One of the most common fishing weapons was the tunnel-net (“vârșa”) made of twigs. Not missing in the past from the inventory of households located near waters, it evolved from a simple trellis, by adding a mouth woven also in the shape of a funnel to the wider conical basket. In some cases, the funnel-shaped mouth was made by bending the twigs, at the front, wider part, around a semicircular frame, consisting of a thicker twig, bent with the ends inserted in a board, or only tied to a stick whose sharp ends would serve as a handle and for fixation. The ends of the twigs, arranged longitudinally, were bent inwards and formed the funnel-shaped mouth of the tunnel-net (“vârșa”). From place to place, the tunnel-net was tied around with linden fibers or woven with two twigs, thus avoiding the possibility of ravelling. At the back, the twigs were bound and tied with loop (“gânj”) or a hemp rope.
The tunnel-nets were laid with bait in smooth waters to attract fish. They were also fixed to the bottom of the water, with the help of stakes, the mouth being oriented downstream, like trellises, after which they were framed with side fences and then the fish were sent towards them and rummaged under rocks by rods, etc.
The tunnel-net in the image (inv. no. 4) is 84.5-cm long and 50-cm wide at the mouth of the basket. It entered the collections of the Transylvanian Museum of Ethnography in 1923.
Text: Andrei Filip – MET museographer
Photo: George Ciupag – MET museographer, photo-video processing