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Survival Fishing Equip.

22K views 81 replies 61 participants last post by  Spooky  
#1 ·
I am an avid fresh/saltwater fisherman & have done just about all types. One thing that bothers me, as well as makes me laugh, is most of the imformation one reads about making a survival fishing kit. On even the best outdoor sites, the suggestions and kits look more like something you buy your kid at WM.

For you knowledgeable fisherman out there, what would you put in a small kit, say something that would fit in a small BO pack?
 
#3 ·
OK slow down there Bass Master, I built a kit, granted I know little to nothing about serious fishing, it has several hooks, a roll of heavy test fishing line and weights and floats.

Until now I had NO way of fishing, but now I have a start.

Want to help a brother out and give us some ideas for a good kit that would be used just for survival?

How about a collapsible pole?

Thanks in advance
 
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#59 ·
OK slow down there Bass Master, I built a kit, granted I know little to nothing about serious fishing, it has several hooks, a roll of heavy test fishing line and weights and floats.

Until now I had NO way of fishing, but now I have a start.
You do not need to get fancy to catch fish. Mostly some heavy line (trot line) material and an assortment of hooks. If you can find yo yo's they would be great but they are not legal in my area. With the heavy line and hooks you can make a trot line, fish with floating bottles (2 liter bottle) tree lines, etc. No need to set at the water edge and fish unless you are doing it for fun!
 
#5 ·
A Survival Fishing Kit that fits inside a small BOB makes me laugh.

I use a PVC Pipe made into a rod case that accepts a 4 pc fly rod and a 4 pc casting rod and reels in there as well. A small, soft tackle pouch works great.

This will buckle down to the side of a 3 Day BOB, survival pack or go quite nicely into the trunk.
 
#23 ·
The plastic handline reel is very light, you can put 5 pound to 300 pound line on them.

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You can have three of these inside each other and have all your fishing gear in a small bucket.

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In a ten litre bucket I fit a 1 X 6 foot throw net, 3 handlines. A pair of fishing pliers, and a fishing knife, and ten extra feet of rope.
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I also put in a mix of hooks and sinkers and floats. All in the one small bucket.

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#7 ·
As I've said before, I decided long ago that since I spend much more time fishing than actually catching fish, and that that is not likely to change merely because my life depends on catching fish in a survival situation, that there has to be a better way. I still have some hooks and line, etc. in my survival kit, but I've started learning to make fish traps, weirs, etc. to catch fish while I'm doing something else. Nets, jug lines, trot lines are also good for survival fishing. Be sure to check local fish & game laws about using such things, many are illegal in many places, but the skill is good to have just in case. If truely in a survival situation, I'd be glad to have a Game Warden give me a citation for fishing illegally, I'd be rescued anyway.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I have a collapsible pole and a light weight reel. Honestly though, having plenty of line and hooks is your biggest concern. Bait can usually be found and improvised. My emergency fishing kit fits into a small altoids container size thing.

Bank lines and trot lines can be very efficient. Ive been successful by stringing a trot line from one bank of a river to the other. Plastic water bottle minnow traps(if you dont know what that is, just check on youtube) are great if your desperate, if you cut a larger hole you can catch crawdads. If your manly enough, some rivers are chock full of crawdads. You can free swim and catch tons. Ive also seen crawdad traps made from willow, you might want to try that.

A tip for bank lines.....cat tail stalks are great at keeping your bait from sinking to the bottom (just rap your line around it). Also, cat tails have the perfect amount of bend and resistance for smaller fish, I tie my line to those all the time. A tree branch is not as reliable for tying your line. Also, if you do have a reel, they are great for getting your bank line out there. Cast it way out, cut the line, tie to bank, walk to new spot and repeat.

A concern though....if your water source is full of bass then trot and bank lines wont work that well. Bass love jumpy fly or grasshopper type stuff, they go more for moving targets. Cat fish and trout will gobble up fish guts, meat, whatever you put out on the line. Bass will hardly ever go for chunks of meat just sitting out there.

Definitley look into primitive fish traps though, some are very interesting.

And hey, you could always build a log raft! Never done it, but it could help you get your line out into the deeper waters.

Oh, and a bundle of cat tail stalks will make a great force flotation rig for small fish(kind of like those beer can fishing techiques) The fish will wear out and will just be waiting there for you. This only works on small ponds though, where you can actually find and retrieve the rigs. Ive only used this on small fish too.
 
#10 ·
The gear to set up a trot line should be all that you carry, as it works the same as snares, you set it and return later to check it.

Carrying a rod on your BOB is the same as carrying a .22lr, it's inefficient.
That reasoning isn't going to stop me though, if I'm on my own I know I can feed myself easily with a rod and .22, but if there are more people to feed I'm gonna do all I can to gather food than sit on a rock with a rod.
 
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#11 ·
Yo yo's. They are small, can be attached to a trot line, milk jug, tree branch or whatever. Fits nicely in a small ziplock with some tackle and takes up very little room in my BoB (I have two) and they WORK.
 
#12 ·
redneck spinning reel

Using either an aluminum can or smooth stick wrap line around it concentrating more on one end .Rig your end of line and pointing stick/can in direction you wish to fish throw weighted end ,lure ,etc. the line will comeoff like an open face spinning reel.just reel line back around can/stick during retrieve.
 
#65 ·
Using either an aluminum can or smooth stick wrap line around it concentrating more on one end .Rig your end of line and pointing stick/can in direction you wish to fish throw weighted end ,lure ,etc. the line will comeoff like an open face spinning reel.just reel line back around can/stick during retrieve.
Sorta like this...
 
#15 ·
fly fishing

they make very good break down fly poles mine breaks down to six pieces and is about 28" folded plus with flys you can carry well over a hundred of them in a pretty small case my case is 6"x5"x1/2" and holds 60 fly's so that you have one for just about any type of fishing you want except salt of course the fly's for those are much bigger and you would need a bigger case for them of course hopes this helps.


p.s i bought most of my fishing gear at bass pro shops not because they are better or something but because they are close to home and i hate driving:D:
 
#18 ·
Having a .22 is still good though, once you have all of your traps set up than you can keep on hunting if you have free time. With traps up and getting some hunting in, you will have a higher chance of getting fed. I wouldnt reccomend a rod unless you know that your going into an area with a lake or river that is full of easily catched fish.
 
#19 ·
I am an avid fresh/saltwater fisherman & have done just about all types. One thing that bothers me, as well as makes me laugh, is most of the imformation one reads about making a survival fishing kit. On even the best outdoor sites, the suggestions and kits look more like something you buy your kid at WM.

For you knowledgeable fisherman out there, what would you put in a small kit, say something that would fit in a small BO pack?

if your going to put a fishing kit in a backpack weight is EXTREMELY important so you want it as light and as small as possable.

i like this fishing kit. its light weight,small and cheap to make :thumb:



or this one


 
#22 ·
As in a pure survival sense,I don't think the kit should contain rods and reels.That requires you to set there and service only one line. I'm thinking trot lines,trap nets,wiers,and spears.Too often I've dangled a favorite lure in front of a fish that wouldn't bite,that I could have just as easily zapped with a spear,or chased downstream into a net.Illegal as all get out,but survival is survival.You need gear that is fishing for you at the same time you are getting firewood,or building a hooch,or maybe caring for an injured friend.
I love fishing,and carry a rod,but its for sport fishing.
 
#44 ·
Some great ideas here! Thanks!

Speaking of fishing and .22's..
I've posted this picture before. Some of you are probably tired of seeing it, but..
For small game and fish,.. or turtles, ..or whatever. I'm a trotline fan too.
I wrapped some line and hooks inside paracord on my 10-22. I want to add a frog gig somehow...

View attachment 24787

you could somehow 'fill' or rig up a pouch inside that space in front of the butt pad...?

how much does she weigh? I've been considering switching from a .22 pistol to a .22lr SBR with folding stock (maby the ruger charger with that butlercreek folder?), QD scope, and threaded for a silencer.
 
#25 ·
Yep, nets for me........anybody gonna stand there and fish all day? Not me......... castnet( I'll eat a mess of Sun Grannies), run a net across a creek or channel off an area into a smaller pool........trot lines aren't bad, but not too good off the bank....if you can get it across a creek, tie it to a fallen tree over the water or drop if off deep, tied to a milk jug...that's better.
 
#27 ·
I got a couple of Bags simular to this from Academy.

http://www.academy.com/index.php?pa...arget=products/outdoors/fishing/tackle_bags&start=0&selectedSKU=0130-40726-3000

In one I have over 200 jigs of various weights with plenty in the way of soft plastics to go on many of them that arent tied with Marabou. I also have a good assortment of split shot, hooks, bobber stops and a few bobbers for pan fishing.

With this little bag of extremely versitile baits and my Ultra-Light Spinning Combo, there arent many days I cant go out and catch fish until the cows come home. I caught an insane number of Crappie and Sand Bass, quiet a few Bragging sized Bull Blue Gills, lots of scrappy Bass and a few lunkers, and a pretty fair number of Channel Cats from 2 to 6 lbs. I even scored on about a half dozen Hybrids in the 6-8 lbs range while fishing for Sand Bass!
 
#29 ·
Here are the pics I promised. My idea behind this is getting to the fish I sometimes might not be able to due to factors beyond my control. I've included several things which I not pictured which include lots of paracord and 1000yds of 20lb mono(trotline).

Here are some pics, so enjoy
 
#30 ·
I've included several different types of lures, mainly plastics due to them being biodegradable and their proven ability to catch fish. In the photos are a few spinnerbaits, rooster tails, twirltail grubs, spoons, maribou jigs, jig heads, baitholder hooks, catfish hooks, stick baits, and a few rattle traps among other things. Again, I have chosen these as they have proven themselves to be very successful time and time again.

The rod is a nice St Croix (which also has a padded travel case which fits in my pack) I picked up for $100 at Cabela's and the reel is a Quantum PTI that I picked up also for $100. These serve dual purpose as when I go out and find water I have them handy in my truck so they don't really go to waste. Both quality and reliability are a must in my book so that is why I chose everything I did.
 

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#31 ·
Not being much of a fisherman, and worse yet living in a high-plains desert area, the option of fishing is not a real one.

Having been and lived places where the possibility of fishing for food is an option as well as nets and seines being eminently more productive, it's still something I keep in my pack but realistically, not much at all is in there.

About two dozen hooks of varied sizes, small to medium. (Works well on birds too)
A half dozen treble hooks for a trot line.
@50Y of 6lb monofilament line
@50Y of 12lb monofilamant line
A dozen or so split shot sinkers.
Two packages of powerbait worms (small)

In a SHTF or survival situation a handful of trot lines or jug sets will produce more food than I could get any other way from our local pond, if no one else were out there (like that would happen).

Much like a previous poster, a good .22 will provide more food out here as targets of opportunity are presented.

If I lived near water, I'm sure the kit and situation would change dramatically.
 
#32 ·
I'm with Yeboh and EdD270 on this one.

I like to kick back with a pole myself now and then, but in a survival situation you just can't always do that, so the Yo-Yo's, trotlines,gill nets, traps, etc, are just about the best way to go.

BUT.......if you are going to carry a small kit, then one of the best things to do is to carry one of the small clear plastic boxes w/ the dividers, and keep the best hooks, line, lures, etc, that you have used over the years, and you know are proven catchers.

Just recently I have added this to my gear. http://www.banjominnow.tv/

I've been wanting one for a while now, and last weekend I picked one up while I was at Bass Pro Shop. There are mixed views on this set of lures. Some folks say that they don't work, but more say they do than don't, and I've been told that one of the National Tourniments does not allow them to be used at all, because they give an unfair advantage to the anglers that use them. GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. :D:

The one other piece of equipment that I feel every survival fishing kit should have is one of these. https://www.ronco.com/PocketFisherman/Default.aspx

Now I know that there are a lot of folks out there that will give this choice of gear, one of these.......:rolleyes:, but for survival, small and compact is what is needed. The telescopic rods with a lightweight reel are good, but so is one of these, and they do catch the fish. And to be able to get two of them for the price is even better. :cool:

Now all of this is just like the rest of the posts.......one man's opinion, but since you asked, you now have my $0.02 worth. What it all really comes down to is personal choice, skill level, and familiarity with the chosen gear. The ability to catch them is there, you just have to do what needs to be done to hedge your bet for success. To borrow the catch phrase from NIKE,.......Just do it. :thumb: