Story: Te hopu tuna – eeling

‘Catching the legendary eel at Tangahoe’

‘Catching the legendary eel at Tangahoe’

This watercolour by T. W. Downes shows a giant eel being lured out of a stream with a bird on a stick. Ordinary eels were also caught by dangling bait from a rod. This method was called toi, and used a bob made from worms threaded on flax, or spiders in a bag.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: A-076-016
Watercolour by Thomas William Downes

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Basil Keane, 'Te hopu tuna – eeling - Bobbing, feeling and striking', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/13982/catching-the-legendary-eel-at-tangahoe (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Basil Keane, published 24 Sep 2007