Oh man that brings me back to when a second cousin on a 1970's classic roadtrip vacation showed me how to lift up rocks and grab them barehanded. Long before I knew how they were prepared down south they were river lobsters since I grew up on Long Island.
After my crawfish (as I first called them) ticklin experience I learned that a string on a stick with a bacon strip baited safety pin was a guarantee. Traps work too.

Last Summer I had a ball one night with a few good buddies and headlamps in a swanky Penn Valley golf course neighborhood backyard (house sitting) just going back to basics in the creek running out back!
Great fun and eatin too.
I hear the central Valley canals have a ton of mud bugs.