How do you know when you’re getting a good price on crawfish? What’s considered a decent-sized mudbug? And how does anyone keep up with all the different deals around town? Below, a short primer:

• Generally speaking, if you find fresh, live crawfish for around $2.99 a pound, you’re getting a good deal.
• If you find boiled crawfish for around $5.99 a pound, you’re getting a good deal.
• Prices on live crawfish fluctuate daily, often as much as 25 cents per pound, which means prices on boiled crawfish also fluctuate daily.
• The domino effect also affects the price of boiled crawfish in particular: If one little shack starts selling boiled crawfish for $4.99 a pound, you’d better bet a bunch of other shacks will do the same—or go even lower—in order to compete.
• Call ahead to ask about happy hour pricing or current specials; most restaurants don’t keep their websites or Facebook pages updated with the most recent information (see above, re: constant price fluctuations).
• The smallest crawfish that are still good eating are around 3 ½ inches long, and you’ll generally find 20 to 25 of these to a pound. Larger crawfish—around 4 ½ to 5 inches long—command higher prices, with fewer to a pound (between 10 and 15).