What are the common methods for catching loach?

Loach is widely distributed along the coast of Asia in China, Japan, Korea, Russia and India, and is quite widely distributed throughout our country. However, because the loach's body is smooth and it has the habit of liking to burrow into the mud, this brings considerable difficulty to fishing, resulting in a low recapture rate for farmed loach and directly affecting yield and economic benefits. Let us take a look below at what methods there are for catching loach!

Catching with a trap cage

This method can be used except when the loach is hibernating in winter. Generally, a trap cage or a yellow eel cage is used for catching. When the water temperature is 18-30°C, feeding is stopped for one day before catching. First put a tasty bait ball in the cage, such as fried rice flour bran, wheat bran, etc., and place the cage on the bottom of the pond. After 1 hour, first gather the bag opening, pull up the cage, then untie the tail of the bag to harvest once. The cage cloth can also be placed at the water inlet. When water enters, the impact of the water flow forms a current around the cage opening, and the loach swims upstream into the cage and is caught.

Catching with a seine net

During the peak feeding season of loach, a seine net used for catching fry and fingerlings of farmed fish or a specially woven seine net can be used to catch loach. Before operation, first remove obstacles in the water, then make bait with a strong aroma into a ball-shaped hard bait and place it at the feeding ground as bait. When the loach enters the feeding ground to feed, set the net and quickly close it, giving a high catch rate.

Catching with a loach bag

Catching with a loach bag is mostly used in rice fields. Choose a sunny daytime, first drain the water in the rice field fish pits and ditches, then slowly refill the fish pits and ditches with water in the evening, and at the same time place the loach-catching bag into the fish pit. Put some leaves, aquatic plants, etc. in the bag, and also put in bait. The loach enters the bag to seek food and can then be caught.

Catching by drying the pond

This is generally carried out in autumn, when the loach eats less and has not yet burrowed into the mud to overwinter, or this method is used when there are still remaining loach after catching farmed loach by the above methods. If a small amount of loach remains when catching by drying the pond, the holes left by the loach burrowing into the mud can be found, and the loach can be caught by turning over the mud and digging the soil. The holes where loach burrow into the silt are round or oval. Generally, the hole diameter of adult loach is 1-2 cm, and the hole depth varies with the size of the loach, the thickness of the silt, the water temperature, etc.

Catching by gathering with rice straw

In autumn and winter, when loach has already burrowed into the mud to overwinter, bundles of rice straw, corn stalks or wheat straw, etc. can be tied into large bundles in late autumn, then several holes can be poked through with a thick stick, and the bundles are buried in advance in the mud of insect-collecting pits and fish ditches in the rice field, leaving only a small part exposed. As the water temperature gradually decreases, large numbers of loach will burrow into them one after another to overwinter. When catching, simply lift the bundles of rice straw, corn stalks or wheat straw gently and pour them into a basket.