Читать книгу The Taste of Britain - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Страница 55

The elvers are caught at night by inhabitants who have rights to particular places on the river where swift-moving water comes close to the bank. They take up station some time before the ‘bore’, a high wave formed by the incoming tide in the Severn estuary as it narrows, and warn each other of its arrival by shouting a message along the river, marking its progress. As the tide begins to ebb, nets are put into the water with their mouth facing downstream to catch the elvers as they swim upstream against the flow; after a few minutes a net is removed and emptied, then dipped again. A suspended light can be used to attract the fish. If the run is poor, the net may be ‘tealed’, pegged in position for some time, in an attempt to maximize the catch.