The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-27
EEL MYSTERIES.
Iish Waters-Great Art in Landing
m Catch


Catch.
From the London Mail.
The heavy weather and dark nights
of early October have caused commo-
ton in the muddy habitations of the
cells.
Night after night on the ebb tides
the beds of the breads and rivers have
been covered with a squirming carpet
Of wriggling sliminess, all writing
down, down, down to Breydon Water
and the sea. For cells, unlike most
fish. always swim with the current
There are two great running" sea-
sons for the eels-the spring and the
autumn. About the beginning of
April, when an occasional mild night
gives a foretaste of the coming sum-
mer. the cells (Which have been laid
up in seven or eight feet of mud all
through the winteD begin to stir
themselves. Many are taken during
the spring run on night lines or in
nets. Some are taken in the summer
by "babbing." but the great wild rush
down to the sea is in the stormy OBJ
security of a moonless October night.
Eels will not run when there is light.
Then do the bownets strain with the
weight of their intercepted prey and
the old "babbers" have a rich reward
for their dreary nights vign on the
river.
The best "set" for bow nets in all
East Anglia is across the Thurne,
little below Kendall Dyke, the outlet
from Heigham Sound. Here come all
the cells from Hickling and Markham
Breads and Horsey Mere. and in a
tiny creek leading out of the river
"a IinG quaint
hut of the eel-fisher-a rough cree
ton of boards on an old sea. boat
pitched all over to keep out the
weather The iron pipe of a galley
stove projects from the roof for the
| autumn nights are cold and the eel
fisher (who has long hours to wait
while the tide runs DOWN rheumatic.
An Eel with n History.
Here the set of nets usually consists
of three. Bow nets are round. wide
mouthed nets. in shape like a long
| tapering jelly bag. which are kept open
! by wooden hoops which diminish In
circumference toward the tail, where
the net tapers to point. The poke
of the net is tied to the last and small
| est hoop, and forms a removable tag
An open tag or tail projects from the
| hoop into the poke, which narrows to
| it's opening, so that when once the fish
are in the poke their egress is barred
| by the same system as is seen in q
lobster or crap pot. When the net is
| taken up the poke is united and its
contents emptied into the we'll of the
eel Fishers punt. The three bownets
are stretched across the river. and are
connected to a rope which Is fioated by
corks.
They are put down at high water
mouth up river. and must be taken III
| before the tide turns, or the nets would
be driven back into themselves instead
of being stretched out by the run Of
the ebbing tide, and the result NIGH
be the loss of most of the catch A
the Kendall Dyke set it is by no mean.
uncommon for half ton of cells to b,
taken as the fruits of one nights fish
i ing. and 1 have myself seen one beau
tiful silver bellied eel of just over fiv,
pounds weight shaken out of the poke
That eel has a history. l put it ii
a fishing rod case as a preliminary
packing covering, and it just stretched
itself and burst the strong case with
the utmost ease.
"Bnbbing."
The catch varies in quality, the fin.
est cells being silver-bellied with Olive
colored backs. The copper bellied
black backed variety are rank, anC
neither so firm nor so sweet as the
others. The cells are for the most par
disposed of at Yarmouth, though
good many go as far as London ant
make their appearance as fourpenny
plates, or "all jelly
But the METER is not the only one t.
make a harvest out of the autumn
run. The marshmen, who are sports
men to the backbone. prefer to ''bab.
There is nothing that requires NOR,
knack than this same babbing TIL,
intending babber begins by going GU
with a lantern on a dark. moist night
and captures half pailful of lob,
or dew, worms which have the habi
of disporting themselves in their SUP
dued way on the surface of the marsl
or meadow Then. with the aid of
darning needle, he threads sufficien
worms with worsted to make tw,
punches, each as big as a mans fist
This done. and the wormy worste,
hitched and tied so that it forms tn
desired bunch, he fixes weight in tn
center of the worms, and ties each bal
of bait to line long enough to reacl
the, bottom of the river where he in
tends to exercise his art, with a foo
or two to spare.
The upper ends of the lines are mad,
fast to stout slaves four feet or fiv
feet long, and the tackle is ready. o.
a dark stormy night land If thara 4