Survival fishing

[DanielJRioux]

A few methods for survival fishing
There are any number of ways to fish but when you are in a survival situation you won't have the luxury of sitting on the river bank all day with a pole in your hands. These are a few suggestions that might help in the coming times.
Traps
There are several trap designs that work. I am sure you will be able to construct one that will work for you.
Take some "chicken wire" and form a tube about 16 inches in diameter. You can make it square, if you want, but a tube is easier. Using wire or such, you will need to sew the seam of the tube. Also sew one end shut in such a way that you can open fairly easy. Then cut a "mouth" out of a square of the chicken wire. You will need to form a cone that fits into the other end of the "tube". The smaller end points into the tube. The smaller end should be small enough to allow fish to swim through but not big enough to let them swim back out. This kind of trap needs to have bait put inside to attract the fish. If you can find a small creek that fish usually swim up, place the trap with the mouth facing downstream and block access of the rest of the creek so that all fish will have to swim into the trap.
You can make the trap out of anything. The Indians used to make them out of sticks. The fish can be left in the trap if there are too many for you to eat at one time. This way you could have fresh fish anytime that you needed them. You can leave them in the trap for a week or so. Much longer than that and the fish would starve. Bait
Using bait makes finding fish easier. If you are near a stream, river, or lake, you can keep a "supply" of fish nearby by baiting them. You can place a trap at the bait or fish with hook and line. In running water place the bait in a certain place by weighting it down so it won't drift off. The fish will gather on the downstream side of the bait to get the particles as they float by.
I have taken canned dog food; poked holes in the can then throw it in the water. You can also take "hog feed" and place it in a drum, add water, then cook it down to a thick paste. Place a ball of the cooked feed in a croaker sack or any material with a large weave then place that in the water. There are any number of recipes for "bait".
Needless to say, be careful while contemplating or practicing these skills. It is illegal to bait fish in most places and traps have to be "registered" and a trap license obtained. After TSHTF, it won't matter but before then you will need to observe all laws.

If anyone has more tips on how to catch fish please reply to this post. Thank you!
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[cat_man]

I learned this during my 3 years on staff at a summer Varsity Scout Camp at Beaver High Adventure base:

On many rivers and especially small high mountain streams, the banks can become quite undercut in places. This is a great opportunity to catch a quick meal without any hook, line, trap, or pole. Here's what you do:

Find a place on the stream where the bank is undercut (preferably a grassy area so that it's softer to lay down on) and lay down on your belly next to the edge. Pull up your sleeves to your shoulders, cause your arms are gonna get wet. Reach your hands slowly over the bank and into the undercut under the bank. Feel slowly for any fish that might be hiding under it (usually trout). Your palms should be facing up, and you should move your fingers gently as if you were going to tickle the fish if there is one there. This movement seems to pacify the fish so it doesn't spook and take off upstream before you can get a good hold on it. When you feel a fish, keep moving your fingers, "tickling" the belly of the fish. Put one hand under the back, just in front of the tail, and the other hand under the anterior portion of the fish, preferably around the gills. If you can get your fingers under the gill plates into the gills all the better, because that's about the only place you can grab a trout that won't be slippery, and you'll have less chance of it getting away. When you've got both hands under the fish, tighten your fingers around it and grip with your nails if you can, remember this is not catch and release this is survival so do what you gotta do. Quickly pull the fish out and pull back from the riverbank. Get back as far as you can so that in case you drop the fish you will still be able to recover it before it flops back into the water.

You might not believe that this works, but believe me it does. We had dozens of 14-16 year old scouts doing this and nearly all of the them caught fish this way on a survival outing where they had to catch and cook their own food for the night. It takes a little practice to master, but most people can pick it up rather quickly. Personally, I'm not very good at it, but I held my own.

It's important to note that it's illegal to catch fish with your hands, however this was on private land with a private stream stocked with rainbows using private $$$. I don't know about you, but if I were in a survival situation, I wouldn't give a rat's @#$ if it were legal or not if it kept me alive.

May you never find yourself in an emergency situation where this would be necessary, but if you do, now you know another way to survive.
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[DanielJRioux]

Good tip Cat Man, I had learned about that tecnique also.
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[cat_man]

Thanks. Not only could it save your life, it's a blast to do it too!
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