Nice write ups Izzy. Pictures are always a bonus. Especially with the crazy names given to lures these days.

You definitely want to get to know what kind of fish are around the places you are likely to be in if you find yourself in a survival situation.

The majority of fish where I am for example are Pike, Trout, and Perch (though the latter two make up many species of fish).

I almost always fish out of a backpack so my survival fishing kit is just a stripped down version of my every day fishing kit. All my lures fit in a small fly box (I'm not sold on having every kind of lure money can buy). I find that I can catch nearly any breed of fish I'm likely to encounter with a tiny set of tackle which is why the tackle box part of my fishing kit doubles as my emergency fishing kit

Here's what I carry right now(brand named only where I remember the brand name or the lures are labeled). The list changes as my tastes change but there are definitely some main styles I stick to. The list may seem long but this kit is literally pocket sized as it's all in a Flambeau sealed fly box with room to spare.

  • Assorted Kastmasters (3 weights in gold and silver. The tiny ones work good for ice fishing)
  • Mepps Aglia Long #2 spinner
  • Mepps Black Fury #1 and 3 spinner
  • 2 Blue Fox size #0 spinners
  • Martin #4 yellow spinner
  • Len Thompson Yellow & Red 'Five of Diamonds' #6 spoon
  • Len Thomson Red & White #7 spoon
  • Red Bucktail Jig
  • Yellow Bucktail Jig
  • White Bucktail Jig
  • White jig
  • Yellow jig
  • Assorted curly tail grub jig bodies
  • Assorted Ice jigs
  • Pickerel Rig
  • Extra snell hooks for rig
  • Assorted leaders and clasps (and other hardware)
  • Assorted weights
  • 2 'Speedhooks' (these are the only hooks with the barbs intact as they're illegal and only for emergency use. Barbed hooks and 'automatic' hooks are illegal in Alberta)
  • Assorted bare hooks for fishing with bait.
  • Card with some 20lb test wrapped around it for emergency, hobo fishing, or repairs


Even this is overkill really. If I could settle on a single size of hook and consider it good for everything, I could cut this down to one of each type.

Google can provide you with many options on what the 'best' lure is but fishermen are very opinionated about that sort of thing. I researched it a ton and in the end most of the hooks I use today are the same hooks I used when I first started fishing as an 8 year old..at least in once case it's literally the same hook. Any 'best lures of all time' list (and there are a lot out there...I like the field and stream one as it's online) have good choices.