{"id":21852,"date":"2021-07-14T10:50:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T17:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/?p=21852"},"modified":"2026-02-10T19:34:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:34:33","slug":"survivalfishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/survivalfishing\/","title":{"rendered":"Survival Fishing: Top Tips for Finding Fish during a Long-term Survival Situation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it comes to surviving a long-term disaster situation, one of your top survival priorities is going to be food. While having a stockpile of long-term food and water is definitely a good start, no preparedness plan is complete without having a way to restock your goods during a long-term emergency. That means you need to start thinking about food procurement skills like survival gardening<\/a>, hunting<\/a> and fishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many of you who follow me probably know, I’m an avid fisherman. In fact, I have another site that is dedicated to all things hunting and fishing related: CountryHookers.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During a long-term survival situation, one where infrastructure shutdowns threaten your food supply, you need to be able to feed your family when things start getting tough. Fishing can be a great way to supplement your food supply, even if you live in an urban environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many of these survival fishing articles, you’ll often see people talk about traps and Trotlines — I’ll talk a little bit about that — but the main thing I’m going to cover here is fishing behaviors and patterns. If you understand the fundamentals of how fish behave, and how things like weather patterns and time effect them, then you’re going to have a much easier time procuring food when you really need it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Tips for Survival Fishing when the SHTF<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fishing Tips from the Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my site Country Hookers<\/a><\/em>, I have written a number of articles that featured tips from some of the top anglers in the country. While these fishermen often use their skills to win competitions, studying their techniques can help become a better fisherman and give you a good idea where to look during a survival situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look for Cover & Look for Changes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Team Toyota Angler, Mike Iaconelli<\/a> says that no matter what type of fish you are targeting, you need to look for two things: Cover and Change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The biggest tip I can give is that bass and almost all other spices of fish love to relate to cover and change. On every cast, I try to put my lure next to some piece of cover or change. Cover can be anything like trees, bushes, docks, rocks, logs and even trash in the water (shopping carts). Change is anything that is different like a drop off in depth, a rise of the bottom, or even watercolor change.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When fishing urban ponds or other high pressure waterways Mike says the same rules about cover and change apply, but the cover and changes will likely be a bit different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“I attack heavily pressured urban ponds and lakes the same way I do unpressured rural fisheries. I\u2019m always looking for cover and change and trying to present a lure that looks natural and will make the bass react. In urban fisheries cover and change are often different. Things like seawalls, drain pipes, bridge pilings and trash in the water create the perfect man made forms of cover! And always try and put your lure in a place the other anglers don\u2019t!”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Fishing Soft Plastic Worms will Help you Become a Better Angler<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Picture courtesy of FLW<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you’re just getting in to fishing, or want to really improve your overall fishing technique, Straight Talk Pro Angler Scott Canterbury<\/a> says you need to start fishing with soft plastic worms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Anyone getting into fishing should really try worm fishing. Top water fishing and crank bait fishing will come natural. The thing about worm fishing is that it takes feel to know when your bait is on the bottom, when your bait is in a brush pile, rocks and especially when a bass strikes.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Learning how to fish these soft plastic baits will help you learn what to look for, and how your rod and real should feel when hitting different bits of structure. It’s hard to explain in an article, but the difference between being a good angler and a guy who is just catching fish by luck is the ability to really understanding what you’re feeling as you’re reeling in your line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start studying your local waterways and research different fishing techniques.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Picture courtesy of FLW<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even in large cities, there are numerous different spots where you can catch fish. From local rivers and streams, to small park and golf course ponds, start studying your local environment and take note of any areas that may contain fish, crawdads and frogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kellogg\u2019s Frosted Flakes pro angler Dave Lefebre<\/a> tells us it’s all about figuring out  patterns and using the resources that are already out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The absolute best advice I can give is to simply use your resources. Every answer to any question you have, any technique you want to learn is available online. Watch videos, read articles, and keep your eyes on the tournaments too.\u201d… “Patterns are the key more often than not because fish often move from even the perfect spots, but once you find that certain thing they are liking, you can keep covering water and fishing fresh places.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Understand how Seasonal Changes can Effect Fish Behavior<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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I fish year-round, so I know that seasonal weather patterns can have a huge effect on how I fish. For instance, during cold weather conditions bass will often become lethargic, causing you to tweak how you present the bait to the fish – often just slowing down your techniques can be enough to cause a bass to hit your bait during the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Richardson, owner of Offgridsurvival.com & CountryHookers.com shares his cold weather fishing tips<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first thing you need to know about wintertime fishing is what happens to bass in cold weather. When the water starts to cool a bass\u2019 metabolism starts to slow down, making them seem almost lethargic. For a fisherman that\u2019s, not good news; unless you know how to trigger a strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While bass eat a lot less in the winter, they will strike when presented with the right bait, in the right way. In cold conditions that usually means slowing down retrieves, cutting down on the size of your bait, and using a little bit of finesse \u2013 not to mention a whole lot of patience.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Match the Hatch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Another important thing to understand is what are the fish eating — this can very from day to day. For instance, when fly fishing, you’ll often hear people talk about matching the hatch. The saying comes from a fly-fisherman’s attempt to match what flies should be used to fool the fish into thinking its a natural insect — even things like where the insect is in it’s lifecycle are taken into count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When hitting new waters, this can be figured out by taking a quick water sample so you know exactly what trout (or target fish) are eating; you can then mimic aquatic insects in their larvae, pupae, or nymph stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passive Survival Fishing Techniques<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Trotline Fishing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a survival situation, it\u2019s important to do everything you can to increase your chances of catching fish; that means going beyond normal fishing methods and looking at passive fishing techniques and traps that can produce huge results.  A great way to catch a lot of fish, without having to worry about constantly watching your line, is to set up a something known as a Trotline. Check out our article on how to make a Trotline<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plastic Traps for Catching Bait Fish<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be successful with a Trotline, you are going to need to find a lot of bait. In an urban setting, building a fishing trap should be pretty easy — there’s usually plenty of garbage that can be used to build a makeshift bait trap. Check out my video on how to use ordinary plastic bottles to catch bait fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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