Object Name: Apayo | Gubu

Provenance: Ifugao
Bamboo, rattan
H 19.2 cm
MK Collection

The apayo, also called gubu, is a trap used by the Ifugao to catch fish and eel. As many as 50 pieces of apayo/gubu are set in the mud of the rice terraces to catch tiny fish. The opening is made to face up and is smeared with bait such as fermented rice mash (Hamilton 1998, 114). This fish trap is usually used after the harvest season (late September) until the next crop is partly grown (March).