Just when it seems our adventures in Gueydan are over, something else pops up. This time it was a totally unexpected trip to a crawfish pond, and a chance to get out in the pond and see the traps picked up. Jaimie Snoddy lives right outside Gueydan, only about a mile from us. We met Jaimie at Pat and Debbie’s “fly-in” and we were really impressed. We found out that she does some work for Pat Hair, but she also runs her own crawfish traps on her own acreage, she raises sheep for eating, she makes her own wine, and she makes her own jerky. As if that’s not enough, she’s a really talented amateur photographer.
The phone rang one morning just after 6:30 am – it was Jaimie asking if it was a good day to pick us up to see the crawfish ponds. Of course we said yes, and within a few hours she was at the house to get us. Our day was absolutely wonderful. We’ve had a love affair with crawfish ponds ever since we realized how many birds hang out in them, and we’ve ridden by them for months now, wishing we could actually be out there. We’ve flown over them, seeing the birds, and loved it. We’ve also been really interested in how crawfish are actually farmed ever since we ate our first crawfish in May in New Iberia.
Jaimie got herself loaded up with rebar stakes first, explaining that she needs to anchor the traps because the raccoons are getting into them, tipping them over and eating the crawfish. Once she got the rebar loaded, we climbed in, ready for our adventure. The boat is very small, and is specially designed for the job. It’s got a hydraulic assembly that allows a paddle-shaped wheel in back to run, stabilizing the boat, and pushing it forward in the water. Inside holds a stainless steel table-like assembly that has several parts – a flat smooth area with narrowly spaced rollers next to it, and three small ‘doors’ that can be opened or closed like a trap door. The doors lead to a space where net sacks are attached. The boat setup is designed so one person can do the whole job.
In the pond, the traps are set in long rows. As we came up next to each trap, Jaimie would lean over, grab the trap, shake it a bit, then turn it over onto the ‘table’ arrangement in front of her. She’d shake the crawfish out of the trap, grab a rebar stake, and put the trap back in the water, staking it down. Meanwhile the crawfish were scrambling like mad on the table, looking for any possible way to get out. Since Jaimie was by herself (there wasn’t anyone else to do the sorting) she only had one of the ‘doors’ open, and one sack attached under that door.
Some of the crawfish would scramble off the edge toward the trap door and would fall though it into the sack right away. Others seemed to instinctively know that the rollers represented a way out, and they’d head right to the rollers area, working frantically to get through the small spaces between each roller. Those that got through the rollers easily were small enough that they needed go back to the pond. The rest Jaimie sorted quickly and efficiently. She showed us the difference between males and females, and showed us how to recognize when females are carrying eggs. The females with eggs went back into the pond, too. She’d clear out all the fish heads used as bait, and all the pond grasses. Then she’d efficiently swoosh the remaining crawfish through the open trap door and into the sack, and we were on our way to the next trap.
In two traps we had eels. Those eels squirmed like mad, trying to burrow into any corner of the stainless steel table. The first one we caught squirmed right off the table and into the sack, through the trap door. Jaimie reached down to grab it out, but couldn’t get that eel out for love or money. She stood up with a half humorous, half disgusted look on her face and said, “He’s sliming me! Look!” She held up her gloved hands for us to see the viscous goo from the eel dripping off her gloves. My highly developed gag reflex kicked into gear immediately and I had to turn away, fast. Jaimie finally had to pull the whole bag off, putting it on the table, in order to grab that elusive eel and toss it back in the pond. Next time we got an eel, she slapped the trap door shut so she didn’t have to struggle again.
It was clear that we were watching a pro at work. Jaimie worked with a quiet intense precision and concentration. From pulling the traps to sorting the crawfish to replacing and staking the traps, there was scarcely a wasted movement. We loved watching the speed and efficiency with which she sorted the catch from each trap – she made dozens of immediate decisions about what she kept and what she tossed in order to keep the crawfish cycle going in her ponds. We also loved the efficiency of the boat itself – the way it was propelled, the way it was set up for maximum speed and efficiency, and the way it could go right up on land. We loved the peaceful feeling of being out on the boat – it was almost hypnotic with the wind in our faces, watching Jaimie’s steady quiet routine.
A day or two before Jaimie goes to collect the crawfish, she’ll bait the traps with fish heads or artificial bait. We collected only from the traps she had baited a day or so earlier. By the time we finished we had done about 30 traps. The collection for this day was about 15-20 lbs worth. Jaimie told us it was a good catch for so early in the season and she announced with a satisfied smile that this day’s catch was going into her own crawfish boil for that night.
Jerky and winemaking
Since Jaimie is an accomplished amateur photographer, we really wanted to see the photos she took of Fred and Pat Hair in the ultralight a few weeks earlier, so she invited us into the house to download what we needed. All of us were a bit hungry so close to lunch, and Jaimie solved that by giving us a piece of her homemade chicken jerky. It was delicious – very spicy in a wonderful way. When we finished that, we tried out both lamb jerky and venison jerky, both of which she made herself. All three of these – the lamb, chicken and venison jerky, were new taste experiences for us. Cajun country has been a mecca for new food experiences of all kinds!
After looking at the photos, successfully fortified with the jerky, I asked Jaimie if she’d show us her winemaking operation. We got to taste at least three different kinds, and with the 10-17% alcohol content, it didn’t take much to feel pretty happy. It reminded me of visiting wineries in California – that same feeling of just having experienced something really fun, and getting to see all kinds of new things at the same time. Jaimie’s operation is really amazing (we weren’t surprised at that by this point). She makes up to 60 gallons a year, and makes every kind of wine you can imagine. She’s made wine from pears, Japanese plums, persimmons (which she says she’ll never do again), muscadine grapes, blackberries, blueberries, plums, and more than we could possibly remember. She’s got the tools and systems she needs, and she makes great use of them. Each bottle is neatly labeled with all the important details. After asking questions and listening to her for a few minutes, it’s clear she really knows her stuff, all from experience. She told us a couple of hilarious stories (they are funny now, but weren’t too funny at the time, I’m sure), which just brought home how much she’s learned over the years of doing it.
Jaimie put together a to-go care package for us of vacuumed sealed jerky and a bottle of wine, and dropped us home again. We’d only been with her for about 5 hours, but both Chelsea and I sat on the couch, feeling like we’d been transported into another time and space for a few hours, and then suddenly shot back into our own ‘reality’. We’d love to know Jaimie more – we dearly love people who are as accomplished and focused as she is. We will be remembering her on the road with every bite of that jerky we take; and the memories of the crawfish pond, the photos, the wine, and the jerky will last forever… Check out our photo gallery – we have some photos from Jaimie, and we will be posting an album just from her as soon as we have a chance to pull it together. Meanwhile, our heartfelt thanks go to Jaimie for such a great day!