Off on my food mission we go. Doubt you’ll understand this interaction if you don’t grow veggies but had a friend round and after a couple of tinnies went out to inspect the potatoes in the patch.

Suitably impressed, he expressed a desire to consume some of the buried carbohydrate filled delights. As we’d been discussing everyone’s favourite fresh water lobsters earlier in the evening, I promised him a potato and crayfish feast before the next full moon. And so the mission was set.

We set off on our first crayfishing adventure of the season with the usual high hopes and a bag full of bait to ensure the best chance of a decent catch.

A mile car ride and a half mile walk bring us to our destination next to tranquil river banks and alongside wild meadows. The peace only ever so slightly interrupted by the gentle clunking of the wheels on the trolley being used to transport all the related paraphernalia.

My usual spot reached, the traps are carefully pegged to the bank, baited up with last years mackerel from the freezer and tossed in to the river with all the optimism one could muster.

Patiently we head back to the car and travel home to bed, eagerly anticipating tomorrows local, fresh feast.

Have My 3 year old along for the pick up the next day which brings a new level of excitement but at the same time makes me thankful i have an extra pair of eyes to help watch him on the river bank.

Our luck was in and our heavy baiting of the pots was well rewarded with a bumper catch. Easily the biggest of my crayfishing ‘career’ and almost too many for the bucket I had brought with me.

Next comes the part no one considers, the cooking and preparing of the sharp shelled beasts. When you have a prestigious catch the time it takes to shell, gut and clean can be harrowing. Hours we laboured in to the night an still we hadn’t shelled a third of the total but while it was late, it came time for the feast.

Crayfish were added to the famous potatoes, along with onions and wet garlic also from the garden. All supplemented by some spinach from the fridge and mature cheese.

Satisfied we slept once again leaving the rest to be shelled in the morning. An early start gets the job done and in the end I have 5 large portions to distribute to friends and family at my leisure. As well as keeping a few in the freezer for myself of course :).