Wait, When Is Crawfish Season Again? - Houstonia Magazine

The question on every Houstonian’s lips around this time of year: 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 what 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 beneath the rice fields when temperatures rise). Droughts can also affect 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, crawfish are now available as early as January and into 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, they may be frozen product shipped in from elsewhere.

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, whether farmed or wild-caught. The remaining months can yield similarly sized crawfish if the conditions are favorable, but that’s not always a guarantee. Folks who once complained about crawfish arriving too early were right to quibble: January and February’s wild-caught crawfish can be 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 2026 Crawfish Season: Here's What Chefs Are Saying

Houston chefs and restaurateurs are optimistic. Chef Lucas McKinney of Josephine’s says farmers are anticipating a strong crop. “They’re saying it’s going to be a hell of a year—a great year,” he says.

In fact, the crops are already working in our favor. At Crawfish Cafe, Kiet Duong says they resumed selling mudbugs in November, currently priced at $12.99 per pound. A major reason for the early return was the quality he was seeing in the supply—a promising indicator for what’s to come, he says.

Duong credits several weather-related factors, including the absence of a drought, a mild winter with no freezes, and farmers committed to selling their harvest. “I told my team this probably, like two weeks ago: I couldn't believe how good the quality is at this time of year,” says Duong, who receives a delivery daily from Louisiana. “Typically, you know, when it's early December, or even early January, the quality is not as good. So, I'm kind of surprised,” Duong says.

While some restaurants are already putting mudbugs on the table, McKinney says he plans to wait until mid-January to add them to Josephine’s menu, when he expects the supply to meet his standards. For the chef, the ideal batch features medium- to large-size crawfish with mature shells and plenty of meat—not only do these boil better, but they also absorb more seasoning and flavor. When crawfish do hit the menu, diners can expect crawdaddies sourced from farms in Anahuac and Beaumont, as well as Louisiana.

No matter when Houston chefs choose to bring crawfish to the table, most agree that these crustaceans get better and better as the season goes on. Duong expects crawfish to peak in March. “The week of spring break is pretty much the Super Bowl of crawfish season,” he says.

McKinney echoed the sentiment, noting that crawfish typically reach the perfect size in February, setting the stage for a plentiful March and April. At Josephine’s, staff know they’re working with quality batches when only a few crawfish are dead while sorting each sack. “Their liveliness is a good indicator for us. If they’re tired and sad looking, we don’t serve them,” McKinney says.

Looking ahead, McKinney says Josephine’s plans to keep the crawfish party going through early July. In the meantime, Houston diners can enjoy offerings like the restaurant’s upcoming chef-driven backyard seafood boils and Sunday pop-ups at EZ’s Liquor Lounge—because although crawfish season is certainly about flavor, it’s also about gathering. “The biggest thing that we try to focus on with crawfish is it just brings the community together, and we want to have some parties and have fun with it this year,” McKinney says.

 Katharine Shilcutt and Emma Balter contributed to this article.