#  >  > Non Asia Travel Forums >  >  > Australia & New Zealand Travel Forum >  >  Hunting the Cherax destructor. (AKA Yabby)

## kingwilly

Yabbying. An Australian pasttime for kids. 

Here is a how to,... Creature Features - Yabby Catcher

basically the yabby is an australian freshwater crayfish. quite tasty and hours of fun to catch. I spent hours and hours playing around in a small lake near my house as I was growing up catching yabbies.

So I decide it was time to take KW junior down to the same place, unfortunately a brief internet search suggested that the numbers and likelihood of catching many yabbies was going to be much lower.

But never mind, I'll give it a go anyway.

First to ready the equipment, stole mums clothespeg bucket. found some leftover xmas ham. some old panthose to make a net our of a coathanger and off we trooped down to the park.

the water was very low, but there was still plenty of ducks on the lake.

A few bites from the resident carp in the lake, (shoulda brought some hooks too!) but patience, and we noticed a strong tug on the line, a few peices of ham were eaten off the line but evantually we caught this ....



but no yabbies! 

never mind, we released the turtle, much to MKJunior's disappointment.

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## nedwalk

last time i went yabba-ing, i used to set traps, i went down to collect the yummies and abloody great eel was stuck in the trap and there was a red belly black haveing a go at it so i just left em to sort em selves out and went home and a vegemite sanger instead

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## melvbot

Poor kid. Does he always hang his head like that when you wear your pink cap?

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## Happyman

What is a red belly black ?
 :Smile:

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## baldrick

> What is a red belly black ?


a kids pet that scares southerners

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## Happyman

> Originally Posted by Happyman
> 
> What is a red belly black ?
> 
> 
> a kids pet that scares southerners


Ok but what is it ??
Snake?
Mammal? 
insect?
bird?
An imaginary beast?

Or what?

You gotta remember there are people here who have lived sheltered lives !  :rofl:

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## good2bhappy

when I was a kid in Hampshire i used to go down to the local river the white water and catch crayfish to stock up our pond
many a wet afternoon was spent trawling the riverbed for these little creatures

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## ChiangMai noon

red bellied black.

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## nedwalk

> Snake?


sorry mate, its just like a crow bar or a shovel, you don,t pick them up either :Smile:

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## Johnny Longprong

Poor little bloke looks disappointed. These might help him see what he is looking for.

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## Johnny Longprong



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## Johnny Longprong

I note the Juncas grass there KW. Are you in the Murray/Darling area?

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## Happyman

> red bellied black.


mean lookin little bastard - thanks !

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## Loy Toy

> mean lookin little bastard - thanks !


And their the ones you get to play with when you are kids before you move onto the Tigers, Taipans and Death Adders. 

Where I grew up if there was a sheet of corrugated iron on the ground you would for sure find at least one red belly or a few copperheads underneath it.

A few funnel web or red backs spiders to go along with the snakes was always a bit of fun and in the afternoon we would go for a swim in the shark infested river.  :Smile:

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## Johnny Longprong

> mean lookin little bastard - thanks !


In fact a very tractable fella. He will move away from you if he hears your footsteps. Of course if you try to pick him up, kill him or step on him, he will bite. The poison is a neorotoxin and not to be taken lightly. However, there have been no deaths reported from this snake. He lives along the east coast of Australia and usually near water where he eats frogs, lizards and the like. Part of the scene and deserves respect..

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## Johnny Longprong

> A few funnel web or red backs spiders to go along with the snakes was always a bit of fun and in the afternoon we would go for a swim in the shark infested river.


And that's why we are so bloody rugged eh LT? 55555.

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## good2bhappy

^^^ good thing there weren't any salties

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## Happyman

So it is the wild life as well as the locals in Oz that are dangerous then ?  :rofl: 

( Oh Shit - hope they realise that was a joke - otherwise a shower of reds are incoming ! ) :Sorry1:  :rofl:

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## Johnny Longprong

> ( Oh Shit - hope they realise that was a joke - otherwise a shower of reds are incoming ! )


Shit no, we have a sense of humour. The old saying is "if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?"

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## Loy Toy

> good thing there weren't any salties


No only fresh water crocs mate! You had to go a little further north and to be able to play with the salty's.  :Smile: 




> So it is the wild life as well as the locals in Oz that are dangerous then ? ( Oh Shit - hope they realise that was a joke - otherwise a shower of reds are incoming ! )


No pleblem HM as we are thick skinned down under!  :Smile:  exept for when we get beaten by the Poms in the cricket!

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## Loy Toy

> And that's why we are so bloody rugged eh LT? 55555.


I don't know if that is 100% true mate (don't forget we have Paddo and Rose Bay Aussies) but really that is exactly what we used to do as kids and now when I think about it we were fvckin crazy!

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## Happyman

> Originally Posted by Happyman
> 
> ( Oh Shit - hope they realise that was a joke - otherwise a shower of reds are incoming ! )
> 
> 
> Shit no, we have a sense of humour. The old saying is "if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?"


Agree 100% - thanks 
So many times I have sat here by myself chuckling thinking " what the f*ck do you think you were doing , you stupid old fart" when I have been a prat !!  :UK:  :rofl: 

( occasions seem to be more frequent in direct co- relation with advancing years - but there you go !  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  )

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## Johnny Longprong

> that is exactly what we used to do as kids and now when I think about it we were fvckin crazy!


Bloody hell no, we were allowed to have fun and test our limits. I really feel sorry for the kiddies now who aren't allowed to scratch themselves with out mum or dad watching. We used to leave at dawn and had to be home by night, right from little fellas. Sure we got up to some mischief, and perhaps put ourselves in danger occasionally, but there were plenty of older blokes to learn from who had been there and done it. You certainly didn't dive into the shallow water where old Mick had drowned. trouble is, there are no peer group role models for the kiddies in this regard. The first thing they learn about danger is on the TV.

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## Johnny Longprong

> So many times I have sat here by myself chuckling thinking " what the f*ck do you think you were doing , you stupid old fart" when I have been a prat !!


Yea, I get a bit of that too sometimes. Then I balance that against the opinions and actions of others and realise that they are probably as senile and dopey as me.

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## Happyman

Same in UK !

We used to get an old lorry tyre from the army camp dump outside the village - take it out onto the moor and find a nice smooth grassy hill.
Stuff the smallest kid inside the tyre and roll him down and see if we could make him sick !!
Alternativly get a section of Nissan Hut from the dump ( a corrugated iron hut with sides straight and the roof curved ) which was like a huge ski.
Top of the hill 10 or more kids sitting on it and off you go - bloody crazy toboggan ride - kids falling off everywhere - go home with skin off knees and elbows - torn shorts - get a thrashing from caring parents - back up the hill next day !!!
No Nanny state then !

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## Loy Toy

> we were allowed to have fun and test our limits. I really feel sorry for the kiddies now who aren't allowed to scratch themselves


I can remember jumping on my bike at 5.30 in the morning, meeting up with my mates and we would ride 15 odd miles to the Heathcote national park where there was a cave underneath a waterfall and we would stay there over the weekend.

Great adventures that will remain with me for the rest of my life and you are right the kids of today can't drag themselves away from their computer games long enough to know what a good time is.




> We used to get an old lorry tyre from the army camp dump outside the village - take it out onto the moor and find a nice smooth grassy hill. Stuff the smallest kid inside the tyre and roll him down and see if we could make him sick !!


From the age of 13 I used to work out at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the weekends selling confectionary and the experiences I had then was just fantastic.

The initiation for all newbies who started to work there was that after the crowd had left and we were all waiting to get paid we would take a newbie up to the top of the infamous SCG hill stick him in one of those 44 gallon drum garbage bins and roll him down the slope (and it is really a big slope) and he would come crashing down off the end of the grassed area about 1 metre down onto a concrete concourse and then across the open seating into the boundary fence.

Fooking scary shit and when you are inside that drum and I am amazed nobody got seriously hurt but quite a few (including me  :Sad: ) threw up after getting out of the drum.

Just a bit of fun in those days but today I am sure you could be arrested for attempted murder.

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## Johnny Longprong

> Quote: Originally Posted by Johnny Longprong we were allowed to have fun and test our limits. I really feel sorry for the kiddies now who aren't allowed to scratch themselves I can remember jumping on my bike at 5.30 in the morning, meeting up with my mates and we would ride 15 odd miles to the Heathcote national park where there was a cave underneath a waterfall and we would stay there over the weekend. Great adventures that will remain with me for the rest of my life and you are right the kids of today can't drag themselves away from their computer games long enough to know what a good time is. Quote: Originally Posted by Happyman We used to get an old lorry tyre from the army camp dump outside the village - take it out onto the moor and find a nice smooth grassy hill. Stuff the smallest kid inside the tyre and roll him down and see if we could make him sick !! From the age of 13 I used to work out at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the weekends selling confectionary and the experiences I had then was just fantastic. The initiation for all newbies who started to work there was that after the crowd had left and we were all waiting to get paid we would take a newbie up to the top of the infamous SCG hill stick him in one of those 44 gallon drum garbage bins and roll him down the slope (and it is really a big slope) and he would come crashing down off the end of the grassed area about 1 metre down onto a concrete concourse and then across the open seating into the boundary fence. Fooking scary shit and when you are inside that drum and I am amazed nobody got seriously hurt but quite a few (including me ) threw up after getting out of the drum. Just a bit of fun in those days but today I am sure you could be arrested for attempted murder.


Just love it. BTW LT, I know your area real well. Carss Park ring a bell?

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## Loy Toy

> Just love it. BTW LT, I know your area real well. Carss Park ring a bell?


Yep opposite the Sea Breeze hotel and next to Tom Uglies Bridge.

Used to drink in Mick Moylands as well and fished Botany Bay very often.

For those not in the know that bay is where that Pommy Cvnt Captain James Cook first wanted to park all the convicts and on his first trip down under.  :Smile: 

Got scared off by some Abos and moved North and around to Sydney Harbour which is where the first settlement was established.

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## Johnny Longprong

> Mick Moylands as well and fished Botany Bay very often.


Mick Moylands was called the "blood house". All gone now. Is a gated estate for the rich and famous.

Sorry for hijacking the thread KW.

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## nedwalk

all the above great fun, and no bloody puter games! i suppose every generation reckons they had the best fun, but i don,t remember wondering asking my parents why they have more fun than we do/did as these kids say to me and my mates, but then we did,nt grow up with puter games, just real stuff  like owning fire arms and eating something that you,ve killed and seeing the world first hand

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## Loy Toy

And building tree houses and fishing, shooting rabbits and selling their hides and meat, catching funnel web spiders and selling them to Eric Worrell or Taronga Park Zoo and going up the cross and bashing up a poof!  :Smile: 

I can honestly say we never done (poof bashing) but thats how kids get their kicks these days and once they finally log off!  :Sad:  

I can also say I don't ever remember my mates stealing cars, or breaking into houses or doing drugs. We played sports year round and generally were too busy having a great time to worry about causing trouble.

Wonder what happened and over the last 30 odd years.............. :Confused:   :Sad:

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## jizzybloke

Reading these stories brings back some great memories of building camps, tree houses, go-karts....
I'm the same was out at the crack of dawn and back home when i was hungry a bit of mischief here and there but nothing malicious or nasty, bit of scrumping and being chased off.
Don't know where it's gone wrong :Sad:

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## nedwalk

^ the removal of corperal punishment by the bloody bleeding hearts! bring back the lash i say!!

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## jizzybloke

^No argument from me Ned!

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## Loy Toy

Or we can send the straight blokes out yabbie hunting with KW as their punishment and lash the poofs.........!  :Smile: 

No only joking KW and I do remember going yabbie hunting late in the evening and then using them for fish bait the following morning. We used to catch some cracking flathead and bream with those yabbies .

Great thread and even better to reminisce!  :Smile:

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## Johnny Longprong

Great thread and even better to reminisce!  :Smile: [/quote]

Yea, I am beginning to feel like a bit of an old fart really.

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## nedwalk

^ i wondered what the smell was

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## Propagator

> Reading these stories brings back some great memories of building camps, tree houses, go-karts.... I'm the same was out at the crack of dawn and back home when i was hungry a bit of mischief here and there but nothing malicious or nasty, bit of scrumping and being chased off. Don't know where it's gone wrong __________________


 
Yeh and me.    Used to know all the best places for srumping and would often bring bags of stuff home and no questions asked.     Got caught once by the local copper and escorted home and told off by him.    Dad came home later as was told and I got a heavy cuff round the ear with the comment 'Thats not for scrumping, but for getting caught!'

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## Happyman

Can you eat Yabbies like normal freshwater crayfish ?

serious question cos in uk there are the native ones that taste bloody great and there are some sort of American / Antipodean ones introduced  that look nearly the same but have a nasty parasitic thingy that makes you quite ill - so my son tells me !

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## Happyman

> Originally Posted by Johnny Longprong
> 
> Just love it. BTW LT, I know your area real well. Carss Park ring a bell?
> 
> 
> Yep opposite the Sea Breeze hotel and next to Tom Uglies Bridge.
> 
> Used to drink in Mick Moylands as well and fished Botany Bay very often.
> 
> ...


My My ! I just love these unbiased views of colonial history !  :rofl:  :rofl: 


JOKE- FEKIN JOKE !  :Smile:

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## kingwilly

> I note the Juncas grass there KW. Are you in the Murray/Darling area?


This pic is actually an ornamental park in the middle of melbourne. they did it all up native. which is a good thing. but funny you should mention Murray, I used to live in Swan Hill.




> I can remember jumping on my bike at 5.30 in the morning, meeting up with my mates and we would ride 15 odd miles to the Heathcote national park where there was a cave underneath a waterfall and we would stay there over the weekend.


I used to play in the drains, light fires, smoke, generally mess around, the best was after a storm hit, water would fill it 2 metres high, raging torrent, we'd get out the body boards  :Smile:  but every summer the news would at least one kid drowned whern flash floods hit, obviously never me, but. My boy loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and i had to resist the urge to be stupid and show him how to get into them....




> No only joking KW and I do remember going yabbie hunting late in the evening and then using them for fish bait the following morning. We used to catch some cracking flathead and bream with those yabbies .


I was pissed off that i had not thought to bring a light hook with the numbers of bladdy big carp that were in the lake, kid woulda loved it.




> Got caught once by the local copper and escorted home and told off by him. Dad came home later as was told and I got a heavy cuff round the ear with the comment 'Thats not for scrumping, but for getting caught!'


I got down in more than once or twice by a copper, foot up the arse, learned my lesson.




> Can you eat Yabbies like normal freshwater crayfish ?


yup.

boil, peel, eat.

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## aussimike

> What is a red belly black ?


its one hell of a nasty black snake with a red belly -- and you sure dont want to go stepping on one of these when ur out taking a leak when out camping - might be your last - haaa  :cmn:

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## aussimike

> Originally Posted by Loy Toy
> 
> A few funnel web or red backs spiders to go along with the snakes was always a bit of fun and in the afternoon we would go for a swim in the shark infested river.
> 
> 
> And that's why we are so bloody rugged eh LT? 55555.


for sure - we aussies are from the land down under - the bronze anzacs where women eat their young and the crows fly backwards to keep the sun out of their eyes --- if u live in the bush your forever looking out for the red back under the toilet seat in the bush dunny - the tiger or red belly under your bed - or the taipan sitting on the front seat of the car -- bloody amazing any of us survive past our teens haaaa - and we dont wear gumboots like those from across the waters - we sure breed them tough -

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## racefan

> Originally Posted by Johnny Longprong
> 
> we were allowed to have fun and test our limits. I really feel sorry for the kiddies now who aren't allowed to scratch themselves
> 
> 
> I can remember jumping on my bike at 5.30 in the morning, meeting up with my mates and we would ride 15 odd miles to the Heathcote national park where there was a cave underneath a waterfall and we would stay there over the weekend.
> 
> Great adventures that will remain with me for the rest of my life and you are right the kids of today can't drag themselves away from their computer games long enough to know what a good time is.
> 
> ...


 

Ahh nostalgia!!

Check out this link for true reminiscing!!

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## Bruce

I grew up on a farm. I learnt to kill and skin pigs, to shoot, to hunt, to have fun without electricity. Pity today's kids. 
Mind you, my grandson has an ant farm with some really nasty ants in there he's feeding meat to. One day they'll escape and wipe out the nieghbourhood. So they're not all soft nowdays.

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## nedwalk

> skin pigs,



mmm must be a new thing, as far as i knew after ya killed the bastard ya gutted it and then dropped into some bloody hot water and scrapped the bastard clean, usually in a half 44, but i could be wrong :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Bruce

Just shorthand for what you said. Scraping them out is the fun bit...

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