Look for crawfish to hit Texarkana early for the 2017 season. Hot Tails Crawfish hut plans to open in December this year. Read below to see the opening plans for the other huts around Texarkana.

Hot Tails Crawfish hut is getting geared up to open the last week of this month. They announced on their Facebook page that they are definitely planning to open in January and possibly as early as December.

Hot Tails Crawfish Facebook
Hot Tails Crawfish Facebook
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"We are planning to start selling our hot and spicy crawfish by the end of this month," says Danny Womack, owner and operator of Hot Tails Crawfish. "Last year, we opened on New Year's Eve, which was the earliest we have ever opened but this year looks like it may even be a little earlier."

Johnny B's is a new restaurant in downtown Texarkana and co-owner Wendell Crossland told me they will sell boiled crawfish once the 2017 season gets going good.

GG's Craw Tails plans to open earlier than previous seasons, too.

"Last year we opened in February but this year we will open as soon as we can get our hands on crawfish," said Janet Green, owner of GG's Craw Tails. "As soon as they come out of the mud," she said.

Shamsie's Crawfish won't be at the old Jefferson Avenue and Arkansas Boulevard location because that building burned at the end of the 2016 season. "I'm still working on a new location," said Mohamed Shamsie. "I should have the building set up soon and will be ready to open by the middle of January."

Twisted Tails co-owner Jason Weaver said, "We will open the first weekend in February."

Once the season gets up and running I will publish a story with more information on the different restaurants and huts that will be selling boiled crawfish.

As soon as I get the word that they are open, I will be taking my annual trip to Crawfish Palace in Haughton, La. They open the earliest out of all the huts that I go to. They start even when there are just a few pounds to serve. Though the price is higher at the beginning of the year, die-hard crawfish lovers like me are ready to kick the season off no matter the price.

The size of crawfish usually vary at the beginning of the year. I remember last year's first few batches were surprisingly larger than I expected them to be. Of course, they were mixed with smaller ones, but that's okay. The small ones really hold the seasoning well and are tasty too.

For now, it's a wait and see holding pattern until we hear from the farmers on their ability to catch crawfish. Hopefully, the flooding that hit Louisiana in late summer doesn't put a damper on the early harvest.

Mimi Campbell, Townsquare Media
Mimi Campbell, Townsquare Media
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As a crawfish connoisseur, I have eaten thousands of pounds of boiled crawfish and I have written many stories about them. It is one of my most favorite subjects. I am the current champ of the Women's Crawfish Eating Contest at Mudbug Madness in Shreveport. My last recorded time is four minutes and 10 seconds to eat five pounds.

Here are some of my stories from previous years:

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