Fishing

Fishing is a skill, i think. You have to have a lot of experience in fishing to be able to have a decent catch. Once you've conditioned yourself in the art of fishing, then you'll instinct will just kick in and next thing you know you're a fishing pro. I've never tried this but it seems interesting, my dad likes to watch fishing shows. He used to fish when he was younger.

 

Fishing is a very broad. What the OP is describing is pole fishing, as we call it in our part or the world. That is only one aspect of spectrum. There's netting, casting, and trapping. We used pole fishing to introduce little kids to fish and the elderly likes it as well as they don't have to walk around.

 

The best types of live bait to use for freshwater fishing are worms, minnows, wax worms and soft shell (crayfish). For inshore saltwater fishing you can use worms too, fiddler crabs and live shrimp. Ultimately you’ll want to use whatever live bait is best for the species of fish you’re trying to catch. Some other types of live bait that are also used are leeches, frogs and other odd ball type bait. Also, When fishing in water with little salinity you’ll really want to make sure you keep your hands clean. Fish have a good sense of smell and any foreign scent on your bait or lures can turn them off.

 

It is indeed only one aspect of fishing but also the most popular and widely used one. It's also a very common way of acquiring food in survival situations. That's why knowing how to make a fishing pole is a useful skill. Making nets and traps in the wild is probably more difficult but can catch a decent amount of food while you are away doing something else.

 

I'm a great fisherman if you allow me to toot my own horn, but that took me a really long time to achieve. I remember my first couple of years when I first started, I was barely catching any fish because I didn't know what bait I needed to use and what were good spots to lure, but after a while you start to learn how to fish properly and you can even do it in the wilderness with worms, a tree branch and string with a hook. It all comes down to practice.

 

Fishing is something that you have to work at in my opinion. I feel that you have to have a lot of patience and your timing has to be right as well. I feel that you get better the more you actually go fishing. I used to have the biggest issue casting out, but now I can launch a line like it's nobody's business. I feel that being in the mood for fishing is key as well.

 

To me it is more technical than it seems because I have tried and always failed. The fish were more likely to catch me. No matter what bait I'd use, they would just eat it off and left my poor little hook hanging. I should try it again sometime soon though.

 

I fish a LOT. I live in a fisherman's paradise now but even when I was a kid I fished a lot in local ponds and sand pits. It is a skill but it isn't rocket science. I think most people tend to start too high on the food chain. When I was little I loved to perch fish. they nearly always would bite. Over the years I learned to fish for other species. I may not fill the boat up every day but I very seldom don't catch enough for a meal.

It isn't great but the old Ronco or Popeil pocket fisherman will catch fish. It is light and simple and easy to use. There are actually a lot of very small portable fishing rods that are applicable to survival. I have at least one fishing pole in each vehicle. If nothing else fishing is relaxing and doesn't burn up many calories.

 

In the part of the world where I live, fishing rod with reels is only seen in the movies. We make our own fishing rod locally, when compared to what is seen in the movies, it is a very ingenious improvisation.
Basically, fishing rods are made from local hooks attached to light plastics as float then with the rope connected to a small piece of wood held by the fisher. I myself enjoy fishing a lot, but due to change of environment, I can only look back and cherish those times spent at the stream and river banks.

 

my middle son, David, age 48, and I just quit fishing and getting ready to clean 'em.
10 bluegill at least 10 to 12 " long.
Scrappy fighters they are and good eating.
You need a dozen for a decent meal for two.

 

Fishing is absolutely a SKILL.
One can bait a hook and toss it in water and catch nothing.
A lot of nothing most all of the time.
One needs learn to "read" water, find structure, and then find hungry fish.
I just caught a dozen 10 to 12 " bluegill by knowing where they are right now.
They won't be there in another week.
Same with any species of fish.
Catfish mostly bite at night but I've caught really nice channel cat as they run upstream to spawn
just like walleye do.
Go out on large water, like Lake Erie and look for where the boat for hire captains go.
Fish there. They make a living finding walleye. Great eating fish also as are channel catfish.
Go after the huge blue and shovel head and it's a different game altogether.
My biggest was 50 pounds.
Caught on an 8 inch live sucker on a trot (long line) where legal in Ohio.
Ohio record for flat head is 76.5 pounds.
That's the record meaning someone had it weighed at a certified station.
Who knows what big one was caught, released, or eaten and few even know about it.
There are plenty of anglers that specialize in giant catfish and nothing else.
Some use all kinds of weird baits like hot dogs with red shoe polish.
Really? Yup.
Some even buy large gold fish at pet store for several bucks each.
Some use the most stinkin' rotted baits no one couldn't even get close too.
ewwwwwwwwwwwwww

 

I like to do all different kinds of fishing. I use about every kind of rod and reel that you have ever heard of and a few that you probably haven't. For survival purposes and simplicity you can't beat a Cuban Yo-yo. I have several of these that I bought and then some more than I made. These are just round plastic things that you wind line on to and then cast and hand line fish.

 

I'll have to find me those yo-yo things.

 

I got mine off Ebay but have also made a couple out of 4" pvc pipe and one out of a delren plastic that is about 3". The normal size is 6" or 9" but I wanted to have smaller for bug out bags. If you want to see how they work just hold a regular spool of new line and point it towards your target like a spinning reel spool and throw your bait. I've actually used them like that in the past but the yo yo works better and you can use heavier line. On my small ones I actually fill it with several different sizes of line and wire. That way I have snare lines and both light and heavy fishing lines for different applications.

You can make a version of them by taking a pvc pipe and a pvc collar. Cut the collar and put a small ring on each end of the short piece of pipe. This keeps the line on the pipe. I also drill a hole through one collar and pipe and then glue a small rod that goes across the center of the pipe for a handle inside the pipe. This works pretty good and is almost free but if I could find 4" yo yos I would probably buy them.

The primary use and purpose of a rod and reel is that it allows you to throw lighter lures and baits a greater distance with greater accuracy. In survival fishing I'm not sure that this offers you a much greater advantage over more primitive techniques. Some version of handline holder like the Cuban yo yo allows you to throw larger baits out in deeper water while a cane pole or just a long stick with line tied to it allows you to probe the near shore structures. The fact is that these two methods will probably provide you with as make lbs of fish as a 200 dollar rod and reel. Little fish are easier to catch, more plentiful and just as nutritious as big fish. The heavier lines that I have will be used as limb lines and heavier throw lines for bigger fish. One of my favorite set ups is a throw line hooked to a spring snare. On the regular lines I use circle hooks but the spring snare lines have regular J hooks.

I live in an area with LOTS of water and fish a lot. I have no doubt that I could feed my family with fish as a primary source of protein. LOL, I would probably convert my swimming pool to a fish farm.

IF you have the monetary resources look into an Emmrod. They are sort of like the old pocket fisherman on massive steroids. They are a bit pricey but are nearly indestructible. The rod is a short piece of stainless steel rod with several coils. Believe it or not with practice this 18" long rod will cast like a 6' long rod. They break down into a 12 long easy to carry package.

The original pocket fisherman actually is a worthwhile addition to a survival fishing bug out kit if you live someplace where there is a lot of water.

 

Lots of ponds and lakes here in N.E. Ohio.
Nearby Kent State University has 3 big ponds and since it's a State school it's public but
few know that.
I must try the fishing there.
Right now the 2.5 or 3 acre "pond" out behind the house is giving more than my son and
I can handle.

 

I used to love fishing a lot more when I was younger. But, it seemed really hard to catch anything, unless they just stocked the lake. I love Haddock. But, I have never gone deep water fishing for them. I think that so many sources for fish are either over-regulated or over-fished.

Realistically, in an apocalyptic scenario, it would be hard to have the patience for most fishing methods. I really enjoy the Bear Grylls reality shows. I think that is a skill set you have to build up though. Who has the time? With all of the baits, lures, and sprays they've invented to catch massive amounts of fish; I have never found any that worked any more effectively than simple bait in the right weather and locations. It is really too cold to do a lot of traditional fishing where I live. I'd imagine ice-fishing would be the easiest method, nonetheless. If you were trapped in that environment, you'd run for the first morsel you came across. You'd send out word to all of your buddies and fall right into that bait-and-switch trap.

 

Today I cleaned so many fish I'm sick of it.
No more.
Catch and release and buy fish from the grocery.
Bury the leavings in the garden with tomato plants.

 

Honestly fishing is different everywhere you go. Some places give you a bite all day and some require patience. My favorite fishing is when it's difficult to figure out the patterns, but when you nail their habits you hit fish all day!

 

Yes indeed. I we caught fish all the time it would be catching, not fishing.
Or something like that.
I think I'll walk out back to the 3 acre "pond" and give it a whirl right now.

 

The thing about fishing is that it means so many different things to different people in different places. From what I read the coarse fishing in Britten just doesn't offer the same level of productivity that I'm used to. My average fishing trip that I do once or twice a week generally will provide from 5 to 10 lbs of boneless meat. I don't work hard at all to get that and it is totally with rod and reel. I could up it to probably 25 lbs a day if I went to jugs and trot lines still without working very hard. We have lots of good eating fish. Bass. White Bass, Striped Bass, three big types of catfish, Gar, Crappie and I still haven't mentioned the smaller of coarse fish.

I know most of you don't believe it but survival is actually easier than you think once you get a shelter built and a garden planted. One of the things that people are going to struggle with is going to be boredom. Modern people are used to being entertained by things. All of those "things" will end when the power stops. You will find out pretty quick that it doesn't take a lot of work to provide basic food and shelter. Most of the work people do is to pay for THINGS. There won't be any things to buy and money will have little use. You will plant and harvest based on how much YOU and your s will need not farm so you have a lot to sell.

Fishing is a very relaxing and productive way to spend an afternoon. I often will whittle or do something else while I wait for a bite unless I am sport fishing with lures. I also use that time to poke around and gather things. Anywhere people go is a treasure trove of lost and forgotten goodies. I also usually gather trash as well. After a disaster a lot of the trash may have great value. I plan on spending a lot of time fishing. That by itself will insure that my family will get plenty of protean.

 

Agree 100%.
Sport fishing is not a survival technique.
Long lines, nets, are far better.

 

Why would I want to catch 50 or a hundred fish when all that I can eat or feed to my family is a half dozen. If you find that it takes you a long time to catch enough fish for a meal then you are not doing it right. A Rod and reel is a TOOL and has nothing to do with whether it is sport or survival. Long line or limb line fishing is a put a line out and wait/hope that a fish comes by and gets hooked while with a rod and reel I put the bait where the fish IS and there is very little waiting. Also long lines require bait and finding and catching that often would end up better if you just ate the bait. Sport fishing is about fishing for a specific species and size matters the most.

Survival fishing is about putting food on the table and different tools and methods will work in different situations. I PREFER the precise presentation that a rod and reel allows over the blind luck of a set line for most one meal efforts. Artificial baits and lures don't have to be found,caught or made for each fishing attempt. The thing is that one hook placed right in front of a fish does the same job that 50 heavier hooks will do on a long line. You have to use heavier hooks on set lines because you won't be there to pull the fish in and the light wire hooks that I use on a rod and reel will straighten out on a set line after a while. I've had 10/0 forged stainless steel hooks straightened out several times on trotlines.

That said I also am very experienced with the long line/trot line type fishing, drifting jug and set jug fishing, limb lines, set pole lines, throw lines and then know all the tricks of a poacher including explosive, electro, traps, nets and poisoning methods using natural poisons. I could probably feed my family with bow fishing for that matter as well. I have several rods and reels that are made specifically for survival and are just about unbreakable as well as being small and easily packed. I make tiny little fishing kits that will allow me to make a rod and reel out of natural easily found things.

Side note. You can get tiny eye screws made from brass. I put a dozen or so on a safety pin. With some hooks line and sinkers and those eye bolts I can make a usable rod that I can cast by screwing them into a long limber pole of wood. The "reel" is made by wrapping the line around a stick and then run through the eyes. To cast you strip off enough line to reach where you want to get your bait to and then toss it out with the rod. It is sort of like fly fishing only with weights instead of the heavy line. My little kits include several sized hooks, several sized weights, a few jugs a spoon the eyes and two or three types of line. It all fits into a little box the size of a Zippo lighter or similar sized plastic zip lock bag.

Another reason I like the rod and reel Hand line and just pole methods is that the tackle to do these techniques is small light and simple where trotlines, limb lines and throw lines, in order to be effective, require a lot more stuff time and effort to make put out and run. If you are on the move set lines just don't feed you well at all. It is like putting out two or three snares for one night and expecting to eat every day off of them. You will eventually catch a bunny but if you are hungry then you need to go out and shoot one of the little buggers!

I think a lot of the difference here is that where I live there is a lot of water and a lot of fish that are big and pretty easy to catch year around. A catfish isn't really full grown until it weighs about 15 lbs. Most of what I catch are juveniles. There are so many of them that the limit where I fish for sport fishing is 50 fish per person per day all over 12" long. That means that legally I can take a friend out and legally harvest a hundred fish every day. Oh my aching BACK. I've actually done that for a fish fry and though that I would never get them all cleaned. We put out 200 hooks on set lines and had about 35 jugs out and worked HARD that weekend. We fed about 50 people the next week end and still had freezers loaded. I was catch and release for about 3 months after that.

 

I haven't long line or jug fished in many years but if it were shtf I sure would.
For jug fishing we'd buy reflector tape in red or orange and put at least
1.5" square of it on three sides of the jugs.
Makes it so easy to spot the jugs in the dark.
If I recall correctly we have to check sets like that at least once every
6 hours.
There are only a very few Ohio bodies of water where long lines/jug
fishing is legal.
Long lines and jugs must be marked with owners name, addy, phone number.

 

Around here ponds are a just huge source for easy fishing. Lots of cattle and horses means lots of ponds. Then we have a big river that has been dammed and that made for a lake that is 336 km2 (130 sq mi). On the other end of the county is another big lake and river. Both of these lakes are especially big producers for fish.

From what I read most of the coarse fishing in Britain is not like this. For that matter a lot of the US is not as fertile. Each person needs to know what is there in the area that they live or will bug out to. For me fishing is easy, massively productive and near by even if I had to walk.

 

My "pond" 3 acres, is about 100 feet out the back door.
In a shtf I'd use a large net to get fish to eat.
I have a large net.
Explosive are a possibility.
I have some.
It's legal. ( I think. )
About 30 pounds of it.

 

My only real experience in fishing is using the hook and line with earthworms for the bait. I don't remember what kind of fish we caught in the lake which had brackish water (a mix of saltwater and fresh water). But it's fun when something is tugging at the line. And when I pull it up, the worm as gone. That's the fun part, when the fish would successfully steal the bait. When fishing for food, I guess you need someone who is a veteran and really who knows fishing. I think I would go hungry if I would depend on my fishing skills.

 

If it come to a shtf I won't use a hook.
Big azz net or explosives.
I'd like to learn how to dry fish for preservation of good protein.

Probably one needs to salt them then dry them.
Anyone with any experience with drying fish.