Improv Fishing

A few improvised hooks: Left to right...carved wood, a nail, soda  can tab

There is a saying that goes like this. "After 7 days without food a man will steal, after 14 days without food a man will kill". So to keep our readers from doing either of those we are going to talk about improvised fishing methods.

Fish are a great source of protein, fats, and vitamins, exactly what a survivor needs. As a matter of fact, all fresh water fish are edible. You do have to be careful of some tropical fish like electric eels and stingrays. It does take a certain amount of skill to catch fish. But it burns less energy than hunting and stalking prey.

Using sewing kit materials...the button can attract the fish / weight  the hook
and line

You may not always have a fully stocked fishing kit on you. But because most of the worlds population doesn't mind dirtying up mother nature, there is plentiful trash all over the planet. In a survival situation you should always keep anything you come across because you may be able to use it for something in the future. You can fashion hooks from many things such as wood, pins, thorns, bones, and nails to name a few. In the picture above I made some from wood, a nail that I bent, and a soda tab. For line I used the inner strands from 550 cord and on the wood some thread from a shirt.
After making improvised hooks, you will have to attract the fish some how. This can be accomplished by baiting or luring the fish. Baiting is using the fish's food source to entice them. Using berries, insects or minnows are good offerings. When baiting the hook try not to kill the bait if using live bait. The movement will draw the fish in.

Lure made from paper clip, soda can, bird feather, and shirt thread

Fishing with lures can be effective when there is no natural bait. Use anything you can find: bright cloth, coins, feather, and soda cans are a few examples. Make lures that have lots of flash and movement that may spark a reaction strike. A reaction strike is when a fish eats something out of predatory reaction even when they are not feeding.

Another method of catching fish using trash is the bottle trap. Cut the top from a bottle and invert it back into the bottle. This method will catch small fish and crustaceans.