Crawfish Season: Everything You Need to Know
When is crawfish season again?! The answer is always not soon enough, but there are some factors that dictate when our favorite spicy crustacean lands on our plates. Here’s everything you need to know about crawfish season in Texas and Louisiana.
The “Traditional” Season
The time for wild-caught crawfish is in the spring, generally during March and April. A cold, late winter can delay the season (crawfish don’t like to get out and about when it’s too chilly), while a hot, early summer can cut the season short (crawfish head back into their mud burrows under the rice fields when it gets too warm outside). Droughts can also affect the crawfish; if there’s too little water, they won’t grow or reproduce.
Crawfish Farming
Thanks to increasingly large-scale farming operations in Louisiana and parts of southeastern Texas, you can now get crawfish from January to August, depending on the producer and, again, the weather (even farms aren’t impervious to temperature and barometric-pressure fluctuations, both of which impact the crawfish’s life cycle). This means the season now covers roughly half the year, which we consider cause for celebration. It also means that if you’re getting crawfish in the fall, it could very well be frozen stuff shipped over from other countries.
Larger than Life
Though the season spans roughly half the year, crawfish are still at their biggest and best around March and April, when they’ve had plenty of time to fatten up, farmed or not. The remaining months can bring in equally large crawfish if the weather is favorable, but that’s not always a guarantee. Folks who once complained about crawfish coming in too early were right to quibble: January and February wild-caught crawfish were woefully small. But now we can get good ‘bugs at a respectable size thanks to farmers’ efforts to keep them well-fed and protected.
The 2025 Crawfish Season
This year is shaping up to be much better than the last, which was marked by drought and extreme heat that’s unfavorable to good, plentiful crawfish. Luckily, there was enough rain over last summer to set the mudbugs up for success, followed by a relatively mild winter. Crawfish boils began appearing on some menus in Houston in January, but the cold temperatures that blanketed the South at the end of the month slowed production in Louisiana. With temps now creeping back up, it looks like we’ll be ready to twist tails and suck heads on decently sized crawfish by mid-February, with a juicier (and cheaper) catch coming in early March.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When does crawfish season start?
A: The traditional season for wild-caught crawfish is in the spring, generally during March and April. Farming operations can provide crawfish from January to August, depending on the producer and weather.
Q: What affects the availability of crawfish?
A: A cold, late winter, hot, early summer, or drought can impact the availability of crawfish. Weather fluctuations, such as temperature and barometric pressure, can also impact the season.
Q: Are crawfish farmed or wild-caught?
A: Both! Wild-caught crawfish are available during the traditional season, while farmed crawfish are available year-round, depending on the producer and weather.
Q: What’s the best time to get crawfish?
A: The best time to get crawfish is usually around March and April, when they’ve had plenty of time to fatten up. However, the remaining months can bring in equally large crawfish if the weather is favorable.
