"Catching eels" in the childhood fields

When I was a child, I would catch eels after spring plowing and autumn harvest. Under the rice piles and beside the rice fields, there were countless eel holes. A group of children and I rolled up our trouser legs and went down to the fields. At this time, there was not much water in the rice fields and there were many ways to catch eels. I mostly poke eels and catch eels!

Poking eels depends on the conditions of the eel cave. You can dig it with your hands or poke it with your feet. For eel holes in paddy fields, if you poke it hard a few times, the eel will come out of the other side of the hole obediently. Of course, it will run away desperately, swimming forward in the paddy field like a frightened bird. I chased after him desperately. At that time of year, the rice seedlings were planted not long ago and the water in the fields was very shallow, so there was no need to worry about the eels escaping. If you catch it, catch it with your hands. How to catch it, but there are skills. If you try to catch it with your hands, you will definitely not be able to catch it, because it is so slippery that it can easily slip away from your hand as long as you twist your body. It must be caught like this: three fingers, thumb, index finger, and middle finger. You also need to pay attention to the hand shape of the three fingers. The middle finger should be in an arch shape to hook the eel firmly from the outside of its body, the index finger should hold it hard from the inside of its body, and the thumb should be placed under its body. Hold it to give strong support to the middle finger and index finger. It's troublesome to say, and I can't remember when I learned this trick. Anyway, the moment you actually reach out to catch it, these movements must be smooth and guaranteed to be done in one go. Catching eels in this way is absolutely easy and will hit every target.

But one time, poking an eel actually made a joke. Even now, when I think about it, it still feels funny. It turned out that this time, a playmate and I went to hunt eels in the paddy fields west of my house. When I found an eel hole, I just started poking hard. After a few back and forth, the eel came out as expected, and escaped as quickly as possible. When the two of us saw a real eel, we chased it closely while claiming credit: "I was the one who saw the eel cave first, so the eel should belong to me." "I poked it out, so of course the eel belongs to me." But one day In a blink of an eye, I picked up the eel and took a look, ha! Where is the eel? It is clearly a flashy water snake! He quickly threw it out as far as he could, and then the two little guys fled up the field ridge like a gust of wind.

As for fishing for eels, of course, you have to first make a hook, then install earthworms as bait, and find the eel cave (there are many doorways to confirm the eel cave, and, from the various signs at the entrance of the cave, it can be concluded that Whether the eel is big or small, just put the hook in gently, but don’t think that it will be fine. You have to twitch the hook naturally and smoothly to make the eel think it is a lively and cute earthworm. If you don't eat it, you will miss a delicious meal. But I felt the hook sink suddenly, good thing! The eel was deceived and bit the earthworm. It's too late to say it, but it's soon! You take action decisively: quickly pull the hook outward or upward. As the hook is slowly pulled out, the eel hiding in the hole naturally comes to light and its original shape is revealed. However, you have to be more relaxed when pulling the hook, because if you catch a big fish, don't underestimate its "reaction force", the force of contraction is really not small. If you pull too hard or too hastily, if you are not careful, you may be able to escape from its shell and escape from the hook.

I once had such a frustrating and sad incident. I saw the eel follow the hook to reveal the hole, but I don’t know whether I was eager for success and pulled it too fast, or it was unwilling to surrender and mutilated its own limbs. I watched helplessly as this good guy, who was probably three or four levels in weight, escaped. Afterwards, no matter how hard I fished, it never took the bait again. In the next few days, I naturally went to catch it again and again, but always failed. I wanted to dig it out, but the hole was too deep. Although I was very reluctant, I had no choice but to give up.

Now, catching eels can only be an interesting memory from my childhood.