Fishing has been an extremely valuable food gathering strategy for thousands of years, and when we find ourselves in a survival setting, the fishing skills of our ancestors may be our only option. Consider these three traditional techniques in primitive fishing, and do your homework first to find out if they will work for your region.
1. Use Bare Hands
While the concept of hand fishing is simple enough, like so many other survival skills, the simpler processes require a lot of technique. Whether you are “graveling” for catfish or “bug diving” to collect lobsters, you’re taking a page from the playbook of our most remote ancestors: catching aquatic animals with your bare hands.
Many catfish noodlers don’t wear any protective gear when reaching around in underwater crevices and holes which could contain a fish. Since these freshwater fish species like to hang out in underwater rock ledges, in holes and under submerged logs, those confined spaces make them easier to catch. When you reach into these protected spots, the fish will be trapped with its back up against the “wall.” If it all goes right, the fish will advance and bite your hand. Fight your natural urge to pull your hand away. Leave your hand in the fish’s mouth and pull the fish toward you. Wrap your free arm around the fish, being careful to avoid contact with the barbs on its fins.
Likewise, speedy grabs and swatting motions are the most successful methods of bagging a lobster from similar protected spots in shallow saltwater. Of course, these underwater shelters can also contain sea urchins, moray eels, scorpion fish, and other sea creatures that bite, stab, and sting. For safer lobster hunting, being truly bare handed is a poor choice. Instead, don a pair of Kevlar gloves. These cut-proof, puncture-proof gauntlets protect against urchin spines and many other dangers of the deep. And remember: never go hand fishing alone, go with others so that they can help you if you…
