Yabbying ~ family fun right here at Sunnyside!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

While our visitors were here we embalked in our inaugural yabbying trip right here on Sunnyside!!
In late 2009 we stocked the larger dams with multitudes of yabbies collected from the overflow of one of our neighbours dams.  It was muddy work collecting all these crays, but we had so much fun as well  (you know what boys are like with mud)!!




You may be wondering what a yabby is ~ well it's a crustacean that is found in the dams around here.  They are often caught by the farmers & cooked ~ some even think of them as a treat.





  Me, well, I've only had them once & although I do love seafood, well I just don't love dam food ~ they tasted muddy to me ~ but shhhh..... don't tell the farmers around here (must be the city girl in me) ~ I obviously don't have a refined palate  ;)

We had been wondering  whether our yabbies had multiplied enough for us to go yabbying.  We have been observing for some time the vast array of yabby holes in the shallows of the dams & when a recent dipping of feet into the cold water resulted in nibbled toes, we decided that they had certainly added to their numbers and it would be safe for us to venture forth & remove a few!

We waited for a beautiful warm spring day & with fishing line & meat in hand embarked to black dam ~ ready to conquer the yabbies!!!

After improvising with homemade yabby lures using the line & some sticks collected on the way we sat & waited 

& waited

 & waited
..... 

After about an hour of trying to lure them out of different holes we decided a change of  location was in order to try & catch these elusive creatures!


Off to the big dam we went ~ all in a row as we skirted past Bessy's paddock & dodged poddy lambs who were eager to come with us.  After only one wooly escapee requiring recapture we were there ready to ensnare the yabbies in these hopefully friendlier waterhole.

Again we spent a while ~ let me tell you it really is relaxing sitting by the side of a dam on a warm spring evening ~ even if you don't catch anything.  
As daylight began to wane we decided to give up.....
...For now....


But let me warn all those yabbies out there ~ we'll be back ~ & we've had lots of hints about what is the best thing to lure you with!!!!


Hope you enjoy your family today!

Blessings




9 comments:

Farmgirl Cyn said...

I am thinking they are similar to crayfish? I remember when we were kids, going crabbing with my dad.....so fun!

abba12 said...

You should get one of those yabby pumps, we had one when we used to take out a houseboat, and we would use the yabbies as bait.

I can't say I've eaten one before however! Maybe saltwater yabbies would taste nicer, less muddy. I'm not a big fan of freshwater fish etc.

Selina said...

Hi Narn,
That looks like fun. I have to say, I didn't think the yabbies were up to the standard of prawns...
Much luv,
sel

A Bite of Country Cupcakes said...

Lol! I don't like 'dam Food!"...That made me laugh!Even though we live rurally there is no where to go Yabbying! My kids sooooo want to.

Homeschool on the Croft said...

Mmmm, I think I'd be with you on the 'dam food'... ;)
(We could leave it to the kids and make something yummy for ourselves!)

Gayle said...

Here's to catching those yabbies.. haha! I've never heard of those, but they look similar to what we call crawfish over here (some folks say crayfish, though). We catch them, and boil them up with some hot spices and serve them with corn or whathaveyou. Good stuff!

Unknown said...

What fun! Loved that last shot...beautiful light and such a beautiful young lady!

Grandma said...

Aaaahhhh......it was a lovely afternoon and evening! I've never been one for 'fresh water' seafood, but I think the fresh water variety was probably great in the earlier days - before freezing, air-freight and of course the large freezer transporters.
We now have a different problem here - so much of our lovely seafood is exported to wealthier places and fish shops are trying to palm off cheaper Mekong imports onto us. The 'fresh fish' man at North Lakes has hardly any Aussie fish at all - if we want good Aussie stuff, we have to go to Morgan. The local guy does have Aussie prawns now.

Thanks for the lovely birthday present! (I didn't realize you'd gotten the spoons too, I thought you'd only gotten the cups, so there was a lovely surprise element there! Will try and call later, but remind me I can't talk long unless my assignment is nearly complete! Unfortunately, we have a Gideon meeting tonight and I had been planning on having tonight to work on it too (due tomorrow!)
Cor made the most amazing roast pork, potatoes and apple gravy for dinner last night along with some very red (yes bright red!) cupcakes - they were delicious however , for my birthday dinner - she is such a good cook!
Love you all heaps,
Mum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Grandma said...

pss - Aunty Nity has gone to see the Queen today (probably along with masses of other folk!) at South Bank. She will have facebooked her visit, but since you're not one of her fans on there you may not know! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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