Survival fishing

[survivalinstinct228]

Does anyone here have a good survival fishing kit? If so what is in it and do you have any advice on how I should build my own. I love fishing and figure that if I am stranded some were in the woods. If I can find a lake then i can catch food. I know I can find edible pants, but I love meat and protein is a necessity no matter how you get it. Anything helps.

[hunter63]

Do you fish now?......ie so what do you fish for?......what do you use for tackle?....bait?
Survival just means fishing, but when you don't catch anything you are hungrier

Good discussion here........and plenty of kits.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...l-Fishing-Kits

[survivalinstinct228]

Thanks for the link. This helps me out however I am not the most advanced or hard core fisher but I thought it would be a good way to catch food. I do enjoy fishing don't get me wrong, but I defiantly not the best at it. Do you have any foolproof ways to catch fish no matter the conditions.

[TXyakr]

Thanks for the link. This helps me out however I am not the most advanced or hard core fisher but I thought it would be a good way to catch food. I do enjoy fishing don't get me wrong, but I defiantly not the best at it. Do you have any foolproof ways to catch fish no matter the conditions.

hunter63's questions are spot on! I would add that my minimalist fishing kit or "survival kit" varies depending on the body of water and time of year. I have used the best techniques in very good conditions and caught nothing and then used terrible gear in poor conditions when others were not catching anything and caught good fish. So I am skeptical about "foolproof" gear advertised on fishing shows etc.

I have also caught many fish using just a simple cut sapling pole or bamboo pole without reel, but a reel with freshly spooled line makes it much easier. There are several telescoping poles and small multi section poles that work fairly well and you can always attach them to a found or cut natural pole (sapling, river cane etc) for more reach (i.e. get out over undercut bank or drop down beside fallen timber without spooking fish, no reel or reel mounted with cord onto found sapling pole.)

Bottom line take whatever kit you come up with based on taking to people in your region and reading Threads here and elsewhere BUT definitely try it out. This will tell you what works for you in your situation, environment and skill set.

Edit: Not foolproof but: If there are trout, sunfish (bluegill) and small bass I have had good success with Berkley PowerBait Floating Trout Worm Soft Bait‎, also caddis/nymph flies and a short length of floating fly line (12-20') attached to a bamboo or similar pole but this takes some practice. Many other things work but technique, location and timing are the most important.

[survivalinstinct228]

Thank you very much this helps me out a lot more. new question. do you know of a good wilderness and survival online chat room were i can chat with people in a continues conversation?

[hunter63]

Thanks for the link. This helps me out however I am not the most advanced or hard core fisher but I thought it would be a good way to catch food. I do enjoy fishing don't get me wrong, but I defiantly not the best at it. Do you have any foolproof ways to catch fish no matter the conditions.

Dynamite........


If I had legal foolproof ways I would have an infomercial and sell you the Kit for 19.95 plus shipping and handling and free Gansu knives.

You still have mentioned what you fish for and what with? .....This would help a lot on building a kit.

[randyt]

Just pack a pet otter along.

http://www.odditycentral.com/animals...tradition.html

[TXyakr]

Don't know of a "good" chat room with polite people but if you have thick skin can put up with BS, I can PM you some. Most are a waste of time IMO. Rick does a good job moderating here.

But I understand the entertainment value in chat. Personally I think snark is an idiot's attempt at whit and so try not to get caught up in it.

[Tokwan]

I just put some small hooks, sinkers, about 17 feet of fine line (25lbs) into a small plastic sachet and stuff them into the slit of my knife's sheath...that's it. as for bobbers, I would make them from a piece of wood and I usually use tree grubs, earth worms, grasshoppers or certain fruits for bait.
And yes, I have been quite successful.

[randyt]

I have a old tin about the size of a altoids tin except it's three times as thick. I keep my fish gear in it . My hooks are stored between two pieces of masking tape.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

You might consider methods of catching non-game fish and learn proper preparation methods for cooking them. Non-Game fish have no limit and are often more easily caught.

[survivalinstinct228]

Thanks you guys this helps me out a whole lot I think I can now safely build the perfect survival fishing kit for me. And to answer your question I fish a lot of deferent fish mostly Trouts, small mouth Bass, a few Northern Pike, and some Cutbow. as well as anything ells that I can find. I don't know what bait I use but it is mostly lures and other forest grubs.

Yes I have success I just don't know what I use.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

I have talked to survival fishing on here before. Do a search under my username and fishing.

[Tokwan]

Where I am, we usually fish for cat fish or copper mahseer . Catfish is abundant in the rivers and swamps...copper mahseer are available in waterfall..both are fresh water fish.

[TXyakr]

I fish a lot of deferent fish mostly Trouts, small mouth Bass, a few Northern Pike, and some Cutbow. as well as anything ells that I can find. I don't know what bait I use but it is mostly lures and other forest grubs.

Generally I like to talk to people in the local fishing supply shops, ask what works best. If trout and SM bass are fairly large 12"+ streamer flys and traditional minnow imitating lures may work best. Casting lures: "super duper" (chrome/red), Kastmaster, and Roster Tails or similar. Streamer flies, talk to fly shop: wholly buggers and related.
For smaller trout/cutbow rainbow: buy most popular nymphs for the area depending on time of year brassy pheasant tail or whatever is most popular locally. A friend gave me some hand-tied midge flies, I sneezed they were all gone and I could only find one in the sand, also I kept on catching minnows, so for me personally midge flies are beyond my skill level. LOL You can still use flies with a traditional casting rod or simple bamboo pole, just add a tiny bobber, aka strike indicator, this may spook the fish so don't use one of those ridiculous red and white things for small children, clear plastic is better.

Casting weight with "Power Bait" 12-18" beyond on dry fly hook put a wacky rigged floating trout worm (soft plastic) or similar. Catfish also like this bait so a good idea to use brass swivel as the weight, the spin on the line and severely damage it. If you are good at knots use braided line with fluorocarbon tippet. If not learn to tie these two together properly. Non-survival don't use braided line use all fluorocarbon or with fly line, Braided-line spooks the fish but lasts longer. In muddy water, like after a rain braided line makes no difference.

I have very little experience with Northern Pike but for most toothy fish I use a wire leader.

Over 10 years ago I kept most of my hooks in 1"x2" ziplock style bags (from craft store) and in a cheap box. But after getting caught in a hail/thunderstorm they all got wet. Hooks and flies poke tiny holes in bags, water gets in and even if you try to dry them out fast they all rust. Therefore I use a watertight tackle box. Very small fly boxes that have a gasket are good, film canisters, screw top pill bottles (with added gasket, silicone or automative gasket material etc), Pelican box, or many other water tight containers. Personally I will never again use a cheap "Tin" or plastic box/container that is not highly water resistant for hooks/flies that my health/life may depend on. But the little ziplock bags do help you keep the sizes separate if your watertight fly box does not have compartments for these.

[natertot]

I enjoy fishing as a pass time as a means to get fresh fish to eat on occasion. I do it often, but not religiously and I have been fishing since before I can remember. Although I did take a few years off from doing so while I was in the Navy. Wasn't too much time available then. In my experience, I have found that Sun Fish, Blue Gill, Crappie and the like are the easiest and most abundant fish in the US as far as lakes and ponds go. That being said, I keep about a half dozen small lures from a Crappie Kit and all the similar species tend to go for them as well. Aside from that, I keep a small variety of hooks and sinkers, a couple of bass lures, and a few small artificial baits. All of this is in a small "Altoids" tin which is in a sandwich baggie with some 12lb test line.

For use, I will attach a bit of line to a stout stick that is about a foot long and wrap the line around it to "reel in". For bobbers, I find that I can make them out of wood in just a few minutes. Don't have to be pretty, just gotta float.

[Rick]

If you truly want it for survival then consider a gil net. You can set it up and do other things while it fishes for you.

[natertot]

If you truly want it for survival then consider a gil net. You can set it up and do other things while it fishes for you.

That is a good thought. I went with a fishing kit containing regular items because net fishing in my state is illegal. Sometimes when I am on a hike, walk, or a simple overnighter, I like to play with my gear and that includes the fishing kit. Last year, I was hiking a little off the beaten path alongside a river (within a state park) when I noticed an area where the river had lowered and trapped several fish in several "pockets" between the shore and an island in the river. I knew that all those fish (I don't remember how many, but it was around 2 dozen) were doomed if left there. I used my survival fishing kit and spent a few hours pulling out the fish and releasing them to the river except for one fair sized perch. That day, my survival fishing kit wasn't for my survival, but the survival of some fish. Except for that perch...... he was yummy!

[Phaedrus]

Gill nets are illegal because they're so effective! And almost every locality permits them for survival use. Really, compared to starving to death what can they do to you?

You're probably noticed (or maybe you haven't) that by and large survival fishing is considered a pretty low priority by most survival experts. Doug Ritter added some fishing gear to his excellent Pocket Survival Pak but has mentioned in interviews that it's basically a necessity to get anyone to buy it; he doesn't consider it very important but everyone thinks that six hours into being lost they gotta go fishing. The reality is that you can live about three minutes without air, three hours in bad conditions without shelter, roughly three days without water (varies by conditions) but around three weeks without food. In fact some people have lives considerably longer than that. What that means is food is probably the very last thing you need to worry about if you're lost.

I think a true "survival kit" is something that is 1) extra, above and beyond and other gear you have, 2) self contained and 3) always on you if you're out in the wild. If you get lost while backpacking hopefully you have your camping gear on you. Ditto for hiking or camping. If you're day hiking, out fishing or maybe hunting then you probably didn't expect to be out overnight. Therefore you probably don't have a tent, sleeping bag, etc on you. This is where survival gear comes in.

The best bit of survival advice is to leave your itinerary with a trusted person. If you're not back by a certain time they know roughly where you are and can get help to you. It's impossible to predict every situation you could find yourself in but the average survival experience for a lot hiker or camper is around three days. This is due to lots of factors, but once you're missing for X amount of time someone will probably be looking for you. So for most situations getting yourself noticed and rescued comes way ahead of fishing for food.

For that reason I think shelter, water and signalling are the most important elements to consider. Even if help is on the way you have to ward off hypothermia while you wait (remember, three hours without shelter). Shelter can be a tarp, a waterproof poncho or even just warm dry clothes. You have to be able to regulate core temp to survive. Water is part of this. You need it to live of course but it also helps regulate core body temp. In arid areas you need a lot more water. In cold weather you also need more water than you would in nice weather.

A fire will help to keep you warm and help draw attention to you. Fire isn't practical in every terrain but for the most part it's important. So I keep a good fire kit in my stuff.

There are of course cases in the media of long survival situations. If you're lost for month then you will need to consider food. But how realistic is it that you'll be lost for a month? If you're hunting in the far north of Canada or Alaska it could happen. In the hills of NY or Pennsylvania it's hard to imagine being lost that long.

[TXyakr]

Primitive fly rod fishing should probably just be a completely separate thread, but it is actually very easy and highly effective once you learn. Also I have gone days with very little food especially protein and find that my legs give out under me and I make very poor decisions. Personally because I have the skills and if I recognize a body of water containing abundant food I will improve my chances of survival and reduce risk of injury due to weakness. Gill nets in my experience sort of work, but it is difficult to experiment with them due to the law. Mostly they fill up with leaves and debris.

Joe Humphreys of Penn State U really got me started with a fly rod. He demonstrated how it can be used to actually catch fish in very difficult situations like under heavy brush, wind, with no place for a back cast. He could take 1/2 or 1/4 of a cheap rod and shoot a line further and more accurately that most "experienced fly fishermen" could with full rods costing $800+ (Technique and attitude matter the most, also knowing where the fish are and when they are most active.)

You can have a tiny kit in a a single 35mm film canister or similar pill bottle, use a knife to cut a willow branch, take the braided line that was wrapped around the plastic bottle (or inner cords from 550 para cord), and very quickly make a fully functional fly rod that will catch more than a some guy who spent $1000 on fancy gear and hours in a class teaching him to count seconds and 1-11 o'clock and foolishness like that. I own 3 pair of hip waders but unless it is cloudy and ice on water I prefer swim shorts and sandals to cross creek then fish from shore so I don't spook the fish. Use neoprene socks if air temp is below 25F for sandals. Small dry bag for gear and dry clothes. Some folks at trout creek look at me like I am a hobo, well fed hobo. I saw one guy fall in and fill his waders 3 times, he had no dry clothes to change into. LOL fast drive home with no fish.

Here are some links I found that unfortunately make it more complicated than it needs to be but are still fairly good.
http://www.coloradofisherman.com/for...e-fishing.html

http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/rec...9bb2963f4.html

Compared to a "good" fly rod a telescoping rod is terrible but because it is very compact you can hide it in your backpack as a spare. Also it does not get snagged on all the brush like a longer rod tied to your BP. I obey all laws but have occasionally walked into a "one rod only area", so rather than throw my 2nd behind some bushes and hope I don't lose it or something, I think this is better. Just NEVER have two rods set up ready to use at the same time, and beg for forgiveness if a law enforcement officer (game warden) asks to see inside your BP and finds the second. (in most states any LEO can fine you for poaching). My experience is most will only give you a warning for the second unused rod in areas so designated.

If you have more questions on primitive fly rods PM me. If there is not already a thread on it someone should start one.

BTW a healthy human can go a long time without water and especially food but they don't walk very fast or far on mountain trails in that condition. Are usually in a jail cell on protest or hospital bed about to die. Just my personal experience yours may differ.