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.