Can You Catch And Boil Crawdads From Utah Reservoirs To Cook And Eat?

In states like Louisiana they eat crawfish in big boils with corn cob and Cajun seasoning. Utah reservoirs have these crayfish in the water but they are usually called crawdads. Can you eat these crab like creatures like they do in the South?

Crawdads in Utah: A Fun and Legal Harvest

If you have spent any time fishing or swimming in Utah reservoirs, you have seen crawdads climbing around in the rocks. It is legal to harvest crawdads and there isn't any limit. A simple trap made from dollar store wastebaskets can catch handfuls of these water bugs.

This Utah YouTuber has a channel Shandon Bradford Outdoors where he shows you how to easily catch Utah crawdads and then demonstrates how to make a crawdad boil for something that looks straight out of the South.

He takes two wire wastebaskets and zip ties them together. Then he cuts a small hole in each side and places some raw chicken in there. After that, tie a string to it and drop it in the lake near the dam where the rocks give place for crawdads to hide.

Creating the Perfect Crawdad Boil: Ingredients and Seasonings

In Utah, you cannot transfer live crawdads, so you have to dispatch them before you leave the lake. You can do this by putting them in salt water. Place them on ice and bring them home for the boil.

He adds corn, potatoes, sausage, and anything else that will probably taste better than the crawdads, honestly. There are seasonings sold on the internet made just for seasoning crayfish. Add this to the water and boil until done.

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I don't know of anyone who eats crawdads in Utah, but seeing what it looks like when he's finished in the video looks kind of tasty. I would certainly give it a try.