Yabbies are on the move again as a high-flowing River Murray refreshes creeks and floodplains and entices the crustaceans from their dormancy.

The humble freshwater yabby can survive dry conditions for years in deep burrows and were last seen in abundant numbers during the high river of 2010-11.

Recreational and commercial fishers are expecting a bumper yabby crop as soon as warmer weather arrives.

"The yabbies are definitely on the move, I've tried three creeks and I've got a few yabbies out of two of the three," Barmera tackle shop owner Kym Manning said.

Riverland fisher Garry Warrick has a commercial licence to catch yabbies in the River Murray and has already had enquiries from markets wanting to stock the freshwater delicacy ahead of Christmas.

"I supply to Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne markets and they are popular with restaurants, as well as tourists in the area locally," Mr Warrick said.

The high inflows have already filled some floodplains at Katarapko National Park, which will allow vegetation and and marine life including crustaceans to flourish. ( ABC News: Isabel Dayman )

Yabby nets in short supply

Flows into South Australia are currently 45 gigalitres per day and while official estimates are for flows to reach 60 gigalitres per day by November, local river watchers tip it could go much higher.

Already water is filling wetlands at Katarapko National Park and the Chowilla reserves and bringing with it environmental benefits.

People are stocking up on nets, such as this drop net, in preparation for the yabby season. ( Supplied: Mary Heuzenroeder )

Keen anglers are stocking up with nets and preparing for a big cook-up.

"My advice is if anybody wants yabby nets between now and Christmas don't leave it too late, because I've spoken to three of our suppliers and they are in short supply, they have them on order but not 'til January," Mr Manning said.

During the last high river he sold about 200 yabby nets a month.

"People have been enquiring about yabbies for a few weeks now," Mr Manning said.

"Several people have started going out, there's not a great deal happening, but I would say it's 95 per cent [certain] the yabbies are going to go.

"As a kid we used to catch them on a string with a piece of liver and a little net, it was a lot of fun."

A wheelbarrow of cooked yabbies after a big family cook-up in the Riverland in the early 1990s. ( Supplied: Mary Heuzenroeder )

'It doesn't happen every year'

During the so-called millennium drought, yabbies were not seen for nearly 10 years.

They are commonly 10-20 centimetres long but can grow bigger — if you believe the stories.

"It was the same size as a two-litre coke bottle, it was a monster," Mr Manning said of the one that took out bragging rights at a local yabby competition.

Recreational yabby catches are capped at 200 per day and female yabbies carrying eggs must be returned to the water immediately.

And the best advice for cooking seems to be to boil them in salted water for a few minutes, sprinkle with salt and vinegar and enjoy with a crisp white wine or cold beer.

And any leftovers can be pickled.

"It's kind of got the River Murray flavour to it, it's quite firm meat like a prawn, very tender," Mr Manning said.

"We were all brought up on them and it's a special thing to go out yabbying, it doesn't happen every year."