A big, beautiful, bountiful crawfish season expected on the Gulf Coast

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- 2016 might just be the year for crawfish along the Gulf Coast. That's according to business owners who count on the little creatures to make a living.

At the Houston favorite "Rajin' Cajun," owner Luke Mandola told abc13 crawfish are coming in bigger sizes and in larger quantities.

"This year right now, we don't have any cold weather. We ain't have any freezes. We haven't had a lot of rain. The sun is out and they grow in the sun. They're having a good year," said Mandola. "If you remember last year, crawfish were terrible. They wouldn't grow."

Down the street, things look similar at "The Deck on Fountainview" restaurant. Owner Toby Holt said people come in just for the crawfish. Holt said his seasoning helps set his place apart from others. He explained they were able to start buying crawfish in late December. A typical season runs from January until June.

"It's been really well this year because it was an early season. We haven't had any cold weather," remarked Holt. "When it freezes, they go deeper. This year, we haven't had any freezes so there's plenty of crawfish."

Grocery stores like H-E-B also are getting into the action. At their Buffalo Speedway location, seafood managers told us crawfish are selling fast. Live crawfish is going for $2.99 a pound. Cooked crawfish is about $5.99 a pound.

"Oh, it's a big difference. I've seen the times when we were struggling to get 3 sacks a weekend," said Freeman Orange with H-E-B. "Now we can get a 150 sacks. No problem."