I'm told dental floss is the line of choice for dapping, which is an antedeluvian fly fishing technique that approximately four people still use.

You have a fixed length of line and a dry fly, and you let the wind blow the line around and pick the fly up off the water, etc. Apparently floss is one of the few things light enough to work.

Never tried it, myself.

More questions to the experienced anglers: On average, how many hooks/sinkers do you end up losing per day? I'm figuring that it depends on a lot of factors, but I'm now thinking I need to pack at least 12 hooks for, say, a two week scenario.

Also, is a person more likely to get snagged when using a hand reel versus a pole?


Thanks again...

When I would fly fish -- which is far from survival fishing -- I would lose many. It really depends on your environment and if you are fishing with bait that needs to appear to move (like a minnow, spoon or Rapala lure. You will probably lose more in the act of casting with a rod but in many situations a rod (with ferrules) can help you get un-snagged.

If you are just dipping the bait on a stick or a hand reel or setting out bait to sit while you go do something else, you probably won't lose that many hooks (if your knots are good). However, if you have many hooks, you can set many hooks even on one line and increase your odds. In short, more hooks is better.

I always found sinkers didn't like being casted either but again, this probably won't be a factor in a survival situation. Sinkers and floats can always be improvised from rocks and sticks. Hooks are harder.

Finally, my experience is mostly with western trout rivers and streams. Those that fish in lakes (for bass) or in salt water may have a different take on this.

Yuccahead described it well.

Casting on a trout river I get lots of snags/break-offs, but fishing from a boat I may not loose a hook all day.

It really depends on your type of fishing and what the waterbody is like (clean lake vs brushy river).

Mike

Great information from so many! I live in Texas, which is warmer than a lot of other places so the baits we use are good for that climate and fish we have here. My small survival fishing kit I made up is a small compartmentalized plastic box with a hinged lid; 4"X6"X1 1/2". That may seem too large for many and it is much larger than any PSK, of course, but I carry this in my Maxpedition Jumbo shoulder bag so I have plenty of room for this kit and it has everything I need to fish with except a rod and reel! I use clear acrylic bobbins from a sewing store with braided Spider Wire and these are great for braided lines. Also, I took a hobbyists tropical fish net and removed the net part and it takes up only a space about the size of a marble when really scrunched up tightly; to be re-installed on a field expedient handle to scoop up minnows in the shallows for bait or if one is really hard up - for food. One more thing I have had great success with is the smallest size Rebel brand lure, a crawfish with two very small treble hooks on it. I have never used these without catching something! They must be truly irresistable to fish as you draw them through the water. I also have a 12' length of fairly heavy line and 8ea treble hooks along with a few heavier weights to make up a trot line which is very effective to take channel catfish using guts to bait the hooks from other fish already caught. In my area, water sources necessarily mean food if you know what you are doing and this food is easier to get at than trapping mammals and birds any day.

Definitely depends on where you are fishing.

There is a dam where I would fish at a lot... Rocky bottom where a hook can catch quite often. If I fished via bobber there, I wouldn't lose many hooks at all. Fishing from the bottom, would easily lose a few.

All depends on the strength of your line as well. If you are stringing a line across a stream, you should be fine with a few hooks...

Hooks are sinkers are small, pack a bunch... Don't worry about bobbers tho, sticks work fine for that.

You can see it on Google Earth at 52* 06' 32.92" N 4* 42' 27.32" W

Well I guess I am not surprised there is some disagreement with my blanket statements.

Here's why swivels are useless. Most of your fishing is going to involve fashioning a makeshift pole or a drop line from the bank. If you have 20 yards of braid or mono, you will probably be able to make 3-4 such set ups w/ 5-7 yards of line. One end ties to pole or bank and other hook. No need to join lines. If you do need to join lines you should learn how to tie a proper know instead of relying on only a terminal knot and a swivel.

The stuff about twisting lines is an interesting theory, but when I regularly used to set trot lines for catfish, I got more straightened hooks than broken lines. And that's back when we used dacron. A good spectra line ain't going to break with 99% of the freshwater fish you will ever encounter in North America/Canada.

And, heck if folks want to take 10 or 100 fish hooks instead of the 4 I have, they're welcome to do so.

And, while I don't want to go into full snark mode here, I will hate to think about what some poor schlub who can't learn how to tie two knots is going to do if they actually catch a fish. Their brain is obviously too crammed full of info to know how to fillet or bone or prepare a fish. I guess they'll just go into survivalman mode like one of those guys on TV and start chewing away at the fish's head or something.

Oh, finally one serious comment - it's generally a bad idea to use swivels to connect your bait hook to the line because the flash from the swivel can scare away wary fish. You want to disguise the hook in the bait as much as possible. I guess you could buy matte black swivels if you have your heart set on them.

And, finally, I guess I should note that most of the time I am out on the river I usually have 2-300 flies/hooks/lures with me so I should probably keep my mouth shut about being economical about these things.

They're going to eat it.

If you need help with any more challenging questions, drop me a line.

Drathar, I've watched people who've never cleaned a fish do a not to horrible job their first time (other than forgetting to scale it) with no instruction or guidence. I was one of them- I just skinned the thing.

As for shine, the few times of the year I do fish, I find that anything shiny is effective even when (sorta) live bait isn't. I've caught trout using a "survival" rig made of my walking stick, some spectra braid, a hook, and aluminum foil.

Information is appreciated, but the noise of an attitude can overwhelm what ever useful signal you have. Your attitude in your last post could be easily interpreted as "if you aren't as cool as me, don't even bother".