Eel trap
An eel trap is a trap used to catch river eels . There are different designs.
A simple trap- like fishing gear is the eel basket ( eel tube ), which is probably the oldest form of willow rods . This shape is known as Kübbe , among other things . Eel traps were developed from this, which consist of several rings made of stronger willow rods, plastic or metal ( stainless steel ) and are covered with net yarn ( aalfuuk ). As is usual with fish traps, there is a cone-like net funnel, the throat, at the opening . Usually several mesh chambers with grooves are arranged one behind the other. They form so-called eel basket chains or sacks. If an eel swims into the trap, it cannot find its way out through the narrow rear openings. In the rearmost chamber, bait (e.g. slugs with peppermint, thawworms or clam meat) can be placed. Similar fish traps are also used to catch crabs .
Iron pots are mainly used in inland fishing, but also in coastal fishing. There are different combinations when using one or more fish traps with side wings and / or guide weirs on which the fish are led to the inlet of the fish traps. Floating eel traps are usually attached to the bank with a line and kept in the current by weights and a swimmer. In lake and coastal fishing, the traps are attached to rods, so-called stakes .
Large pots, as they are mainly used in the Baltic Sea , emerged from large herring pots. They serve to intercept the silver eels that migrate along the coasts of the central and western Baltic Sea in autumn. The largest traps are the chamber traps or kum traps used in Germany and the similar bundle yarn from Denmark. These can be used in water depths of up to 12 meters. Their net chambers are closed at the bottom and open at the top. The side mesh walls are perpendicular to the posts. Guide weirs (set nets) with a length of up to 2000 meters are arranged in front of the fish trap openings.
literature
- Horst Müller: The eels. Life cycle and economic importance of migratory fish between sea and fresh water. In: The New Brehm Library. A. Ziemsen, Wittenberg 1975, p. 96f.
