The old farmer in Nghe An is famous as an 'artisan' who makes extremely effective eel traps.

These days, Mr. Nguyen Van Kinh's family is busy with their job.eel trapMany people from inside and outside the province come to his house or call to place orders. Having been involved in the craft of making eel baskets for over 30 years, Mr. Kinh is famous for making eel baskets in the region, some people say he has reached the level of an artisan.

During this time, Mr. Nguyen Van Kinh in Quynh Thanh commune (Quynh Luu) is always busy making traps to catch eels. Photo: Viet Hung

Each trap made shows sophistication and technique, helping eel hunters achieve efficiency. Mr. Kinh shared: "Before, when I was young, I also had time to go fishing traps, but then I learned to make traps myself and maintained the profession until now. Unlike other seasonal jobs, this job is done all year round, in which the period from January to April of the lunar calendar is the peak season, selling very well because this is the occasioneelreproduce a lot and people gather to hunt. On average, each month, I make about 3,000 nests of different sizes, sold for 3,000 VND/piece."

The raw materials for making the shelters are bamboo and rattan, which Mr. Kinh buys from mountainous districts and sorts by hand. People come to his house to order the shelters in any size, and he is ready to make them for them.

After cutting each tube, the next step is to drill holes in the trap so that the eels can still live when they enter the trap. Making the trap lid is the most important step to lure the eels in to eat the bait easily and prevent them from crawling out. The trap lid is woven from old bamboo strips, tied together with bamboo fibers. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Nguyen Van Binh in Quynh Trang commune (Hoang Mai town) said that people in his village who catch eels all come to Quynh Luu to ask Mr. Kinh to make traps. "We feel secure with the traps made by Mr. Kinh himself because they are much more effective than those made by others. Any trap will catch eels."

In the hands of eel hunters, the important step is making bait to attract eels. They use ground earthworms and crabs and put them in the lid of the trap. Photo: Viet Hung.

“In order for each trap to catch a lot of eels, one of the important factors is the stage of making the trap lid. The lid is woven from old bamboo strips, tied together with bamboo fibers. This is the most difficult stage, requiring high technique, the bamboo strips and strings must be split very thin and smooth, so that when luring eels in to eat the bait easily, the skin is not scratched and the trapped eels cannot crawl out. Currently, there are many places making traps from PVC pipes, but you cannot “catch” eels with bamboo traps,” Mr. Kinh said.

Besides the trap, another important step to lure eels into the trap is the bait.

Currently, most hunters in Nghe An are using two types of food that eels like the most: earthworms and crabs. Grilled crabs mixed with minced earthworms will create a strong fishy smell that no eel can resist.

From hunting eels, people earn from 200,000 to 500,000 VND per day. Photo: Viet Hung.

"Fish die because of lighting,eel died because of bait"When they smell the eels, they will rush in, there are up to a dozen of them, and it is impossible to catch them all. Some people set 150-200 traps in one night, collecting 2-3 kg for an income of more than 300,000 VND. During the eel breeding season, hunters can earn 500,000-1 million VND a day," said a hunter.

Viet Hung