Crayfish

Crayfish is a low-level food available to players. Eating crayfish heals 200 life points. Players need level 1 Cooking to cook a raw crayfish, and doing so gives 30 Cooking experience. Players will stop burning this fish at level 30 Cooking.

Raw crayfish can be obtained by fishing with a crayfish cage, which can be obtained as a free sample from Hank's Fishing Shop in Lumbridge.

Fishing crayfish is effective at lower levels as they provide decent experience.

Location
Crayfish are mostly caught at fishing spots wherever a "cage/net" option is available. However, they are exclusively caught in the section of the River Lum found east of the church in Lumbridge, or in Taverley, a bit south-east of the farming patch, where the Taverley River extends.

There is a relatively short distance between the fishing spot and the Cook's range in Lumbridge Castle. Once a player has completed the Cook's Assistant quest, they are able to use the Cook's range which reduces the rate at which food burns when cooking on this special range.

Assuming no burning, each raw crayfish cooked would yield a profit/loss of coins. This is fairly unimportant, however, as it is most effective for new players to fish and cook their own crayfish.

History
Crayfish were introduced to the game with the Lumbridge and Draynor Tasks on 14 July 2008. Although they were not originally featured in the tasks, they were included in the non-set tasks with the Tasks update on 24 November 2010.

Before the introduction of crayfish, the closest low-level fishing spot near Lumbridge was in the Lumbridge Swamps. This spot, however, was far away from a fishing shop, a general store, or monsters good for training. The crayfish fishing spot is conveniently located in an area close to many other low-level features.

There is a tutorial message that states using a crayfish on a range or open flame will give firemaking experience.

Before the Battle of Lumbridge, they could also be caught in a small pond near Fred the Farmer's house.

Trivia

 * The image of this fish has changed repeatedly. Between September–October 2009, it changed two times. They started as three small crayfish, were changed to a single small crayfish for about three weeks, then changed to a large one, similar to an upside-down lobster. It also once had a detailed icon of 3 detailed crayfish in the Grand Exchange database.
 * Despite requiring only Level 1 Fishing to fish crayfish, it heals the same amount as anchovies, which require 15 Fishing to fish. This is probably due to the fact that the latter is supposed to be used as an ingredient in Anchovy pizzas.
 * The crayfish used as bait in the Fish Flingers Distraction and Diversion are grey instead of brown.

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