I Chu (Isan Eel Trap) — a 50 cm Woven Bamboo Bottle with a Low Side Funnel and a Bait Sleeve for a Lid, Set Overnight for Swamp Eels

"The bait heaped at the bottom of the sleeve spreads its smell; the eel smells it and comes to eat, entering through the funnel, but cannot get at the bait." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0)

Shave bamboo into flat strips. Weave a square base with slightly open mesh and brace it with two bamboo pieces crossed in an X through the four corners. Weave close and bulging, then taper up to the neck, and with fine strips flare the mouth slightly: about 50 cm tall, 25 cm at the widest, neck 8 cm, mouth 10 cm.

Low in the side, near the bottom, cut a round hole 6 cm across, fit a funnel with its tips pointing inward, and bind its rim fast to the body.

Weave flat strips into a cylinder closed at the end, slightly open mesh, about 35 cm long, with a flared mouth that fits tight in the trap's mouth. It serves as the lid; pull it out to tip out the eels.

Photos of a real i chu and its sleeve from the Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0).

Set in the late afternoon, around 3-4 pm. Chop bait (snails, gourami, rasbora or earthworms) on the ground, sweep it up with the soil into the sleeve, and push the sleeve firmly into the trap's mouth. Set it in shallow water up to about the neck so trapped eels can breathe; level the ground and prop it with grass or branches so it does not fall. Leave it overnight.

The Thai-Lao of Isan call it i chu, not tum eel trap; some areas use the lan instead. At Chumphon Buri, Surin, villagers set 40-50 i chu to catch eels for sale in the Thung Kula Rong Hai, from harvest to mid-April. It can stay set for 2 days if the bait is topped up. Take care with the knife when shaving strips. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "อีจู้", author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum, Buriram (CC BY 4.0 licence). **Limits** The source does not give the size of the funnel.