What is "fish tape"

n. A long strip of stiff metal, frequently kept on a spool, used to guide or draw wires and cables through a building.

A fish tape (also known as a draw wire or draw tape) is a tool used by electricians to route new wiring through walls and electrical conduit.

Made of a narrow band of spring steel, by careful manipulation, the tape can be guided through confined spaces such as wall cavities. The goal is to push toward an area where guide string has been dropped inside the confined space and to pull it through, so the guide string can then be used to pull through various types of wiring, such as phone wire, network cables or speaker wire. Fish tape is designed to pull through guide string only. Using it to directly pull the target wire can damage or warp the fish tape.