Do you remember how you caught eels when you were a child? Is eel valuable? Why is it not common now?

In some places, fishing eel in paddy field is called "night fishing eel". In our local words, it is "fishing", that is, looking for eel and loach in paddy fields with lights, and then clamping them with authoritative tools. According to my parents, in the era when there was no flashlight, we used kerosene lamps to look for it in paddy fields directly.

Then there was a flashlight, which was really convenient. 10 years ago, after arriving in Tomb-Sweeping Day every year, people began to go out to take pictures of fish at night. Especially on a southerly day, there were a lot of loaches and eels that night, and many people went to shoot fish. Not only our children will like it, but even some adults will take part. After all, eel loach is delicious, which is very good as an appetizer.

In our local area, the tools for catching loach and eel at night are very simple. A flashlight, a bamboo basket, and an indispensable tool, that is, eel pliers. This tool is similar to the iron tongs used for burning fire, but there is one difference, that is, there are two rows of gears at the tongs' tips. Eels and loaches are slippery because they have mucus on them.

It's hard to catch with your bare hands. It's much more convenient to use eel pliers. After you have a good look, you can't escape if you are caught. Just put it in a bucket or bamboo basket.

Monopterus albus and loach are in the mud during the day and dare not come out to move. They only come out at night, especially in the sultry night. There are many loaches and eels here, and sometimes we can catch several kilograms in one night. However, almost no one catches them anymore, only occasionally a few people catch them because of greed or for fun. Why are there fewer people catching Monopterus albus in rural areas now?

First of all, there are fewer loaches and eels in the farmland. In the past, farmers mainly used farmyard manure and used less pesticides, so there were many loaches and eels in paddy fields. But now a lot of farmland is abandoned, and fertilizers and pesticides are used so much that there are few loaches and eels in the farmland, and it is almost impossible to catch them, so many people are reluctant to go.

In fact, the living standard has improved, and now people are reluctant to catch it. Life used to be hard. For children, there are not a few dollars of pocket money a year, and food is not very good. I had to do something myself, but at that time, these game could be bought for a few dollars a catty in the market, which became the source of pocket money for rural children, and at the same time, they could stir-fry themselves to improve their lives.

In addition, children didn't have any entertainment activities before, but it was fun to take pictures of fish. But it's different now. I eat well, my children have pocket money, and I have a mobile phone and a computer. Naturally, I don't want to catch fish. Even if you want to eat, you can spend money to buy it.