eelpot (elpot)

1. A kind of basket for catching eels, having fitted into the mouth a funnel shaped entrance, like that of a wire mouse-trap, composed of flexible willow rods converging inward to a point, so that the eels can easily force their way in, but cannot escape. These baskets are usually attached to a framework of wood erected in a river, especially a tideway river, the large open end of each being opposed to the current of the stream. The eels are thus intercepted on their descent toward the brackish water, which takes place during the autumn. Eel-pots are used in various parts of the Thames in Eng land. In Great Britain called eel - buck. 2. The homelyn ray, Raia maculata. [Local, Eng.]