Eel Trap

[PatrickM]

Many of our ancestors were expert fishermen, catching fish as an essential part of their diet, rather than as a past-time. They used natural materials and created their own kit, whereas most modern anglers that I know would be lost without their ready-made carbon fibre rods and synthetic lines.

This eel trap was made from hazel and hemp.

Please remember that although there are many effective ways of acquiring protein in the wilds, most are illegal to practice in the UK.

 

[spamel]

A fantastic piece of workmanship. Again!! It must have took some patience to make that!

Is it legal to use this net in the UK for the catching of eels?

 

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

As a kid I saw someting like this.

It was made out of what I belive must have been an old hop sack with hazel hoops. The sack was then various "nasty" bits of meat, guts etc. were placed at the bottomn of the sack and then the sack was stuffed with straw then cast into a river with the open end facing up-stream allowing the water to flow through the sacking washing the scent of the bait down stream to attract the eels. The old boy had used this method most of his life and told me he would often have 40+ eels over night in the sack. Having fished the same river over night loads of times in my youth I'm not surprised as I would often catch 6 or so eels whilst fishing for bream.

Thanks for sharing the pictures :You_Rock_

Phil.

 

[British Red]

Beautiful work as always.

So...one would face such a trap with the mouth downstream?

And bait with say a bunch of bunny guts or meat offcuts etc?

Is there a good time of year when eels migrate upstram? In my head theres something about eels going off to the Sargasso sea but also swimming up freshwater rivers?? Probably got that all wrong but hey ho.

And lastly - surely thaty has to be "bought" cordage? Otherwise you are far too clever for words!

Red

 

[Damascus]

Like the work, one question what size are the net holes anything larger than 1 cm or say half inch you will loose alot of eels. as a lad I used to go eel fishing with my father and we would use a keep net and the only one we could use to eep them in was one which was know a minnow mesh the rest many would escape or get stuck in the net which was a pain to get them out.

I made one a while ago out of willow wands and bailler twine and used rabbit guts as bait, this was left out till it was ripe for best effect.

Does the net have an openning at one end to empty the eels out, as this makes life easier to put them into a bucket for transport.

One thing keep eels alive as long as possible as the meat will turn very quickly especially in the heat of the summer.

And finally good luck!!!!!!

 

[PatrickM]

Here you go Red, this will save ma wee fingers tapping on the key board http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/fish/286019/286074/286089/?lang=_e

The net is indeed knotted from bought hemp (thanks Mary!), which I use for all my netting projects. I did make a 20ft net with a 4ft drop from nettle fibres a few years back but lost it to a submerged tree. It was so labour intensive to produce that I will probably never do it again. But here is some natural cordage from a variety of fibres that could be used.

Damascus the mesh size does allow smaller eels to escape but I can live with that. If you stuff some bracken or grass in at the end of the net along with the bait, the smaller eels tend to weave through the grass which holds them back. The net has a draw cord at the end for releasing the eels.

I've been asked to do some work with the City council trapping eels by traditional methods on the Clyde, for a census. I'll keep you posted.

 

[British Red]

You're a good man Patrick!

Sooner or later I'm going to have to look up the man who makes such thing

Red

 

[Brian]

Patrick,

Great work mate, good to see your going to be able to use them properly as well.

Brian

 

[bilko]

Hold on, you made that?!
Blummin eck!
Every single piece of kit you have put on this forum has been top notch mate.
I seriously believe you should be on the tele.

This place is like wandering through the pits at le mans and chatting to any driver you please.
:You_Rock_

 

[longshot]

Beautiful work as always.

So...one would face such a trap with the mouth downstream?

And bait with say a bunch of bunny guts or meat offcuts etc?

Is there a good time of year when eels migrate upstram? In my head theres something about eels going off to the Sargasso sea but also swimming up freshwater rivers?? Probably got that all wrong but hey ho.

And lastly - surely thaty has to be "bought" cordage? Otherwise you are far too clever for words!

Red

red ells are born in the sargasso and migrate to fresh water after so long im not sure when that is, and when they are adults they move back to the sargasso to mate.

at least thats what i read.

lovely trapp patrick, ive seen ones like that for doing fish census in rivers and streams here in Newfoundland they add a leader to the mouth so that all the fish have to go into the trap

dean

 

[stovie]

Once again, lovely work Patrick. A very high standard on all you do. Thanks for the opportunity to see it all.

 

[falcon]

You're a good man Patrick!

Sooner or later I'm going to have to look up the man who makes such thing

Red

If you can't get up to Backwoods Survival School see if you can get to the Wilderness Gathering.......this year he was only too pleased to chat for ages about all these self made items he had on his stand....totally passionate about it and firmly believes we should all give it a go. A real inspiration......

 

[falling rain]

Wow ...........beautiful work Patrick as always, and your cordage from various materials looks amazing too. Top notch :You_Rock_

 

[beowolf762]

Great work, I can see the time and effort you put into your projects. :You_Rock_

 

[steveo]

Patrick you are an insperation to all , :You_Rock_

 

[PatrickM]

Thanks for the kind comments folks.

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Wow, and WOW again !!! :You_Rock_