SHTF Fishing

[J man]

Out my way a lot of people have ponds rather than wells due to the sulfer. I know many have put fish in their ponds.

 

[Harry2110]

I want one of these for my BOB - http://www.emmrod.com/products/Packer®-fishing-pole.html Wonder how well they cast.

quite horribly

I have one of these

Amazon.com: St. Croix Triumph Travel Spinning Rod TRS60LF4: Sports & Outdoors.

I can swear by this rod. I dont have it for my BOB but I use it all the time(I bike to ponds) even when I have a few 1 piece rods to choose from when fishing with my dad. The thing is sensitive and light and is one of the best rods I own and I have some older ones that when new were $200. Its is only 1.5 when folded and can be used for serrious fishing( I have fought a 25+ lb channel on it).

 

[Zoub]

better off putting some fishing components in a PVC pipe for storage.

Can use a stick to fish like with a cane pole, this little thing seems too gimmicky.

That is an OLD school design that just keeps coming back and is master of nothing. Ice fishing rods would be better in that size range.

Lew's made the best pack rods in the 70's, I have two of them and used them as regular use rods for many years before I semi retired them to being pack gear. Like harry above, I love the 3 piece spinning pack rods made these days.

For fast fishing it is hard to beat cutting a 7' flipping stick and using light line on it to just pull whatever fish bites first near shore. Large hooks can only catch large fish but small hooks can catch both large and small. There are a lot of ways to rig a potential flipping stick but I just use light line and one or two loops of heavy gauge copper wire. Choice of bait and rigs is same as any normally used. You can always go to heavy line and larger baits to pull bigger fish out of the slop.

Flipping is a no brainer technique for shore/stealth/fast catch of food.

If you remove the tape from one of the fishing reel tapes and replace with line, be it 6lb or 20lb, they are very handy for managing the line. Use copper wire, fishing line or zip ties to attach it to the sitck. You will see the reels even have a mini reel seat to wrap around. If you don't know the flipping and pitching techniques, they are worth learning.

 

[traderdan]

2 six pack plastic rings,one paint can (metal), bait in the bottom of the cleaned out one gallon paint can.Anchor it or weight it to the bottom of a slow stream or shallows of a pond.Small screws holding the six pack rings on the top of the paint can.A certain size catfish will nose through the rings to the bait and not be able to back out. This is an effective fish trap that costs nothing....NOT legal in public water of course

 

[Glock22c]

Shot 37 fish yesterday that totaled over 400lbs (live weight)
Yes i shot them with my bow... i force feed my hooks. No waiting around to get one to bite.
carp are everywhere! And if s hits it I'll be taking game fish too ...
Me and mine wont starve.... corse carp don't taste that good though.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I was going to mention carp as well.

All you need is a boat, some fuel, and a small boat to tow behind. The dumb things will jump in your tow behind until it's over flowing.

Battery it, fry it, put hot sauce on it.

 

[traderdan]

Taste?

Shot 37 fish yesterday that totaled over 400lbs (live weight)
Yes i shot them with my bow... i force feed my hooks. No waiting around to get one to bite.
carp are everywhere! And if s hits it I'll be taking game fish too ...
Me and mine wont starve.... corse carp don't taste that good though.

How good something tastes depends on how hungry you are...

 

[Walkersdlx]

I'll just drag a hook by a dam on the ohio. Not saying the fish is safe to eat, but if i'm hungry why not. Anyways, those fish are so huge its crazy.

 

[handgun]

How good something tastes depends on how hungry you are...

Yeah! So true... If you haven't eaten in days.. even something you don't like could taste amazing.. I love taco bell now.. stock up on those free fire sauce packets..

 

[R3COIL]

How good something tastes depends on how hungry you are...

I could not agree more with this.

 

[Armed Citizen]

Fish all across the state of Indiana tremble at the sound of my name!!!

 

[bwframe]

What about extra gear directed at SHTF fishing?
Yoyos
Lure making equipment and supplies
Net making equipment and supplies
Buying extra gear in bulk, IE line, hooks, etc
Pack gear, tackle boxes, repair supplies, etc.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

A pretty crude but effective fish trap can be made from green willow branches much the way Native Americans used to do. It's a lot like basket weaving. Definitely a skill worth practicing/trying. While searching for a vid I also found this interesting method that appears to be even simpler!
http://youtu.be/GmDzHyOverg

 

[ATOMonkey]

If you want a really durable fishing line, kite string is incredibly strong. A bit visible in the water, but fish are dumb. I've actually pulled hooks straight that go caught on docks, stumps, etc with kite string.

I've caught scores of blue gill with kite string, a hook, a stick, and an ABC piece of gum.

 

[03A3]

Like the fella said earlier, it doesn't hurt a thing to have plenty of extra gear onhand in case it gets hard to get for whatever reason.

And don't use green sticks for a fish trap if beaver are present as they will make short work of it. When I was a kid and beaver started moving back into the area our trapping gear had to change a little.

Many of the "new" fishing lines such as Spiderwire are amazing, and are also excellant for sewing to repair/mod/make clothing, gear ect plus many other uses. It is a good thing to keep onhand.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Okay, but ow would you weave dried sticks?

 

[03A3]

Okay, but ow would you weave dried sticks?

I really don't have an answer for that but I do know that if you essentially build a bait pile for the beaver you will likely not have a fish trap when you come back.
Beaver are for the most part (not entirely) nocturnal so having the fish trap out between sun up and dusk would be the best shot.
Of course while beaver are plentiful they are not everywhere.
Beaver are a problem in a number of ways, yet they are an asset too.

Edit : In the video above that guy used all dried sticks. It's safe to assume that was at least in part because they are easier to come by and easier to work with if you do not have a any tools such as a hatchet ect. But they are also "beaver-proof". When I watched the video the first thing I thought of was beaver.

 

[ATOMonkey]

Okay, but ow would you weave dried sticks?

Soak them in a bucket of water.

The same way to weave cane for chairs or baskets.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Okay. I will still use green sticks and then let them dry though, saves steps BTW, I don't eat fish however I would if that were all that was available. I suppose maybe even before I would eat bugs. We have (from my wifes uncle) about 40-50 pro bass tourney fishing rods/reels and an entire pallet stacked 4-5 ft high with crank baits in plano boxes and an army duffel bag full of rubber baits and pork baits. I wish we still had his boat! I've often thought of selling it all off when money is tight but something inside of me keeps telling me not to, I guess I think it may be more valuable for barter when SHTF. I have a real problem parting with things. I value things more than I value money, I guess it's because it is easier to hold onto things than holding onto money?

 

[03A3]

Soak them in a bucket of water.

The same way to weave cane for chairs or baskets.

Good point. I'm not a weaver.
Soak them in the creek or pond.