Lightweight Survival Fishing Tackle.

Lightweight Survival Fishing Tackle.

I'm looking to add a lightweight fishing rod and reel for a back country hiking and trekking. What would you recommend. A Spinning rod & reel setup or a Baitcaster setup

Currently I'm looking at either the Shimano Exage Tele-Spin Package (BX MINI-TE 165 + Symetre 500FJ)

http://www.anglingactive.co.uk/shimano-exage-tele-spin-package.html

or the Rovex Six Shooter travel baitcaster rod + Daiwa Cygnus Baitcaster

http://www.travelfishingrods.net/travel-...ter-travel-rod/

http://www.tedcarter.co.uk/product.php?pid=daiwa-cygnus-baitcasting-reel-P-483

I prefer the spinning rig to a bait caster. The Shimano looks like a perfect rig. They don't seem to sell the Shimano tele rod in the USA, too many cheesy telescopic rods have jaded us about quality of tele rods I guess.

I have the same Shimano reel on a spinning rod, good bit of a reel.

If you are not going to fish much, go with spinning. if you fish enough with a baitcast reel to largely conquer the dreaded backlash aka professional overrun, then you are qualified to make your own judgment.

I'm gonna say the spinning reel is your best bet. I think it would be easier to cast/flip/slingshot in and around spots were snagging surrounding trees or brush is likely. Plus, you can use lighter tackle/bait and still get good distance.

I really don't consider fishing gear as survival equipment in anything but a remote marine setting. Fishing is a good option on a life raft. It isn't like you have much chance of walking out or actively improving your chances of being rescued so fishing, even if it isn't a reliable source, might supplement both food and water.

Even there the oceans are not as remote as they once were with rescues being a few hours, or a couple of days at most, for most areas.

On land, for the most part, if you have time to fish you aren't surviving. Time used fishing might better be used to improve your chances of being rescued or walking out. You might be vacationing or homesteading while fishing but you wouldn't be, in my estimation, in a survival situation.

That said, I have used fishing gear while hiking and have spent hours enjoying myself fishing. The rig I used was a simple hand line. Basically a tin can with a large cork for closure and fishing line/s wrapped around the exterior. Inside the can I kept some small weights, mostly split-shot; an short assortment of common lures, poppers were the most successful at pulling in pan fish; a small bobber, hooks and rubber worms. I most often used 15 to 25 pound black braided polyester line because it was easy to use by hand and made tying easier and more secure. Braided poly is also quite limp which allows easier hand-line use. Mono-filament is usually fairly stiff and forms loops which tangle and unwinds itself from the reel if not secured.

With practice I could toss a weighted lure on a hand line about 50' which is adequate for the streams, and ponds I was fishing. I quickly found I could get the most fish for the least effort, and have a lot of fun tossing a popper and split-shot out 10' or so and jerking it back a foot at a time to make it pop. Bluegills and other pan fish would mob it. On a warm summer day I could have a dozen fish in a very short time and would spend the rest of the time releasing what I caught. Good times and great fun.

But, IMO, it is a marginal survival technique outside a very narrow range of situations.

if you are in an appropriate area, I think survival fishing fits with survival trapping and netting: probably best done at night when you are mostly asleep and in situations where staying-put is the better survival option. Good for morale and often more productive than spending daylight hours better used to move or improve your overall situation. May be something to occupy the time of a kid or two who needs cheering up or is not able to otherwise significantly contribute.

I have a telescopic Shimano similar to one in the link you posted. Although I don't consider it a survival rod, it is small and light enough to put into the pack for times we go hiking and there is good fishing nearby....which is very common in my AO. These rods are good for larger trout sized fish and thats about it.

Around here, any time after July, salmon by the millions start their journey up almost all the rivers, streams and creeks. Many times they are so abundant that in a true survival situation, using a rod and reel is slow as compared to other methods of catching them. This especially true in shallower water where the salmon more or less slowly scrape/swim/scrape their way up and through the gravel and rock beds. When the fish are in low water stream/creek areas like this, a strategic hit with a long hefty stick or a well placed throw of a 6-8 inch sized rock can yield a good dinner or few.

Perhaps a Bushcrafter rod would be a better description.

http://www.gofishing.co.uk/Angling-Times...with-Ray-Mears/

The Shimano Rod and reel seem to be well regarded, but the maximum test line for the diminutive Symetre 500FJ is around 60 yards of 6lb or 100 yards of 4lb whereas the slightly heavier Diawa Baitcaster reel (around 2 oz heavier) will take around 180 yards of 12 lb test line so may be more suitable for lightweight sea loch fishing as well as general course fishing.

Even a 2lb sea trout makes for a substantial meal.

There are of course more energy efficient ways of fishing such as the use of trot lines and gill nets for survival techniques but many of the commercial and home made pocket sized survival fishing kits leave a lot to be desired.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz0pVyzTAoI

These miniture rods and reels are very effective and are certainly more easy to handle and efficient than hobo type metal can reels i.e the cast can be pinged out to 50-100 yards to where the fish might actually be feeding. The 14-16 oz fishing kit weight could be a worthwhile investment to carry for a longer term survival resource of a return of many lbs of high protein food.

Although this kit will have trouble dealing with a fish like this even with some beginners luck.

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/Living/Outdo...8lb-salmon.html

I have a four piece pole in a nylon sleeve in my pack, and use a small spincasting reel with 10 lb mono. A spincast reel is a little smaller and I think, holds up better in a backpack than a spinning reel.

I really liked the line in the article


Thanks for the link

buckeye

My remark on the survival rod meant that I don't carry a fishing rod for the express purpose of using it in a survival situation, rather it is carried for the purpose of leisurely fishing if the opportunity presents itself when out hiking.