Don't get pinched: Cooking with Inland Crustaceans

Full version of this article is available online at Wide Open Spaces:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/crawdaddin-is-best-in-the-pacific-northwest/

Photo by Colin Walsh

Mudbugs, the rock lobsters of the river. Crawfish, crawdads or crayfish go by many names, but the Pacific Northwest variety is slightly different than the swamp variety commonly associated with the traditional low-country boil cooking style used in roadside tourist attractions, catering for weddings, graduation parties, family reunions and other large social gatherings. While the flavor is more subtle, the native Oregonian signal crayfish grows just as large, if not commonly larger. The claws tend to be much more broad, and the meat inside them is worth the extra effort. The Louisiana swamp varieties have much narrower claws that lack this muscle tissue. The signal crayfish inhabits mostly fast-flowing rivers and can exhibit a variety of colors unlike it's southeastern cousin that mostly inhabits stagnant waters and exhibits a deep red coloration.

Recreational harvesting does not require a license in Oregon and you need very little equipment to collect them from the river. With quick reflexes, you can grab them behind the head, beyond the reach of their claws, but nets are more efficient when they kick their tails and use the current to sweep them out of reach. If you're lacking the ambition of harvesting them manually, traps work well when baited with any sort of oily meat that triggers their sense of smell. Given enough food, they will eventually fill themselves and escape out the same way they came in. Using some sort of mesh bag or pantyhose will keep them busy for hours trying to get the bait inside. Once you've collected your haul, it's good to make sure they stay cool and have fresh water. Get them back to the site where you plan to cook them as soon as possible to prevent them from dying off beforehand.

Once you've gotten them where you plan to cook, put them in a large cooler with just enough fresh tapwater to cover them and roughly a pound of salt. Stir them in the saltwater solution for 5-10 minutes. This will remove the parasites that have attached themselves to these river-bottom creepy crawlers. By now you should have all your ingredients in the boiling pot and a cage that will strain out the goods when the session is over. Once the water reaches a hard boil, net the clean crawfish from the saltwater solution and drop them into the pot... alive. They will begin to turn a bright red color within a few seconds, and within 10-15 minutes they will be done. Any longer than this and the meat will become more difficult to extract from the hard-shelled exoskeleton. Some of the basic ingredients essential to the boil include salt, butter, lemon, corn on the cob, onion and potatoes. Zatarains, Louisiana Brand or Old Bay boil seasonings work well as a key spice component. Don't be afraid to get use your imagination and add other ingredients like whole artichokes, shrimp, crab, whole spring onions, leeks, red-hots or sausages. When the boil is finished, pull the cage out of the pot and pour everything onto a table lined with paper to absorb the moisture and make cleanup easier. Traditionally there are no plates or utensils for this kind of eating other than your hands. Be aware that if any of the crawfish died previous to the boil, they will quickly begin to spoil. You can spot these after they've been laid out on the table because their tail will be straight. The boil will cause the live ones to curl their tails and remain in that position. Any crawfish with straight tails should be discarded. Pull the tail from the head, then start peeling the armored plating on the tail back with your thumb. The little morsel of tail meat is similar to lobster in flavor, but with a much softer texture. The mess left behind after peeling is also a great addition to garden compost.

Leftovers can be used to make jambalaya, gumbo or etouffee. Jambalaya is meat and vegetables cooked or simmered together in the broth with rice. Gumbo is a soup made from the broth, commonly served with a side of rice. Etouffee is a sauce simmered and thickened, served on top of rice. Knowing the difference between the three will give you an edge as a gulf-coast tourist if you get caught in a conversation in New Orleans about how superior the native Oregonian signal crayfish is to the Louisiana red swamp crawfish. Catching and cooking these tasty aquatic arthropods is a great addition to any summertime gathering.

This piece was featured in the July 3rd issue of the Corvallis Advocate
http://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2014/cooking-and-catching-crawfish/

Low Hanging Fruit: Wild Williamette Berries

A full version of this article is available online at Wide Open Spaces:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/low-hanging-fruit-harvesting-wild-willamette-berries/

With wildflowers in full bloom during early summer, an assortment of wild berry varieties begin to bloom as well. Throughout mid to late summer, native salmonberries and huckleberries produce flavors uniquely distinct in comparison to domestic varieties. Invasive evergreen and Himalayan blackberries also produce a wealth of juicy berry goodness.

Salmonberries in different stages of ripening

Salmonberries are found mainly near mountain watersheds or coastal streams, growing along the west coast from California to Alaska. They are perennial shrubs that produce a fruit structure similar to raspberries, but have two stages of ripening. If picked early while the berries are a deep yellow, they tend to be more sour, and sweeten as they begin to turn a flame red-orange. Other animals tend to pick over this variety quickly, so it's wise to find a good patch and watch as the fruit begins to ripen, harvesting when the berries are available. Traditionally, these berries were eaten raw along with salmon or their roe, but are also used in making jam or wine.

Red Huckleberries grow in similar habitats along the coast range, but tend to take root growing out of rotten evergreen stumps and logs. Their deciduous shrubs produce a fruit structure similar to blueberries, but they tend to be significantly smaller. These berries were traditionally used as bait, due to their resemblance of a salmon egg. While salmonberries produce a high moisture content that prevents them from drying well, the red huckleberry can be dried and later used in sauces or eaten raw. It also produces quinic acid in the bark of the plant that was used as a remedy to treat colds. This variety is difficult to transplant, and although it has been attempted to domesticate, it also requires a particular pH content in the soil that is difficult to recreate. The wild nature of this berry makes a highly sought after jelly.

Although there are some species of blackberry that are native to Oregon, the Himalayan is the most common variety and can be found growing all around Corvallis from Bald Hill to your backyard. While it grows nearly everywhere, it's good to be aware of the areas you're picking to consume these berries to avoid pesticides and herbicides. Many of the roadsides grow lots of blackberries, but are commonly sprayed to keep this invasive species under control. For good measure, take along something to hold your harvest in a backpack that won't turn the berries into juice before you get home and pick them in a high elevation where there's trails without vehicle access. Although these species get a bad rap, the dark blue color is an indicator of a berry with the highest antioxidant qualities and their high tannin content improves digestion. They are quite versatile, eaten raw, juiced, cooked into sauces, frozen and used in smoothies, pies, crisps, pancakes, ice cream, brewing tea, mead or beer, liquor infusions and are great for canning jam.

There is a wealth of information online regarding recipes for each of these berries, but preserving them will allow you to enjoy their flavor out of season. Freezing them allows for a greater diversity of uses, but canning or drying doesn't require the same space for storage. While all berries are great with sugar, they produce their own natural sugars and can also be useful in savory sauces, chutney, brine or glaze. If you lack the patience or ambition for these techniques, enjoy the simplicity of their natural state as raw fruit, as this is the best way to absorb the plethora of nutrients these berries provide.

5 environmental stressors to PNW river systems that concern anglers...

1. Dams. The great majority of power in the northwest comes from hydro. When I have this debate, I like to remind my readers that I'm plugging my computer in on Pacific Power's Blue Sky Energy program so I'm not supporting major obstacles to wild spawning grounds. In many cases, hatcheries were created to substitute the rapidly declining fish populations in systems that cutoff spawning habitat upriver. The construction of fish ladders has opened passage to wild spawning grounds in many river systems, but the dam itself is still a major man-made obstacle that creates ecological problems.


2. Commercial fishing. While long-lining is a much more sustainable method of harvest, gill-netting puts wild fish populations at risk. The by-catch of this method includes lots of protected and endangered species. Many anglers regularly land wild steelhead with gill net scars. For every one that gets away there's probably several that don't. Exceptions for tribal gill-netting and hatchery programs create a problem that presents a unique challenge of finding a reasonable compromise considering American history.

3. Riparian Timber Harvest. Politically motivated lawmakers have allowed the harvest of timber in Riparian zones to creep closer to the water. None have made a serious effort to prevent the illegal harvest of timber near river systems nor have they made a priority of prosecuting timber companies that violate the current regulations. The result is landslides that are blatantly caused by logging too close to the water, causing timber to fall into the river, perpetuating erosion and landslides that are extremely detrimental to the river dynamic, destroying the natural spawning habitat. Fry hatch in gravel and use the nooks and crannies until they have consumed their yolk, then they use boulders as shelter from predators and current. This sort of logging creates a "sandbox" habitat that makes the first stages of life for hatching smolts difficult, and in cases like the Oso, WA landslide, a large portion of spawning habitat in the Stillaguamish River that had previously been in the process of restoration was completely buried. The effects of those sort of incidents are catastrophic. Anglers have been lobbying the state to prevent riparian zone harvest on that system since the 1930's. That "accident" could have been prevented.

4. Predator management. This is a tough subject. For the most part I disagree with the practice as a whole because it involves a lot of wasteful killing. However, seals and sea lions have learned to exploit man made obstacles like dams and fish ladders. They do not share the same discretion for harvesting hatchery fish that anglers are required to do, and their diet includes endangered and protected wild fish. They are also far more wasteful with their harvest than humans. Humans will eat a majority of the meat on a fish, while seals and sea lions are specifically trying to consume the belly meat for it's high fat content. It's very common for a single seal or sea lion to harvest twelve times the number of fish than an angler that limits out in a day. This predatory "overfishing" can be attributed to an overpopulated furry mammal that used to be a major food source for northwestern tribes before someone came along and decided cute mammals were more important to protect than slimy things that swim. Hunting rights for these animals and preservation of heritage are a priority for many of these Pacific Northwestern Coastal tribes. There are also discussions surrounding management of cormorants, an overpopulated and invasive waterfowl that consumes massive amounts of smolts. There are already other programs in the Southeastern U.S. that are trying public management of these birds to save not only the fish they eat, but the habitat they destroy by decreasing water quality and killing century old cypress trees due to their collective deposits of fecal matter.

5. Removal of Hatchery Programs. I am still open to seeing what new science develops on this topic, but in the meantime I don't believe shutting down hatcheries is going to help fish populations. If you put 25,000 smolts in a river that would only produce 5,000 juvenile fish on it's own, you are providing a buffer for the spawning habitat taken away by man made obstacles like dams. You're replacing the commercially harvested fish so some of them can actually get to the rivers. You're providing a rearing operation that replaces the cobble covered by sand from erosion due to over harvest of timber. You're putting a few extra in there to feed the predators (they gotta eat too, right?) and the most common sense argument here is that 25,000 > 5,000. I would even argue that placing hatchery fish in a river provides a buffer to the predation of wild fish populations.

There are plenty of valid arguments that hatcheries are a band aid solution, but it's the best we've got until people begin to consider problems 1-4.

In many systems, hatchery fish come from wild broodstock and wild fish come from hatchery stock that spawn in the river. One of the political reasons behind the cease of some hatchery planting programs is that planted fish come from broodstock programs at hatcheries on other rivers. A lot of these fish return to that hatchery via the ocean and their river of origin rather than returning to the system where they were planted. If they are trucked from the hatchery, that costs money. If they are trapped and returned to the hatchery for broodstock programs, that costs money. If many of the planted fish go up the wrong river, people start to question whether it's worth paying to restore a fish population to a river where it might otherwise not exist. If fishermen didn't purchase licenses and harvest tags that fund hatchery programs, there might not be any fish to fish for, and there would be financial chaos from losing major industries that are supported by the existence of these animals.

This article was published by The Good Men Project on September 7th, 2014

http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/what-harms-fish-more-than-recreational-fishing-wcz/

Keeping Secrets: A Code of Ethics

 When you're trying to learn how to hunt, fish for or wild-harvest anything, you'll often find that people are very protective of their water and hunting grounds. While social media and online forums are a good place to start if you have an interest in an outdoor activity, chances are that people aren't willing to give out precise details about things like location. Social media has changed the outdoor experience in a sense that it makes things a little more inclusive for others. While there's no point in arguing that nature is for everyone, "chasing reports" not only has a negative impact on the localized ecosystems of areas that are hit hard by outdoor enthusiasts, but it has a negative impact on the exploration of new frontiers, discovering new fishing holes and hunting grounds, spreading out a wild harvest that would otherwise be wiped out rather than thinned out. Some people have developed a specific management program for their favorite spots that works and sharing those spots with you might not be a part of that.

Beyond the impact on the environment, there is a code of ethics among outdoor enthusiasts that keeps the experience as something to share with each other, rather than giving and taking. While it might sound like sharing is synonymous with giving and taking, sharing an outdoor experience with someone else is far different than giving someone a GPS location so they can go there and "take." The code of "I'm not going to tell you where I got this, but I will be happy to SHOW you." As a curious mind, it is in your best interest to befriend other outdoor enthusiasts for this reason rather than ask them twenty questions with the expectation of harvesting their leavings.

Don't be offended when somebody says "no, maybe or maybe later." Sometimes it's also in your best interest to let someone else scout an area and decide later on if they want to bring you along. Being consistent, but not pushy is a great approach to bringing those kinds of outings to fruition. It also doesn't hurt to offer something in return instead of being the guy who always needs a beer, a swivel, some split shot, a hook, a pocket knife, a shotgun, and a place to use all those things. If you have an offshore boat but you want to drift a river for steelhead, there's no reason you can't offer a ling cod and rockfish trip for a steelhead float or vice-versa. I can't tell you how many people have asked to take me fishing and don't even have a license, much less their own rod. At the very least, pitch in a couple bucks for gas. Don't be that guy.

This piece was published by The Good Men Project August 31st 2014:

http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/keeping-secrets-code-outdoor-ethics-wcz/

Suggested Reading for the Locals: 5 Hikes to explore in or near Corvallis.

Great article in the Statesman's Journal about hiking near Corvallis. Highlights my favorite area hike, Beazell Memorial Forest, which I was unaware was the largest park in Benton County until I read this. Great photos as well, worthy of mentioning here and sharing for my own readers. Enjoy...

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20140420/OUTDOORS/304200010/5-hikes-explore-near-Corvallis?nclick_check=1

Fishing for Bass and Other Warmwater Species

John Capaletti with his first Oregon Largemouth Bass

Russell Wright with a Largemouth Bass caught from a float tube

Russel Wright with a Smallmouth Bass caught from a float tube

As the weather warms up and rains subside, water levels drop, the currents the back of river sloughs slow to a crawl and giant lakes start shrivel up into small, individual ponds. There are several stages to the spring spawn of bass that provide good fishing conditions for this time of year. Early in the season, muddy or murky water can still produce bass on very slow presentations of dark colors that provide a contrasting profile. The toughest part of fishing in these conditions is visibility. The bass however are in pre-spawn mode, seeking warmer water near the edges and foraging for food after remaining dormant for the winter. As the water temperature rises, especially on sunny days, their metabolism will begin to increase in favor of delighted fishermen.

Three types of bass are typically present in the valley, largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. The largemouth and spotted bass are striking in similarity, but the largemouth gets it's name from a gigantic bucket of a gullet. They typically feed on other fish, frogs, snakes, mice, baby ducks, quite literally anything they can fit in their mouth. The spotted bass has a slightly smaller mouth and pattern of color, but the difference is hardly noticable. The one very unique defining characteristic is that they have a patch of teeth on their tongue that helps them hold onto prey. The smallmouth however is visually distinctive from it's two closest relative species. They are typically bronze or brown in color, have red eyes, and of course a significantly smaller set of jaws. Their diet isn't much different, but they normally feed on smaller fish or crustaceans like crawfish.

Once the water clears up, bass will begin to gorge themselves on anything and everything with the intention of fattening up for spawning. While largemouth and spotted bass move into the shallows near overhanging trees, smallmouth tend to hold near rockpiles or points in the shoreline. Bass will often cruise long distances over short periods of time in search of food during the pre-spawn and simultaneously search for mates. They will start to school up and once you have found one there are probably more in the same area.

After the water level has been clear enough for vegetation to take hold and the water levels begin to drop, bass will begin to pair off and make "beds" where eggs will be laid and fertilized. The pre-spawn will overlap during this time and some fish will hold to particular areas of cover and others will cruise individually or in schools. All of them will be feeding, but as spawning fish begin to lay eggs they will bite more as instinctive aggression in response to threatening their nests than to actually feed themselves. As the eggs mature and develop inside the females, they increase tremendously in girth and become the hefty "lunker" fish that most bass anglers desire.

Randall Bonner with his first Oregon Smallmouth Bass

Eventually, bass will pair up, build their nests and spawn. By the time these bass are "on the bed" they have seen so many presentations from anglers and many have already been caught and released. Water levels are low, visibility is crystal clear and most fish will scoff at presentations with skepticism their young are in any real danger. This is when you will be able to visually see the most fish and catch the least. Younger or stray fish however that have not paired up will be actively feeding and cruising structure along the edges, so it's still possible to hook up during the spawn and post spawn. At some point the fish that have spawned will leave their beds and feed to regain their energy spent on defending their territory.

Although most bass species can potentially be delicious, catch and release ethics vary in each fishery. Smaller lakes that hold good populations of larger fish exist because the fish are allowed to grow and mature into dominant specimens that inhabit the area for a number of years. There are also rivers where bass species like the smallmouth inhabit the same waters as young steelhead and salmon smolts which they often feed on. Anglers are encouraged to remove these bass from the fishery, resulting in smaller individual catches. Other warmwater species with similar spawning patterns include bluegill, crappie and yellow perch. They are all palatable table fare when battered and deep-fried, but tend to be slightly higher in mercury than most freshwater fish and much like anything deep-fried, they should be consumed in moderation.

The most appealing factor for anglers is the simplicity of fishing for these species. Minimal gear and tackle are all that's necessary to have a productive outing and the fish will take a wide variety of presentations. Additional tags aren't necessary and if you can put a worm on a hook you can catch pretty much all warmwater species, which makes it a great opportunity to introduce fishing to newer or younger anglers. Oregon is so well-known for it's salmon, trout and steelhead that these fisheries tend to get overlooked and under-rated by many anglers. Once you've taken the time to develop your techniques and learn different patterns on your local body of water, you'll understand what those anglers are missing out on. Go out and get your line wet!

This piece was published in the May 8th, 2014 issue of the Corvallis Advocate:

http://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2014/bass-season-is-upon-us/

A highlight video on fishing for Bass, Warmwater Species and Trout from 2013:

Nettles: Taking the sting out of nature's wild greens

This juvenile nettle is a young shoot great for cooking.
Avoid adult plants that have gone to flower or are producing seed.

After Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow and the inevitable extension of winter in Oregon takes place, daffodils and crocus begin to push up out of the ground, showing budding signs of optimism that can mean only one thing. Nettles are out! Okay, so it also means that spring is near. The late winter downpours and warmer climate encourage lots of green growth, even the kind of plants with annoying syringe-like trichomes filled with histamine and other irritating compounds that can cause visible welts on the skin and painful stings.

Mostly known for their negative attributes, nettles are under-rated. Their use in developing textile fiber is commonly overlooked, regardless of the fact that they don't require the same pesticides as cotton. They have a long history of being used in herbal medicine to treat everything from arthritis and dandruff to benign prostatic hyperplasia and promotion of lactation. The best part of the good news is that if you don't have any of those issues, cooked nettles resemble flavors of sweet spinach when prepared properly and can be potentially very tasty.

Microphotography of nettle trichome by Charles Krebs

Wild-harvesting nettles takes a little care to conduct without stinging yourself. You'll need a good pair of solid constructed gloves made with something like thick latex rubber or leather, a pair of long scissors and a container they will not able to sting through like a tupperware or small bucket. Hold it below the plant and trim the leaves directly into the container. You'll find them growing just about anywhere, but near a body of water is a good place to start. Early spring is the best time to pick them as the leaves are very tender and full of flavor. Once the plants get taller the leaves become less palatable, tough and even gritty. Keeping them in a tupperware container will help keep them fresh for when you are ready to cook with them.

When you're ready to bring the nettles into the kitchen, put some olive oil or butter along with enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. The steam will melt the trichomes and dissolve the irritants from the plant's natural defenses. You can then use them in just about any dish you would normally add sauteed greens. Other culinary uses for the plant include tea, soup, pesto and even flavoring beer. Nettles are high in calcium, vitamin A, C, iron, manganese and potassium much like spinach and other leafy greens. Happy harvesting, rain or shine.

This article was published in the 3/13/14 issue of the Corvallis Advocate:

http://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2014/taking-the-sting-out-of-natures-wild-greens/

This article was also published by the Good Men Project on 2/15/15
http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/nettles-taking-sting-natures-greens-wcz/

This article was also published on Wide Open Spaces
http://www.wideopenspaces.com/wild-harvesting-nettles-taking-sting-natures-greens/