The Eel Trap

The Golden Cloud 23/01/12


As an avid watcher of River Cottage, one trick I really wanted to try out in the river besides my house was an Eel Trap. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFq-0oUs4gY in this episode hugh makes his!)


So I set about making one for the river... Now Hugh has a lovely trickling brook filled with eels, I have a rageing torrent (outgoing tide) crossed with a millpool (incoming tide). He also has a posh traditional wicker trap, compared to my made out of a tub attempt!


So Step one


Find yourself a suitable plastic tub that you don't mind destroying, and has a whole somehwhere on it where an eel could slip  in, but should be above the bed so a crab wouldn't.

 This would do nicely...


Next you want to put as many holes in it as possible. So the water can get out when you pull it up and so the smell of the bait gets out.


To do this if you chose a suitable plastic bucket it easy...


First heat up a metal screwdriver...

Next push the screwdriver on the plastic, it will melt through and make a hole

When it's through woggle it about to enlarge the hole... Repeat till the tub is covered with holes.

Then you need to attach it to a rope and something to hold it down....


For the rope attaching cut a whole in the tub the opposite end to the end your entry hole.
thread the rope through, and then make a knot in the rope on the entry hole (in my case also handle end)


Then tie the opposite end to something very heavy to hold the tub down.... in my case I chose a small lobster pot that the boatyard sold me.


Then you throw in some bait to each, find a suitable spot (easy access, deep water) and throw her in, being sure to give enough rope and tieing the end of the rope off somewhere secure.

Wait for a period of time (it's meant to be to the next tide but I got to excited and checked at high tide)

 Sadly, Checking both at 9pm and 9am through shear excitement, I found that my luck was not in. in the 2 attempts the Lobster pot caught 8 Shore Crabs, and the eel trap caught nothing!

That said! HFW's River cottage handbook no.5, the edible seashore, does have a recipe for these little shore crab critters "Shore Crab Bisque". However, it calls for 1kg, these did not weight a total of a kg, more like 10g!


Better luck next time!