I’ve thought a lot about the use of fishing line and survival fishing kits in the wild. When it comes time where you actually need to utilize emergency fishing line, how do you do so without a rod? Obviously you won’t have a fishing rod in an unexpected situation, so are you supposed to make a primitive pole? If so, how?
If you're lucky enough to be able to find some cane or bamboo ,, otherwise,, just find a good stick . I've been meaning to get another one ,, but you can get yourself one of the retractable poles,, put a decent little reel on it,, that way , it does extend out to 6+ feet , and will collapse down to 16-20 inches . You could also ,, tie a 2-3 foot section of fishing line with a hook and bobber ,, or more,, to a small diameter of rope,, or paracord,, and toss it out in the water . Just remember to tie the end of it to a root , tree , bush , etc,, so a fish doesn't snatch it away.
a stick, handline, milk jug, hatchet handle, boat oar, steel fence post and tying it directly to the boat. Used all of the above techniques to catch fish. You are limited only by your imagination. You just need a line of some sort and a hook of some sort. Put the cell phone down, get out there and try some stuff. Pretty easy.
It depends on the fish I expect to catch. Fresh water streams, or lake or ocean. I have a very small rig about a 3 ' poll for fresh water,but the fact of the matter as crowded as this part of the cpouintry is, it is unlikely much of the fish will be gone in short order. If I had access to a boat on the ocean that might be a different story. Poorer countries tend to over fish the waters closest too them, so the fry never allowed to grow to reproductive maturity. A motorized sail boat is the best option seeing fuel can be a big challenge, but necessary if you must out run piriates. I lived in the mointains several years and preferred stream fishing which requires small polls and stealth because if they see you tjhey won't bite. However during a survival event I don't think I'd bother using a poll. Bow fishing might be more successful.
I don't think of a pole for survival fishing. You are very exposed when you are on or near water. Some method of trot line or bank fishing is much more useful for survival. I love fishing as a sport and had a couple boats over time, but 50 feet of good bank line and a set of hooks will catch a lot more fish and keeping in the water will preserve them. Here is a clip on cat fishing in the south. Trotline Fishing: Building and Setting Trotlines Your experience would depend on both the fish in your area and the ability to preserve them. Grand dad used to catch and smoke carp for winter food in the 1940's. Here is a clip of a guy smoking salt water fish. Builds a basic smoker and does it all with a knife and an axe. Making the cord to tie it up and such is a hint of what you can do in survival situations. Well worth watching for that alone. As far as I know from my grand dad, only drying and salting is totally safe. Smoking fish for flavor does not prevent it from spoiling in the long run. It can still go bad and it might well be botulism which is very bad. Have to dry them out and salt them for safe storage. The good point is that if you can make fish safe, you can do most other meats. Grand dad smoked, salted. made sausage and hams, pickled meat and fish, and had it as treats all year around. Here is a 1945 pamphlet on fish storage that gives some good information. https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy-pdfs/leaflet18.pdf
When I was putting together my bug out fishing rig I thought... "this seems inefficient"... I bought one of these instead...folds up small, fits in the pack easily.. weighs next to nothing.. (still have the line setup too)..
Yes sir ,, used to set Trot lines with my grandpa ,, back in them old eastern NC black water rivers . We'd checked in the mornings and evenings . Grandpa always loved it when we caught a 'cooter on them lines. He'd put'em in a garbage can,, feed'em fish and bread and stuff to get the cleaned out for a week or so. Then the work started,, getting the big cast iron witches pot going with boiling water to clean them sucker's.
My Dad and his Brothers used to set out trot lines for catfish when I was a kid. Occasionally caught a streaked-head river turtle. They made good eating! Caught a big Alligator Snapper once. The meat was very tough and stringy. We never any more of them.
