he saw 3 ft marron. i don't know if it's true or if my parents were taking the p**s out of us. i'll check out the world record and see if it stands up. thanks magpie. oh yeah... how good is dwellup. all those little towns along the blackwood river are awesome.


----------



## expansa1 (Oct 25, 2007)

Brettix said:


> Went yabbying this morning and caught these monsters only got 2.
> They are a bit dirty and have lots of parasites so im going to treat them.
> They look like they will turn out bright blue when they are cleaned up.
> Glad my fingers didn't get in the way of these big girls.




These are Spiny Crays and are protected. There are huge fines in Qld and NSW for having or collecting this species! They are an endangered species under the EPBC Act 1992
They don't also survive for long in aquariums.

Cheers.


----------



## mandie (Oct 25, 2007)

imo they are crays, not yabbies, i didn't think yabbies have any spikes on their tails? could be wrong,
Magpies pics look like real yabbies


----------



## mandie (Oct 25, 2007)

opps, didn't see expansals1 reply,


----------



## Inkslinger (Oct 25, 2007)

Recharge said:


> people who call them yabbies should be shot
> damn nice size tho



Just for you

*English *


*Etymology *

Wemba-Wemba (Australian aboriginal language of Victoria) _yabij_Date:1894
*Noun *

*yabby *( _Plural: _yabbies) 

an Australian crayfish, _cheerax destructor _.
( _Australian _) any freshwater crayfish
 *Verb *

*yabby *

to search for yabbies
 *Derived Terms *


yabbying


_*Cherax*_ is the largest and most widespread genus of fully and partially aquatic crayfish in the Southern Hemisphere. Its members may be found in lakes, rivers and streams across most of Australia and New Guinea. In Australia the many species of _Cherax_ are commonly known as *yabbies*. The most common and widely distributed species in Australia is the common yabby (_Cherax destructor_). It is generally found in lowland rivers and streams, lakes, swamps and impoundments at low to medium altitude, largely within the Murray-Darling Basin. Common yabbies are found in many ephemeral waterways, and can survive dry conditions for long periods of time (at least several years) by aestivating (lying dormant) in burrows sunk deep into muddy creek and swamp beds.

*Species*


_Cherax albertisii_
_Cherax albidus_ - yabby
_Cherax angustus_
_Cherax aruanus_
_Cherax barretti_
_Cherax bicarinatus_
_Cherax boschmai_
_Cherax buitendijkae_
_Cherax cainii_ - marron, smooth marron. _(see: C. tenuimanus)_
_Cherax cairnsensis_ - smooth crayfish
_Cherax cartalacoolah_
_Cherax communis_
_Cherax crassimanus_
_Cherax cuspidatus_ - cusped crayfish
_Cherax davisi_
_Cherax depressus_ - orange-fingered yabby, orange-fingered freshwater crayfish
_Cherax destructor_ - yabbie crayfish, Common yabby, Australian yabby
_Cherax dispar_
_Cherax divergens_
_Cherax esculus_
_Cherax glaber_ - koonac
_Cherax glabrimanus_
_Cherax gladstonensis_
_Cherax longipes_
_Cherax lorentzi_ - blue lobster
_Cherax misolicus_
_Cherax monticola_
_Cherax murido_
_Cherax neocarinatus_
_Cherax neopunctatus_
_Cherax nucifraga_
_Cherax pallidus_
_Cherax paniaicus_
_Cherax papuanus_
_Cherax parvus_
_Cherax plebejus_ - koonac
_Cherax preissii_ - koonac
_Cherax punctatus_
_Cherax quadricarinatus_ - redclaw, north Queensland yabby, Australian redclaw crayfish, red claw crayfish
_Cherax quinquecarinatus_ - gilgie
_Cherax rhynchotus_
_Cherax robustus_
_Cherax rotundus_ - rotund yabby
_Cherax setosus_
_Cherax solus_
_Cherax tenuimanus_ - marron, hairy marron
_Cherax urospinosus_
_Cherax wasselli_


----------



## carpetsnake (Oct 25, 2007)

lunch time


----------



## Brettix (Oct 25, 2007)

Thanx inks,i thought all australian crayfish were all called yabbies too.
Great info and proof.


----------



## mattmc (Oct 29, 2007)

dude they are massive although have personally caught larger down south and up north and in my suburb aswell. they also pack a punch when nipped. try not to when your catching them to get bitten. they can seriously take a couple of fingers off at once. 1 have seen atleast 5 about 1.5ft. if seen these ones that were orange/aqua and ones full red and ones full blue
jmt
matt


----------



## herptrader (Oct 29, 2007)

I am glad somebody id'd them and made this point.

Spiny crays are no longer common in the creeks and river systems of eastern Victoria where I used to encounter them. They are certainly not as common as the the old Cherax destructor.



expansa1 said:


> These are Spiny Crays and are protected. There are huge fines in Qld and NSW for having or collecting this species! They are an endangered species under the EPBC Act 1992
> They don't also survive for long in aquariums.
> 
> Cheers.


----------



## PhilK (Oct 29, 2007)

These are bigger! http://147.72.68.29/crayfish/IAA/images/Agouldi.jpg

Are you releasing these, mate?


----------



## herptrader (Oct 29, 2007)

PhilK said:


> These are bigger! http://147.72.68.29/crayfish/IAA/images/Agouldi.jpg



That looks like one of the Murray Crays. I have never seen one of these in real life. A monster like that one could probably take your hand off at the wrist.



PhilK said:


> Are you releasing these, mate?



They looked like they were for the pot which is a bit sad :|


----------

