Catfish, how it is being catch and the traps used.

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Catfish is one of the fish widely catch by fishmen along the volta lake. It is a fish loved by many people worldwide.

Several methods and techniques are used in catching it. There are also several fishing tools and nets that are designed in different forms for catching catfish.

Seasons for catfish;

The major season for catching catfish along volta lake specifically (along the river Bosom at Afram Plain north) is from the middle of July to September end, but sometime it may enter into early October.

The minor season is from the middle of December to February.

Traps;

Some of the traps used for catching catfish are;

Hook and line with earthworm, snail, or soap. (https://elightenknowledge.com/how-soap-worms-earthworm-and-snails-are-used-as-a-bait-in-fishing/).

Trap used for catching catfish in the volta river. IMG 0.1 

The trap shown in IMG 0.1 above is used with ‘one man thousand’ as it is commonly known in Ghana.

The one man thousand can either be dried or fresh.

Some people call it “Keta school boys” 

Dried one man thousand
Fresh one man thousand

How the trap is used.

The trap is set at the bank of the river where there are grasses with a depth of about 2 meters to 4 meters as shown in IMG 0.2 below.

IMG 0.2

The area where you want to place the trap should be cleared by removing the grass in that part of the water either by your hand or cutlass.

Place the trap carefully at the cleared portion and make sure it balances well on the ground and there is no space under it.

After that, fetch a little of your one-man thousand, and raise one side of the trap carefully.

Put the one man thousand under, and put the trap back on it firmly.

After this is done, get some grasses to cover the whole trap completely.

And that is all you are done setting your trap, leave it, go home, and come the next day for your trap with catfish.

Pour the fish out of it and go and set it at a different place.

Catfish in a bowl after harvest. IMG 0.3

Sometimes too the one-man thousand is put into the trap directly.

And in those situations, you must gather enough grasses around it so that the one-man thousand will not be blown out of the trap by the water current.

Note that, you can either use the dried one man thousand or the fresh one depending on the one you can get easily.

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