I release them the next morning. Um, er ... somewhat changed by then.

There's nothing "non-survival" about my shotgun shell kit. I have about 30 feet of 10lb test line in there. The only thing that may be difficult is that the hooks are fairly small. Good for trout, not as good for some of the bigger fish.

I can also bend some of the hooks (I think there's 6 in the shell) and attach them to a stick to make a spear for grabbing frogs, lazy fish, slow birds etc.

Admittedly I'm not going to go after pike on Lake Erie or catfish in the Missouri with the kit, but it'll catch about anything in a smaller stream.

And yes, I have caught fish with nothing more than a stick, some string and an old hook. Baited the hook with a grasshopper and used a twig for a bobber. Got several bluegill the size of my hand.

I much prefer my breakdown rod and reel, but I could get by with the little kit if I had to.