So, you have found yourself in a survival situation and your only source of food close by is a stream. You have tried to plan as much as possible but you don’t have your bug out bag with you. But do have some paracord, a few safety pins, compass and a pocket pruning saw! If so we can teach you exactly how to build a fishing rod!
Table of Contents (clickable)
Related: Buying a Fishing Rod
Making The Best Of A Bad Situation
In order to maintain your energy, it is crucial to find food and water as soon as possible. Since you are too far from camp to get back safely before dark, finding a means to eat should be one or your top priorities. With the items you have in your procession, fishing is the most promising means for a meal.
First, you need to get a small limb with some length to it. Preferably, a stick that is reasonably straight. Using your pruning saw will give you the ability to cut a decent size branch and also be used to shave the bark off. Do not get a stick that is already dried or brittle. You will be wasting your time and resources if the fishing pole is easily broken.
Pick a branch from a live tree. Try to choose one between three to four feet long and about a half inch in diameter. Any less and the branch will be too flexible to have control with a fish on the hook. Finding a good pruning saw is just as important. A folding pruning saw is easy to throw in your back pocket and go anywhere.
Assembling Your Fishing Rod
- Take your branch and skin the leaves off to make it simple to handle and trim the knots down. Once you have the leaves removed, cut about eight feet of paracord. Paracord can be unraveled easily so you need to get down to around two threads. Take three or four of your large safety pins and open them. Space the pins out along the pole ending up with the last one on the tip of the branch.
- Placing the pole in the opened pin, mold the pin around the stick until the pin is completely around the stick. Secure the safety pins. With the loop part of the safety pin on top, tie one end of the paracord around the stick in front of the pin that would be closest to you when holding the pole to fish. Run the cord threw the loops ending with the remainder of the cord hanging off the last loop.
- Open another large safety pin and attach the paracord to the end for your hook. Secure it by tying a couple of knots around the clasp part of the pin. The sharp part of the pin will be to holding your bait. Don’t forget, when you are not using your fishing pole to close the safety pin.
- Find a very small (about the size of a dime) odd shaped stone. Your fishing line needs to have some weight to keep the bait down in the water where the fish are. Wrap the stone with another thread of paracord tightly. Knot the ends of the thread to prevent it from unraveling. Attach it to the fishing line approximately three to four inches above the hook by knotting several times. Trim loose ends.
Now Your Fishing Pole Is Assembled
It takes a little time, but in a survival situation, sometimes you don’t have the luxury to have store bought brands with you. Survival is just how it sounds, you are surviving until you are able to have better means. Search for worms or other bugs, like crickets or grasshoppers for bait. You may want to cut the worms in half in order to make your bait go further.
You may want to watch a video where someone is using a pole saw to make a fishing pole. It, also, has a few other ideas on items you may want to keep with you making your experience easier. They show having everything with you in a small pill bottle you can keep in your pocket. All you need in the fishing pole.
For best results you should buy a telescopic fishing rod
Survival Fishing Poles Are Easy To Make
As with any type of job, having the right tools at the right time can be crucial. Even a life or death situation can depend on it. Finding the right pruning saw, especially one that folds up simply and you can put it in your pocket for innumerable projects or for survival. The old saying, “You get what you pay for”, can be so true, particularly when it comes to tools.
Homemade fishing poles have been around for hundreds of years and have been proven to do the job. Surviving, hobby or just playing around, making a fishing pole from scratch can prove to be very useful in having food in a survival situation.
Source: usangler.com