Catching fish without destroying hardscape/ plants

[Atitagain]

This is in a 60G tank that is hardscaped with 3 medium mopani driftwood, lots of branches/ roots, and lots of IAL. Don’t really wanna say how much time I put into this set up. Not gonna say I placed every branch and every twig but I placed every branch and every twig. (It feels like anyway) I know I keep talking about it but I can’t show you the tank because it definitely qualifies for “scapes from scraps” but no worries. 
The only fish in this tank is a pictus catfish and I’ve been trying to catch him for 2 days now. I try to sneak up but he always slips away. Must be the whiskers. So I came up with this.

tools needed

this can be done with a drinking water bottle but this fish is in the 5-6 inch range. Cut top and bottom from water bottle just bottom from container.

sew together something to set trap

place bottle in container and add trap cloth

Bait (bloodworms today)

Close lid drill holes in container to help sink

 

release chum bait at entrance 

 

I left light on on right side of tank to encourage him to other side where I’ve turned off light and even coved front to help him relax 

Ok it’s set I’ll check in about an hour 👍
 

m sorry I don’t know who to credit for this design on this trap. I’m totally stealing it. I’ve seen it here a couple times.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Atitagain

[Widgets]

I have a fish trap that is basically the same idea. It is double sided, with an entrance cone on each end. The whole thing is collapsible mesh. There is an access zipper in the center, and an internal zippered pocket to hold the bait. My fish trap is too big to use in my tanks (and probably yours too). This is a neat DIY implementation of that design.

I might try to find a clear container so that it would be easy to tell when the desired fish has been trapped without disturbing it. You could also look for signs of distress in the incidental catching of any other fish in the tank.

[Atitagain]

I have removed the trap. He was out swimming around the top and that got me chasing him again. 
So basically I’m doing a total rescape but he was caught with minimal stress overall.

this is a reflection picture (only one of them)