5 Clever Ways To Fish Without A Pole

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An adequate fishing kit can be compacted and put in a survival kit, but if you’re out in the wilderness without that kit, don’t despair.

Fish are an excellent source of protein, and with the right knowledge and some practice, catching fish on your own without a fishing kit is more than possible.

1. Hand fishing

The best locations to go hand fishing are in warm, shallow waters along banks and logs, and underneath rocks. The easiest kinds of fish to catch using this method are catfish, but then again, “easy” may not be the most appropriate word. Hand fishing also requires a great deal of patience. Keep your hands in the water for an extended period of time to bring them to roughly the same temperature as the water, and if a fish does come to within your grasp, grab it by the mouth and/or gills. You may also want to hold an improvised hook under the water to increase your chances of holding the fish.

 2. Improvised hooks and lines

An entire article could be written about the different materials that can be turned into fish hooks. Examples include safety pins, nails, needles, paper clips, bones, wood and best of all, a soda can tab. As for fishing line, you can use any materials you have on you such as strands of clothing, wire, sinew and vines. Lures can be improvised out of jewelry, and bait can be insects and frogs or even a colorful piece of cloth.

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3. Improvised nets

If you don’t have a fishing net, that’s fine. You can make your own improvised fishing nets with clothes, towels or blankets stretched between two sticks. Look for shallow water where schools of small fish are abundant, and push the fish toward a bank or a dead end. Once you reach the fish, lift the net quickly and see what you caught. Net fishing is best used to catch as many small fish at once as possible, in contrast to catching larger fish.

4. Spear fishing

While there are professional-grade fishing spears sold at nearly any sporting goods store, you can easily make one in the wilderness. The best material is a piece of green willow wood. You can tie a knife to the end, or sharpen the end of the wood to the point, or cut jagged edges roughly an inch apart from one another.

The limitation to spear fishing is that it can only be done on larger fish, requires a lot of skill, and is best done at night with a torch or light. You also need a lot of patience, and you have to be quick. It’s easy to become frustrated, so be patient and practice.

5. Trap fishing

Also known as Weir fishing, this is a more traditional fishing method where you put three stakes in the water downstream to construct a V-shape. Then, close two sides with cloth, rocks, more stakes, or any other material you can use, while keeping the end facing upstream open. Sit and wait for fish to swim into the V, and then close off the end to keep the fish trapped.  You can either catch the fish by hand or spear it, but the result is the same: dinner.

What are your survival fishing methods? Share your tips in the section below:

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8 Life-Saving Survival Uses For Basic, Ordinary Dental Floss

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While packing your survival kit, weight is a major concern. Fortunately, you can lighten the load significantly by carrying small and lightweight but very versatile items that fulfill a number of different survival purposes. Dental floss is one of those items. After reading this article, you’ll hopefully feel compelled to include at least a couple of packs of dental floss in your kit.

Here are nine important survival uses for dental floss:

1. Tripwire. Wrap a few strands of dental floss together to make it tighter, and then string it around some trees at about knee height. The thinness of the floss should cause it to blend in nicely, and any intruders who try to invade your area will be in for a surprise.

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2. Stitches. A second medical application for dental floss is to use it to stitch. Open wounds are a major threat in any survival situation, and it’s important that you close the wound off after you’ve stopped the bleeding with a tourniquet. Dental floss can do the trick.

3. Clothesline. If you string dental floss between two separate trees, it can be used as a clothesline for lighter articles of clothing such as socks and light shirts. It is possible for it to hold up heavier articles of clothing such as jackets or pants, but only as long as you wrap multiple strands of it tightly together.

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4. Spear making. Dental floss can be used to tie your knife around a pole or branch to make a spear for hunting, fishing and self-defense purposes.

5. Fishing line. Since we just mentioned fishing, there’s another fishing purpose that dental floss fulfills as well: making a fishing pole. You can craft together an entire DIY fishing pole out of nothing more than a suitable branch, dental floss and a soda can tab for the fishing hook. At that point, all you need is the bait!

6. Rope. If you wrap multiple strands of dental floss tightly together, it will create a thin rope that can do almost anything rope can do. For example, sealing garbage bags and hanging items.

7. Shoelaces. It will be a real bummer if your shoelaces ever break while you’re out in the woods, but threaded dental floss is a near-perfect temporary solution that will work until you get replacement shoelaces.

8. Sewing. Last but certainly not least, a needle and floss can be used for nearly any kind of a sewing application. Whether it’s stitching ripped clothing back together, fashioning mosquito netting, or repairing tents or blankets, dental floss will be more than up to the task.

What survival uses for dental floss would you add to the list? Share your tips in the section below:

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