An area that is of great interest to preppers and, ironically, one of the key areas I have little knowledge or experience in, is fishing. Unless you are living on the coast or on a boat I don’t see fishing in the UK as a way to keep us alive more of a variation of our diets and the addition of valuable nutrients.
In my case I live near a main body of sea water, two main rivers and there are dozens of ponds with fish in in our local area. The must be about a dozen fish farms as well. My personal experience was as a teenager fishing in ponds and a river. Caught very little and found it boring.
So starting from there I accept that I really need to learn more and get involved in fishing if I want to ensure a varied and balanced diet. The way I see it is I have several options in their field. Excuse the incorrect terminology.
- Straight Fishing
- Trapping Fish
- Fish Farming
Straight Fishing
The most obvious thought for most of us. Get out a rod and reel and cast your line into the water to catch fish. I have bought a couple of fishing rods for fishing, hooks and lures. I suspect this will be the hardest way to catch fish and not knowing any real techniques the learning curve will be a doozy.
Trapping Fish
The way it used to be done. Casting nets from the land or a boat as well as setting traps for crabs and lobsters as well as fish. Putting lines out into the river or sea to catch fish on the hooks. Basically, setting traps and checking them every few hours to see what you have caught. I think this will provide the bulk of our fish catch.
Fish Farming
One I would like to do but without having sufficient land I am unable to do. I’ve looked at the low scale fish keeping and although I could do it after an event is it something that just cannot be kept hidden and it would be lost to scavengers. If I had the land where I could keep it out of sight I would set one up and get it running to supplement my food now.
What next?
Because I can’t set up a fish farm now I am looking at stocking up on fishing gear, rods, lures, nets, traps, etc. as well as having a few tanks for fish. Depending on timing I would look at setting up the tanks and starting the fish farm as soon as possible. Perhaps using caught fish as the basis for my stock it is was after an event.
I would be looking at setting traps and nets in the sea, rivers and streams where there are few people around or overnight if suitable. I have marked off on my maps where the bodies of water are, including the ones not on the maps, and I will need to recce them after an event to ensure that I am not going to compromise my OPSEC.
In addition using a boat on the coast for some net fishing and keeping actual rod and reel fishing for when needs must.
I share very similar experiences, fishing as a boy was boring and often frustrating though like you im trying to get back into it for preppings sake. Somthing that may be of intrest to you is the yoyo fishing trap they are cheap effective and lightweight ideal for a BOB check them out on
http://www.yoyofishing.co.uk or to see them in action visit sigma3survival on youtube
I left the answer to your problem of getting bored while fishing in another post but I’ll repeat it here. If you live within a short distance of a sandy shore line there is an easy system for catching a lot of fish and only having to visit your line twice a day at low tide. Read up on long lining, also referred to as night lines. Totally illegal on rivers but perfectly OK on the beach. Best if you can find a quiet beach though so they’re not interfered with. They should only be accessible at low tide and you would usually be in attendance but you never know. 200 meters of night line will serve up so much fish that you’ll have enough to trade. Combine this with a smoke house and you have guaranteed yourself a food supply over the bad times. I only eat fish and game, Even the dogs love fish as part of a varied diet. I certainly never buy meat.
If you have access to a kayak then you can fish for mackerel in inshore waters using a modified (shortened) boat rod and a set of feathers (I use tiny strips of reflective tape tied to the hook with a blood knot), take a keep net tied to the kayak so you have somewhere to keep all the hundreds of mackerel that you’re going to catch, smoke and trade.
Brined and smoked fish will last much longer then fresh.