I started to get a few mosquitos breeding in my deep water culture beds so I thought
I would catch some minnows from the brook and use them to eat the larvae.
I found a bunch of information on-line about making traps from soda bottles and thought
I would give it a try.
I didn't have any soda bottles so I thought I would try building it from "the best stuff
on earth".
I cut the top off of the first bottle to use it as the funnel.
After a really bad attempt at removing the label, I then cut the base off of the second
bottle.
This section will be used as the cage.
I saw that some people also make these from one bottle, but using the second bottle lets
you have the cap so it's easier to remove the fish from the trap.
I put the funnel piece into the cage piece and then heated up a nail and used it to poke
a hole through the two pieces.
Cable-ties work well to hold the two sections together.
I then poke several more holes between the two sections and tie them together.
I saw a lot of people would poke holes through the "cage" area.
I'm not sure why but I'm assuming it's to allow fresh water to pass through the trap,
or maybe just let the air out so it could sink in the water.
The loops from the cable ties make a good spot to secure an anchoring string.
I take a short section and tie it between two of the cable ties, then take a long string
and tie it to the center of this string.
This long string will be used to anchor the trap to the shore.
A couple of scraps of stale break will act as the bait.
A nice hike through the fields and woods down to the brook and we're ready to catch some
minnows!
I tie the trap to a root and toss the trap into the water.
After a few hours, I have an unexpected guest, a nice 4" crawfish.
I reset the trap and tried again.
I figured the crayfish would make a nice addition to my aquaponic system and carried it back
to the greenhouse.
The second day, I caught two more crayfish, and the third day, I caught one more.
Now all are at home in my raft beds.
At least the label came off after a few days of soaking in the brook.
My guess is that the hole is just the right size for crayfish, but too large for minnows.
I finally found a couple of 2-liter soda bottles and made another trap.
I set it back in the brook again, with no luck.
Then tried it for a few days at the local lake.
Again, no luck.
I think for this project, it's best for me to pick up a few minnows at the bait shop
down the road.
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