fishing kit

[hatidua]

I see "fishing kit" listed on a lot of BOB contents and while that's all fine and good, I'd suggest you try that fishing kit on a nice sunny day when everything is going your way, just to see if it will work under ideal conditions.

A great many of us on this forum live in CO and most CO fish are measured in ounces, not pounds. The vast majority of pictures I see of 'fishing kits" in bug-out-bags are wholly inappropriate for fish that exist within the state of Colorado: a 12" trout cannot open it's mouth wide enough to eat a size 1/0 hook, and will not be fooled by 20# monofilament.

If you really intend for those fishing supplies to do more than provide entertainment, give it a whirl before it's really needed. I suspect that most 'fishing kits' in bug-out-bags are included due to that being part of the checklist that gets repeated over and over and over again online:

-fixed blade knife
-two miles of paracord
-16" carbine w/24 loaded mags
-one dozen ways to start a fire
-fishing kit

[Wulf202]

Here's my CO fishing kit:

- A map to someplace that has fish, WA sounds good.

[Irving]

I remember you posting this in reference to one of the threads I started about my BOB years ago. Since then, I think I tried to fish a few times with just a hand line to see what I could catch. I wasn't ever able to catch anything with it, and I don't even know where that "kit" is anymore. On the flip side, I was also not able to catch anything with my regular fishing kit either. I just flat don't know enough about fishing to make it work.

[ChunkyMonkey]

I see "fishing kit" listed on a lot of BOB contents and while that's all fine and good, I'd suggest you try that fishing kit on a nice sunny day when everything is going your way, just to see if it will work under ideal conditions.

A great many of us on this forum live in CO and most CO fish are measured in ounces, not pounds. The vast majority of pictures I see of 'fishing kits" in bug-out-bags are wholly inappropriate for fish that exist within the state of Colorado: a 12" trout cannot open it's mouth wide enough to eat a size 1/0 hook, and will not be fooled by 20# monofilament.

If you really intend for those fishing supplies to do more than provide entertainment, give it a whirl before it's really needed. I suspect that most 'fishing kits' in bug-out-bags are included due to that being part of the checklist that gets repeated over and over and over again online:

-fixed blade knife
-two miles of paracord
-16" carbine w/24 loaded mags
-one dozen ways to start a fire
-fishing kit

Ignore the fishing kit.. in CO, the ponds are stocked by DOW once or twice a year. Otherwise, no fishy here.

[zteknik]

That would be the last thing I would do if I had to rely on the land for food.
The time and effort you spend to catch a small fish that can barely feed you, you can spend on catching small game which is more plentiful and after dressing would feed you well.

[Irving]

I think learning methods like how to build a fish ware are pretty beneficial to know for times that you REALLY need it. Things like that can't really be practiced though.

[hatidua]

I'm not suggesting that fish aren't a viable food source but I think it behooves someone to try out their fishing gear before hunger sets in to see if it works as-is or needs to be modified a bit.

[Wulf202]

Corn, illegal but catfish love it.

[trlcavscout]

You guys must fish in the wrong spots? I use 3/0-4/0 hooks and catch fish all day. I use 12# fluro for finesse rigs but mainly 20# fluror/mono or 50# braid. I don't trout fish much though, to small to be fun and 1 fish won't fill me.

[Buckaroobonsai]

My bug out bag, err, bin fishing kit includes a lightweight Shakespeare spinning reel with 4 lb Vanish, which I've used to catch so many fish, some pretty big, over the years, both from the shores of rivers & lakes, and thru the ice. With a proper drag setting and "fighting" technique, it's all I've ever needed for Colorado fishing. The pole is a matching Shakespeare light action telescoping travel pole, and I have a small tackle container with size #1 crawler hooks, #2 and smaller various hooks, split shots, small lead weights, a couple small floaters & bobbers, small dare devil spoons, egg sized trebles, small jigs, select local flyfishing flies, and a few favorite ice lures. An extra spool of replacement line, a small stringer, smaller power bait worms, a small sealed jar of rainbow power bait, and red power eggs round out the kit. Target fish would be trout, bass, macs, wallys and panfish. A filet knife with the utensils is mandatory.

Even though I consider myself to be an excellent fisherman, I have other things in my "survival tool box" that I can rely on. Most times I can catch enough fish to feed my family, however, if the fishing is slow, I have small animal snares and a scoped .22 LR bolt action that I can nail pdogs in the head with at 100 yards easy. No, I don't plan on eating pdogs, but hunting them has greatly improved my skills. If I'm able to bug out with my .223 bolt action, small to medium game at 400 yards would be reasonable as well thanks to the pdogs!

As others have said, practice makes perfect, so get proficient NOW with ALL your tools BEFORE you actually need to rely on them to survive.