Eel catching season

(Baonghean.vn) - These days, in the countryside, people in Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen... are in the season of releasing traps and catching eels.

Spring rice is in its maiden stage, which is also the main eel season. These days, in the fields, people in Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen... are in the season of releasing traps and catching eels.

There are many ways to catch eels, each with its own advantages. In the past, many people specialized in eel fishing, using a fishing line, baiting worms, and dropping them directly into eel holes around the fields or pond banks. The advantage of this method is that you can catch big eels, sometimes catching eels weighing 0.3 - 0.5 kg.

Some people use iron rods or specialized shovels to catch eels. This method is only used when the rice fields are empty or the newly planted rice is still low. However, using bamboo or plastic tubes with bait to lure eels is the most popular method.

According to Mr. Ly, in the past, people often used bamboo tubes to lure eels, the mouth of the tube was attached with a “me” woven from bamboo, at the end of the tube were drilled several holes for the eels to live. In recent years, they have switched to using plastic tubes, including the “me”. They used scissors to cut a piece of plastic tube into a beam and made a small rubber band to make the “me”. The bait for the traps was earthworms and golden apple snails, all chopped up. For every 100 traps, about 0.5k of bait was needed.Mr. Nguyen Hai Ly, a long-time “expert in releasing traps” in Mau 1 hamlet, Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan), said: People here do this all year round, but they do it all at once from late spring to early fall, when the weather is warm, especially when the rice is in the young stage. The advantage of releasing traps is that it is effective, gentle, and catches a lot of eels.

There are many ways to catch eels, but using a trap is the most popular method. Photo: Huy Thu.

Every day, around 4-5pm, the workers start carrying the traps to the fields to release them. Wherever the traps are placed, they use a little mud to make a “mark” on the edge of the field. When they go to retrieve them, the traps follow that “mark” to pick up the traps. Around 5am, the workers wake each other up to go pick up the traps and catch the eels.

Every early morning or late afternoon, walking on the fields in Nam Dan, seeing many people riding motorbikes in the middle of the fields, carrying plastic bags, or carrying bags walking around stooping, those are the people releasing traps and catching eels. Mr. Ly said, in Kim Lien, Nam Linh... each commune has about a few dozen people releasing traps, each person usually has from 100 to 300 traps. He alone has 200 traps, each meal in the field takes 2 hours to release, each night he earns about 8 to 10 kg of eels.

Eel is a popular food in the summer. Photo: Huy Thu.

In the past, people who worked in the trap-catching profession often carried “eel tubes” with 2 baskets, or tied the baskets to the back of bicycles, but now everyone uses motorbikes to set traps. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Khanh (47 years old) in Hamlet 1, Nam Linh Commune (Nam Dan), who has 15 years of experience in the profession, said: “I have 150 traps, and I often go to release them in the fields in Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, and communes around Vinh City. Every night, I can earn about 4-5 kg ​​of eel. Experience shows that in years when there is a flood, there will be more eels after the flood.”

People who specialize in releasing bamboo traps, every night they carry hundreds of bamboo traps across the fields from Thanh Chuong to Vinh City. Photo by Huy Thu.

Mr. Khanh’s family has one hectare of rice field, and the spring crop yields nearly 3 tons of rice, just enough for food for people and livestock. Although rice is the main crop, catching eels is the main source of income for the family. Mr. Khanh shared: “During the off-season, we have to catch eels to earn money. Compared to many other jobs such as construction workers, bricklayers, etc., catching eels is much more strenuous and the income is not less.”

Summer is coming, the demand for dishes made from freshwater eels is increasing, so eels are quite easy to sell. People who release eels do not have to bring eels to the market, but traders will come to pick them up at home. According to those who do the job, eel prices fluctuate seasonally, usually higher in winter than in summer, because when it is cold, few people release eels.

The price of eels is currently fluctuating from 90,000 to 130,000 VND/kg. Each night, each person who catches eels can earn 300,000 to 1 million VND. Mr. Le Ba Dien in Mau 1 hamlet, Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan) happily said: "The eel catching job has brought a stable life to my family".

Huy Thu