How to Make a Loach Trap from a Mineral Water Bottle

Make a loach trap from old mineral water bottles to replace bamboo loach traps; it is economical and practical. The making process is described below:

(1) Choose two mineral water bottles of the same color, shape and size, with a capacity of about 600 ml being suitable. Cut off the bottom of both bottles, and cut one of them off at the shoulder. Connect the two cut bottles into one long bottle, with the one that had only its bottom cut off on top and the one cut off at the shoulder on the bottom. At the joint, use a heated wire to drill 8~10 holes and weld them tight.

(2) Choose a piece of hard plastic sheet of the same color as the mineral water bottle, cut it into a semicircle with a diameter of 16 cm, and cut 8~10 slits 2 cm long inward from the center of the circle. The slits should be evenly spaced; their function is to let loaches enter but not leave. Then roll the cut plastic sheet into a cone shape with a bottom the same size as the bottom of the mineral water bottle, and sew the side seam tight with nylon thread.

(3) Place the finished cone with its small end facing inward, align the large end with the bottom opening of the mineral water bottle, and sew it tight with nylon thread. Drill 30~40 small holes in the bottle body with a heated wire, sparse at the top and dense at the bottom, so as to drain water. Finally, drill a hole in the bottle cap, thread a nylon cord through it, and put the cap back on. At this point, a complete loach trap is finished. In actual production, they can be made in batches to improve efficiency. The method of using a loach trap made from a mineral water bottle is exactly the same as that for a bamboo loach trap. Thread the bait (generally earthworms) onto a bamboo skewer 20~25 cm long, put it into the bottle through the bottle cap opening, and put the cap back on. In the evening of the previous day, place the trap in rice fields, ditches, harbors or ponds where loaches are expected to be, and retrieve the trap early the next morning. Note that when placing traps in rice fields, the traps should be retrieved. Note that when placing traps in rice fields, place the traps flat in the water and let the water submerge the entire trap; if the water layer is too shallow, press the trap slightly into the mud layer.