Teach a Man to Fish

Crawfish, Small perch, Worms,Grubs, Wasp larva, All will catch fish
Even a Dragon fly or small frog.
Catch it, Hook it, Work it.
You'll eat better than most!

 

If survival means having to bust my butt 24/7 to the point that I do not have time to stop and pole fish, then maybe survival is not for me. I am of the belief that there will be down time, there will be time to slow and actually enjoy life. Gardens, livestock do not require 24/7 back breaking attention. These things can grow themselves with a bit of attention but not all consuming. Fishing is not just for food, it is a therapy. It is down time that many need. It is a slow down that gives one time to clear their head and recharge. If survival won't give you time to recharge, then why survive? Just die of stress and overload.

 

For us? my wife will be in the canoe or the pedal boat catching blue gills while the men cut wood and defend the property. But yes set lines are pretty good way to catch dumb fish like Catfish. For us we can set night lines for Bullheads. and we also have minnow traps.

 

Cane poles tied to a plastic milk jug.. bait and leave come back have fish for dinner

 

Trolling is a great way to catch predator game fish like Muskie, Pike, Walleye, Salmon, trout and many fish in the ocean as well. Trolling in a world after gasoline will require canoe or Kayak or even a row boat. Sail boats can also tow lures. I have trolled minnow lures behind our canoe with good success. This tactic requires placing the rod in a holder and letting out a given length of line while paddling or sailing and letting the boat pull the lure. The speed is crucial. Some lures require too much speed for non motor trolling but many such as spoons do not require more than 2 mph . Most minnow type baits are effective at between 2 and 3 mph. Kayaks are proving to be great little human powered boats for trolling fresh water fish.

 

The Tip Up is a great winter time fishing gadget . It is a simple rig made of wood or plastic with a spool of line ,hook and a spring steel flag that acts as a trigger to release ther spool and allow a fish to swim off with the bait. THE FLAG GOES UP SIGNALLING A FISH HAS taken you bait and you go to to hole in the ice and check the spool. If it is going around you know the fish has the bait and you can grab the line let the fish pull your hands toward the hole and then yank upward setting the hook. You then hand line the fish to the hole and beach it on the ice. They are used most for Northern Pike and Walleye but also can be adapted for trout.

I have also used these with a small styrofoam float ring dropping them around the lake and sitting in the boat fishing three spots at once.

 

Surf fishing is another method for those near a large body of water. In Michigan we use 3/4 ounce lead egg sinkers that have a hole the entire length of the weight. You thread the main line normally 6 or 8 pound test mono through the sinker and tie on a swivel that will not go through the hole. Then tie a 3 foot leader to the other end of the swivel, ad a small #6 hook and use a small nylon sack of salmon or trout eggs for bait. There are a lot of other ways as well like minnows, casting spoons and such. Fishing from the shore of Lake Michigan I caught hundreds of trout in the 70's through the 90's . Here are some pictures of what surf fishing ;looks like surf fishing lake michigan - Bing images

 

Give a man a grenade and he can feed himself to the fish!

 

For snook fishermen in SW Florida. And the time for the big fish is here from July to early September. First thing is you will need cut bait. Put your shrimp, threadfins and lures away. The big girls do not chase anything in the summer heat backwaters (water temps 90 degrees plus) Unless it's a large easy meal the big fish will pass on it. I use Spanish mackerel. Fillet the two sides off and then cut each side into two pieces. You will have 4 baits now. Use a stout rod, at least 65 pound braid spooled onto a reel capable of at least 30 pounds drag. Lock the drag down all the way. Tie a Red Phillips knot from the braid onto 80 pound florocarbon leader. Snell a 8/0 circle hook with no offset to that. Put one of the four baits you have from that Spanish mackerel on the hook at the end. No need to thread the bait on the hook more than just once. The fish will inhale the entire bait. No weights, sinkers swivels needed. Your going to toss the big old cut bait out and let it settle to the bottom. Put the rod into a rod holder and wait for your rod to bend over which will put that circle hook right where it belongs.

Here is the location you need to fish...any public boat ramp that has a cutting table/fish cleaning station on it. That big old Florida PVC tube that everyone throws their fish guts/carcasses into (keeps Pelicans from eating/choking) is the automatic feeder they use. Super large snook will stack up around these locations during July-Sept. And they just inhale anything that will fit down their mouths. Easy meal. The downside is you will hook many catfish also. Keep at it. The occasional monster Goliath Grouper will break you and your equipment down like a two piece shotgun. Tarpon will also take your bait. Again not a good prospect of landing a 150-200 pound tarpon from the dock. Lol. Fish within 50 feet of those cutting tables. Night, day, tides don't matter. I've caught hundreds of snook over 38". And up to 50". Had to quit posting on a Florida fishing forum because my deluge of monster snook photos (all caught and released snook) irked the snook fishing purists. Lol.

Example:

 

Wow , its great to see my old fishing thread up again. My wife and I just finished our annual Blue Gill harvest with 12 packs of fillets put up. We also got three packs of walleye this year. Caught 5 nice eating size Walleye in the Muskegon River . Due to the late spring and colder than normal water temps Walleye were still in the river when season opened. W e gopt 5 in two trips 2 trolling and three jigging. W e got rained out today and were planning on Pike fishing . Going to wait till more stable weather Tuesday or Wednesday. ILL HAVE THE WIFE BRING THE CAMERA AND SHOOT A COUPLE SHORT VIDEOS.

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1372715716088889

 

I cant seem to get the other videos to load. These were from 2016 , we didnt shoot any vids of this year and should of on those Walleyes.

 

My brother and i were discussing fishing just yesterday and his friend insisted on giving him a better rod and reel and they went fishing . He caught a nice bass and had a had of fun .
Thing was his old rig had been setting years and the old line had a tight coil set in it so it didn't fly well .
With a new poll and reel and line it flew much better . all he really needed was new line OR, when not fishing remove the line onto a much larger spool so it does not develop a tight roll set in it .
When we were kids (1950s) dad had a line washing spool he transferred his line on to and washed out the salt water and left it to dry on it .
It was about a foot in diameter and we used it for flying kites too .
Dad never had problems of the line developing a coil set in it and always flew fine from the poll .
Some of you hope to fish with line that is wrapped up on a card , but when you go to use it , the set in it will be like a spring almost useless . Need to think of better ways to store your survival fishing line. say on the spool it is sold on.