OK, a fishing kit for survival is a gimmick. I'm hoping to go camping this summer, and the only decent National Park I could find is actually an island in one of the great lakes. So, it makes sense that fishing might actually be useful!

I'm using an Altoid tin to keep my "survival" fishing kit. So far:
Hooks - 3 small, 1 med, 1 large
Flies - 2
Lures - 2
Weight - 4
Line - about 40 feet of 20#, in 2 different spools
1 book of MRE matches
10 staple gun nails (to secure a fish for cooking to something)
10 ft. orange 550 cord (can never have too much!)

Now, given that I have quite a bit of room left, I turn to the readers for more suggestions! Any ideas on what other fishing gear to pack would be appreciated. I'm also toying with the idea of keeping a few PSK type items in here, just in case I lose the PSK.

So, your thoughts and feedback is appreciated!
Edit: I meant that first sentence to ready "... usually thought of as gimmicks." Kind of like that kit in the SOL by AMK.

A piece of folded aluminium foil? A razor blade or small knife? A few slip-shot sinkers?

MD-- it's not a gimmick for me..if you look at my overboard
vest post you can see that a small kit is part of the gear..
thats because i'm in prime fishing waters and the chance of
getting something is very high..i also know what sort of lure
will work best..a red and white spoon..
on a island in the Great Lakes i would forget the flys and
take bright spoons--they don't need to be large--and the lead
head jigs with the rubber tails--nothing fancy,the white ones
work for just about anything..20# line is sort of heavy and
might make a lure run poorly--12# has worked for me..i have
never had a line snap--its a bad knot---if you pre-tie a
wire leader with a snap and swivel on the line you will save
time and flustration getting a lure on..trying to hand line
is tricky--i would use a old system from down South..find
the longest pole you can handle..tie the line to the end
and run the lure back and forth in a kind of "S" pattern..
i think they call it "dappeling" or something like that..
it keeps the lure in the water all the time so you not trying
to toss it out and retrive all the time..
also take the biggest heavy hook that will fit in the box
and about a foot of soft wire--use this to make a gaff
that you could take a turtle with--for cooking--just
jam a stick down the throat of the fish and cook it over
the fire like a hot dog--fish works best in soup to make
a stew..a thick soup like Pea in a survival kit works best.
i have tryed out all these things and they work..but fishing
can take a lot of time and energy and sometimes you have
nothing to show for it..i think i have enought fat around
my belly to keep me alive for weeks!!!!--any fish i get
would just be some to stave off hunger pangs--

Fish are picky. One of the deficiencies of a survival fishing kit is that it can't possibly hold a set of lures which will attract every fish out there. If you know what kind of fish are going to be where you're going to be, you can select lures and bait which will be most effective. Some types of lures won't be effective depending on the circumstance...obviously a spoon or spinner which needs to be reeled in rapidly to be effective isn't good for a pocket kit.

My favorite set up for survival(and I've never had the chance to test this in a survival situation and rather is just my opinion and preference based on some fishing experience) is using a pickerel rig. The rig (if you're not familiar with one) has two hooks on it so you can use different types of bait and maximize your chances of catching something. by putting a heavy weight on the end (either a fishing weight or something improvised) you can sink the line to the bottom, pull it fairly taught and just wait for something to take the bait. If the weight is heavy enough this is a very effective way of countering the current in a large stream or river.

I did a quick google search and the following site has some good information about fishing with such a set up.
http://manitoulinislandfishing.com/

You can also use the weight to make a sliding sinker rig if that's more appropriate to the waters you are fishing or the fish in them.

If the waters are super deep this might not work as reeling in so much line by hand can be messy and awkward without a rod and reel...or you might be in a locale where the fish aren't on the bottom. A float is makes a good addition to a fishing kit for this reason.

With just bare hooks you need bait. It's not practical to keep live worms in a survival kit...for obvious reasons. But there are many types of synthetic bait that are relatively effective. I keep 3 different colours of rubbery jig bodies in my kit for that reason. After all it's not always possible to find worms or maggots. If fishing is the plan, buy some bait. Maggots are pretty hardy little buggers if you keep them right.

In my emergency kit I carry the obligatory stuff (hooks, split weights, etc) because it's light and nice to have as a backup but I doubt I'll ever need it over the real fishing gear in the kit.

If you have several pickerel rigs you can make a multi hook night line to try and catch many fish over night using the same technique only with more hooks. In a survival situation you want the best chance you can give yourself.

And don't forget to keep something to anchor your line with. You might have to wait a while and you won't want to hold the line...even if you do it's good insurance against losing a strong willed fish that's going to run.

I would say that a good multitool is the only other thing you need. The pliers are nice to retrieve your hook if a fish swallows it. Especially if you're in a survival situation you don't want to have to cut anything if you don't have to. The scissors on my Gerber Diesel are perfect for cutting fishing line.

I also carry 2 Speedhooks which I purchased from BestGlide. They're like a mousetrap for fish and will give you the best chance of hooking even the most picky fish.

I've head that the Canadian Armed Forces military survival kits contain a small piece of red felt cloth such as this :



I presume the idea is that the red color must serve as an attractant because it simulates blood. I've never tried it however, i've stopped carrying fishing kits because I don't believe they will ever be useful in a real survival situation. But I agree they can be fun things to play with along with some buddies on camping trips, etc.

@Hacksaw : to get your hook back once it's deep in the fish's throat, in a real survival situation, you could just tear the fish open with your hands, or for rougher skin, using a rock or branch. I don't think this situation would require a multitool.

MD, I'm rarely a successful fisherman...even in casual sport circumstances. So I consulted a friend (an acomplished fisherman in many venues, a Master Flycasting Instructor, ex-Navy,..who made emergency fishing kits for over-water flyers during the just-post Vietnam days. I don't know if he knows as much as he says he knows, but he talks a convincing story.

That being said, he gave me 5-6 white Maribo Stork jigs (pretty small buggers!) and a roll of #10 tippet. His opinion is that (fresh or salt water) this kit covers more bases and increases my odds better than anything else I could carry as a small adjunct to my PSK. That, plus a few very large hooks to gaff/snag bigger fish.

This is FWIW. I'd really like to read the thoughts of some experienced fishermen. And particularly anyone who's been successful in a survival-like situation.

More hooks and a few trebles.
Swievels.
More and lighter line perhaps black dacron bow string material. It works well as both fishing line and sewing thread.

For me this works well.



A Hawaiian sling spear. I would think that for survival, a net would work well.

MDinana - This is all I carry as an emergency fishing kit (just in case I am stranded long enough to need one) all the items fit into a small match vial. The extra cotton is to prevent the stuff from rattling and can be used for tinder. I feel that there is a lot more you can do with a fishing kit than just catch fish. If you attach the hooks to a piece of wire or Para cord inner string you can use the hooks to catch birds instead. Then you may try berries or nuts as bait if they are avail. Where I live there are crows, magpies and gulls everywhere. If you stuffed a hook into an old sock and tossed it out these greedy Bas***ds would most likely try and eat it. I don’t imagine a crow tastes quite the same as a nice trout but you never know I guess. I bet you could snag smaller ground critters in a similar fashion. Trying to snag a meal also would be a way to pass the time once you have your camp, fire, water and signaling problems figured out.

these are the contents:

1. 50 feet of 20 lb test line
2. 6 assorted split weights, 5 assorted snap swivels
3. 7 assorted plain hooks, including 1 extra large
4. 3 specialty hooks(1 that floats, one that glows in the dark and 1 that has two spinners) a cotton ball pressed in at the top keeps the hooks secure.
5. I wrapped 12 feet of blaze orange GUN tape around the vial as well. Never hurts to have extra tape handy.

Cane pole fishing. Easiest fishing you'll ever do if you're in a good spot. Bamboo poles work the best.

Hi MDinana,

I came in a little late on this post, so I will just agree with what the other fellows have mentioned, lots of good ideas there.

I noticed you said you are going to a National Park to fish, be sure to check out the specific Park regulations concerning fishing as they are often more restrictive than the normal State or Provincial laws (e.g. possession of baitfish or termanal tackle containing lead).

Good Luck,

Mike

You must be going to either Isle Royale or one of the Manitous off Sleeping Bear. If it's the former, look out for the leeches in those inland lakes!

If you catch something small like a perch or bluegill, save the guts and use them as bait for a Northern pike. Harder to de-bone, but more meat for your trouble.

Here is a very nice review of a military fishing kit in a tin a little larger than a Altoids tin. Maybe it will give a few ideas for your fishing kit.
http://www.donrearic.com/milfishkit.htm

MD; If you have decided on Isle Royale make sure you examine the fishing regulations closely. There were areas where certain kinds of fishing were not allowed. It's been awhile since I was there but...

Here is a link to the "latest" information.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/isro/fishing.htm

As much as the idea of a lure is a nice idea for a fiishing kit, and I do have some in mine, the best things I have ever used for catching fish were all bait that was either alive of had been alive at one time. I have a small net in my BOB for catching minnows and would also be looking for worms and other life that would serve as bait. Hooks you need what goes on them you might be able to find.

One of my other thoughts about survival is that hard work is to be avoided. Fishing with a rod and reel is fun as a sport, but when it is you trying to conserve your strength and not sure you will catch anything, then you might not want to expend your tme and effort casting and retrieving a line. You also may not have a lot of time to spend fishing. Along the same idea, I like and have snares in my BOB, should I ever feel the need to trap.

So fishing while you spend the time doing something else too, that's a good idea. The posts that mention jigs with bait and floating bait seems to have good ideas to me. I could see in a rather placid bodsy of water, that a plug floating on the surface or a worm suspended somewhere below the surface, could both catch you a fish. So, I would have some jigs, floating plugs and/or bobbers.

You might also want to look for instructions on how to make fish traps. Les Stroud made on on an episode set in a Southern U.S. swamp, which resulted in him catching a turtle.

To carry or not to carry?
That is the question.........

Ok, contrary to received wisdom a small fishing should be carried.

It should contain:
2 rubber jigs.
2 wire leaders.
As many clips etc as you like.
40' backing line (of the sort used by fly fishermen.
40' 10-12lb line.
20-25 barbed hooks. Small and medium sized. For ease of handling put the hooks on safety pins.
2 large gaff hooks.
10-20 snelled hooks.
split shot.
Nylon cordage.

Use the rubber jigs and the backing line to hobo fish.

The gaff hooks are for hooking frogs and other small critters as opportunities present themselves.

The snelled hooks are for trot lines and the like.

The extra hooks and line are for anything else. Get creative and educate yourself in every poachers trick going. The more illegal and unsporting the technique, the more effective it is likely to be.

The matches are a good idea as is a couple of single edged razor blades.

If this is an emergency then constructing a spear might be a worthwhile exercise as are throwing sticks and the like.

As a general rule: you are more likely to find a feed near and on a lake than anywhere else except possibly a sea shore.

Evidently, folks in the UK take their fishing seriously






Say what?

Please take pity on a poor, non-fisherperson from the colonies and explain these terms and practices. Thanks.

Hi Andy,



A rubber jig is just a specific fishing lure (there are vast aray of lures available), hobo fishing is just fishing without the normal rod and reel most folks use, its essentially improvised fishing using a stick for a rod or an aluminium drinks can as a reel etc. Backing line is just line which is used in fly fishing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_fishing



How to make a trot line with snelled hooks
http://www.marshbunny.com/mbunny/sidetrip/trotline/trotline.html



Snelled Hooks.



Trot line.

Numerous baits can be found easily along wooded shore lines. Start turning over every piece of down wood and rocks and every bug, snail, worm is potential bait. After getting your first fish more bait is there for the taking. Each eyeball can easily removed to bait a hook. I do alot of ice fishing. One of the best baits for panfish is to take a small piece of fish skin, about as big as a maggot, and hook it one time on a small hook. Let the skin dance behind the hook and tantalize the fish. This is exremely effective. The skin if very tough and will catch alot of fish before being torn off. Another thought similiar to a trot line is to tie a fish line on a low hanging green tree branch. The fish will take the bait and hook themselves. Very effective for night fishing with a minnow on a hook for walleyes coming into the shallows to feed after dark.
As a kid I caught many frogs and crayfish by hand. Just with these critters a meal could be made easily and left overs become tomorrows bait.

Huck

Hobo fishing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvRR5MTBBQI

Ray Mears at his best.

Trot lines are simply lenths of cordage that have a hooks tied to them at intervals and placed into the water. One end is tied to a tree and the other end is weighed with a stone. Use slugs ande grubs to bait the hooks.

If you are lost and need to get home, and you're in a place where trotlines are illegal, be sure to set up a trotline as quickly as possible. A Fish and Wildlife warden will show up very soon.

Sue

Is it illegal to fish in an emergency, if your life might depend on it?!

If you have some room in your pack, have a look at these items at bestglide.com:

Military Speedhook, Speedhook Specialists, Inc. - $9.95

Standard Survival Fishing Kit - $22.95

Survival Gill Net - $18.95

and at survival-gear.com:

Yo-Yo Fishing Reel - $2.95

I am pretty much convinced that fishing is not going to get you enough calories to be of much good in a short term situation.

I would think that fish are a high calorie food?

IIRC, there is something like 400 calories in a whole pound of typical fish. thats a lot of fish to eat.

I suppose it is better than zero calories.

The biggest purpose for a fishing kit in a short term (under 10 day) situation, isn't so much to keep you fed but to keep you near water, and busy. Makes you easier to find and you are less likely to do something like climb a tree to rob a bird nest.

I think the value of fish as a survival food depends on where you are. Bass and other non-oily fish have about 125 calories per 3.5 ounces, compared with 250 calories for grouse meat, and 400 for venison. There are only a few options in the boreal forest for much of the year unless you have a gun and ammo. Nuts and berries abound in the fall, but there's not much around after the frost, or in winter or spring. Some edible green plants have nutrients, but little food energy. Mushrooms although tasty, have no food energy. There are streams and lakes everywhere up here, and a small fishing kit, accompanied by a 'frog spear' head in your kit will insure that you won't starve. A frog spearhead is small and only weighs a few ounces, but lashed to a long pole it will bring unwilling fish to your campfire. Snares are only marginally effective, and you will probably catch a skunk. The most common slow-moving source of protein, the nightcrawler, is low on my list of delectible morsels.

Fish hooks and line can be used to capture birds or other critters easily enough even if you are in an area without much water. Once set and baited they do all the work for you. Pop out a few snares and you should snag a meal eventually.

The so called experts say that you can go weeks without food, but I bet thats easier said than done. For the small amount of space a few hooks and line will take up in a kit what's the harm?

Depends where you live. All the Rabbit and hare around these parts will make snares a better choice than most people would first think. I would imagine a snare would have a better chance of success than a frog spear.

But... Depends on where you are.

very clever Raven,i never thought of the fishing kit that way.any survival i would realistic be involved in would be in some prime fishing water,guys pay big bucks for fly-in's,so picking up something to add to the pea soup would be no problem.however your take on it gives a person food for thought,what other items could be added to a kit that would aid someone with out being a real survival item?..now i'm thinking of a "normal" person here,not someone well versed in survival.

I have been recalling the story of a colleague of mine who was working in Siberia under winter conditions obtaining mammoth fossils. Their staple was reindeer, but the reindeer meat had to be supplemented by local fish, which provided the necessary fat. Must not have been bass, I guess.

The moral of these stories must be that you had better have pretty specific knowledge of the available foods if you are out for a long time.

Reindeer is known here in NA as caribou (same species for all intents and purposes). Like any mammal related to the Cervidae family, Reindeer is very lean and yes Hikermor is correct. A diet of this type of meat needs to be supplemented by other meat/fish to have a healthy intake of fat in order to survive long term where beef and other fattier meats are not available.

I don't carry any equipment as dedicated fishing gear. Fishing is IMHO just too much like homesteading. My plans are more about getting out of the survival situation instead of taking up housekeeping.

In some cases fishing gear isn't even necessary.

I have pulled out pan fish by sprinkling bait, I used earthworms and bugs gathered from the leaf duff, and letting the fish get used to coming into shallow water and close. Helps if you arrange rocks or logs to get you a bit out on the water and to lay flat so you don't cast a shadow. Once they are coming in I take a stout stick, preferably fairly heavy and flattened like a heavy paddle, and whack the surface of the water with it as hard as possible. The idea is to use the shock wave from the impact to stun the fish long enough to grab them.

Another trick is to assemble quick and dirty fish basket or weir type fish traps. Vines, bamboo and long sticks work. I assembled one out of reeds and baited it with mushed up worms. Got a few small fish. Enough for a meal. I could have cut up one of them and used it as bait. I didn't try it but I imagine it would be simple enough to parlay a couple of small fish into larger ones and crayfish or crabs.

So it is possible. Even without specialized equipment. But that was during a couple of fine summer days and each attempt took several tries and hours to get right. Add in the time to set it up, catch the fish and prepare them and you have most of an afternoon invested. Not without reward but then again I knew the area and was well aware of the fish and their habits.

Investing that sort of time into a strange body of water where you're not sure there are any fish, or that they will go for what is offer as bait and you could end up investing a good part of a day and end up with nothing to show for it. An investment of time and effort that I expect would be better spent hiking out or actively trying to get rescued.

Snell your hooks. (if its a standard hook, bend the point out from the shaft, so laying on its side the point presents itself, 20 or so degrees) most of the hooks around here are ramrod flat, a great way to lose a fish. bank fishing, trot-lines, jugs are all used to varying degrees of success. floats (bobbers in local speak) are easy to improvise. wood floats, 'nough said. wire leaders are great to improve landing a whopper, but are overkill for panfish. little bluegill and sunbelly perch, seriously, can be caught on the fuzz from a cotton sock. yes i have done it, i also caught bluegill with a little brass hook, (shiney!)

personally i would take
some little brass hooks
little bigger snelled hooks
a few tiny trebels
about 50' of 50lb test line
some cordage or heavy string type stuff
5-10 big splitshot
lures: 6 jigheads and about 9 skirts

but that is for my area. For survival i would run a few bank lines and probably a couple trot-lines and leave them overnight. depends on the fish in the area. i would focus on what the kids fish for, or the "easy" ones


A small hook can catch a little fish and a big fish, a big hook can only catch a big fish.

Salmon and trout are 'oily' fish and have about double the fat and calories of non-oily fish like bass. I used non-oily fish as an example because catching or spearing a salmon or lake trout in the areas I go to would be difficult in a survival situation. You can find 9" creek chubs in almost any stream in the northwoods, and they are easy to catch on a small hook and worm or to spear with a little frog spear.

Byrd Hunter makes a good point about the chub.
I believe a lot of people think of sport species when they think of survival fishing when your most likely targets will be the more common and smaller coarse fish.

So I favour small hooks, split shot sinkers, light fishing line, and locally found natural baits with twigs for floats.
I would be much happier with a good meal of little ugly fish than no meal at all of big pretty fish.
But then again, I wouldn't refuse to club a salmon if it ran up a small stream to spawn and I really needed a meal.

Somebody mentioned snares.
Snares and simple traps can be very effective.
You can catch anything from squirrels and birds up to moose in a snare.
The problem for most people in trapping and snaring is they lack familiarity with the animals. To trap effectively requires a lot of knowledge about the habits of your prey.
(HINT: You will need slightly thicker snares for moose than for mice)

If you assume 1 snare in 10 producing every day you need to get twenty snares out if you are going to eat 2 rabbits a day.
You also need to count how soon you will deplete the area of wildlife. In some areas you might only have 1 rabbit on an acre of land, so catching 10 rabbits would mean you cleared 10 acres of rabbits.
The reason why rabbit snare is carried is that it is the lightest snare material that is reasonable and also it is good emergency repair material.

Deadfalls are another effective small game killer.
But like snares you need to know where to set them. Knowing where to set is more important than knowing the method of setting a trap, and it is all about knowing the animal's behaviours.

I recommend taking a trapper's course for anybody thinking about it. Most Provinces and States offer them at very reasonable prices even if you don't intend to make a career out of it.

I know you are only using this to make a point, but I would love to see how you intended to kill said Moose once snared.

Have fun with that one.

A small fishing kit is not a waste to me. A few hooks and a length of 20 lb test line fits snug in an old metal pill tin and weighs pratically nothing. I do live in a country where you can't walk ten feet without stumbling across water as well. I can see it being of value should I ever need it. Some may argue that it's gear I will never use. Well, I have never need to use my signal mirror, whistle or emergency blanket either but I never step into the woods without them.

To each their own

Tickle it to death, how else?