Catch Fish Without Using a Rod
It takes practice, but you can catch fish without expensive rods and reels. There are many ingenious methods that people have come up with over thousands of years, here are just a few of the ways to catch fish without a rod.
Contents
Steps
Hand Lining
- Get some fishing line, tie a hook (and sinker, if needed) on it.
- Bait the hook.
- Stand near the edge of the water, or on a dock or boat, and let the line dangle into the water.
- Tug on the line to set the hook when you get a bite, then pull the fish in.
Trap 1
- Cut the top off a 2-liter soft drink bottle, or other bottle with a funnel shaped top.
- Reinsert the top with the bottle spout inside the cylinder of the bottom of the bottle, and attach it with hot melt glue.
- Place some bait and small stones (to sink it) in the bottle.
- Tie a line on the bottle, long enough to reach the bottom of the water you are fishing in.
- Drop the bottle in the water, trying to "guide" it down so it lays flat on the bottom.
- Pull the "fish trap" bottle in after an hour or two, and see if any fish have swam through the opening and become trapped inside. You may want to use the same principal to create a larger trap using wood slats or wire mesh, to catch larger fish.
Trap 2
- Buy a minnow trap at a local outdoors or outfitters store. They come in different shapes and styles, so ask an employee for the best kind in your situation.
- Get the bait. Baiting this kind of trap is very simple. You can use anything from a handful of potato chips to expired food from your fridge. You just need something that will give off a scent and attract the fish to the trap.
Spear the Fish
- Buy or build a spear (or an archery bow with fishing arrows).
- Tie a line to the spear so you can retrieve it after you have thrown it.
- Find a place on the shore to hide your silhouette from passing fish.
- Throw your spear at the fish as they swim by. This requires some practice, since light bends in the water, making it necessary to adjust your aim to compensate.
Cane the Fish
- Bring along a thin cane (a thick cane will yield better results, but may not be as portable)
- When the fish comes along, cane it to paralyze it. Repeat this step repeatedly if you miss the first try.
- This requires some practice, since light bends in the water, making it necessary to adjust your aim to compensate.
- Do not use this method unless you really have no choice.
Can and Weight
- Use a can or a thick stick as a line drum (spool) to hold your line.
- Wind your line onto the drum. Wind it carefully, so you have no tangles.
- Tie a weight onto the end of your line and a hook about a foot up the line from the weight.
- Grasp the line about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} from the end and twirl it about your head (like an ancient sling), releasing it toward your target.
- Point the end of the drum, as you bring up the line, towards the target so that the line can easily peel off the end of the drum.
- Hold the line, and when a fish bites, pull the line in, winding it back around your "spool" to keep it from tangling.
Baiting
- Buy or catch worms, crickets, flies, or other insects.
- Fish like some types of veggies (corn, celery, carrots, lettuce, peas)
- Make do with a leaf, or some plant you find, cat tails work well.
- Shrimp attract large fish
- Small fish that you either don't need or die can be used for bait as well.
Texas Approach
- Get a small clean water bottle.
- Fill it halfway full with bait of choice.
- Add a hook inside and pierce through at the top of the water bottle to hold the bottle too.
- Tie fishing line to the hooks.
- When you feel a tug, yank the line and reel in the fish, bottle and all.
Bear Grylls' Net-in-the-Gap
This is a method used by Bear Grylls during a no-equipment stay in the Scottish Highlands.
- Find a narrow area between two lakes or water bodies, or a narrowing in a stream, etc.
- Find large rocks and create a small causeway across the narrow area. Leave a small opening in the middle of this causeway. This is now the only way through the causeway, via the little gap.
- Place a net, plastic bag or other catching item on one side of the gap. Anchor it down with a rock on the inside. Keep it open with a stick or other object (a fish needs to be able to swim into it). This sets the trap for the fish to swim in. Now all you need to do is encourage fish to swim in this direction.
- Throw rocks or beat the water down from the trap. If it's a lake, throw rocks as far into the center as you can. If it's a stream, beat the water with a branch or throw rocks. This is to encourage the fish to swim away from the commotion, down toward your trap.
- Stop making a commotion. Go and check the trap. If there is a fish in it, quickly and carefully retrieve it and place on shore. If not, repeat the commotion until fish swim into the trap.
Bright Colors
- Find anything that is brightly colored. This could be any object, from plastic bits and bobs, to nail-polished or painted sticks.
- If you want your fish alive, tie the bright object to a long branch. If dead, tie a hook to the branch and stick the object on the hook.
- Get an empty thread or wire spool. Press the spool against the branch.
- Stretch two rubber bands over the branch's tip until they hold the spool's top and bottom tightly to the branch.
- Re-tie the free end of string to spool.
- Dangle in water and swish gently.
Tips
- Baiting the fish with some feed (chicken or rabbit feed, or cornmeal) sometimes helps by attracting the fish.
- Diddy poles are your best bet for catfish because they are active at night. Leave your diddy poles out all night. However this is illegal in lakes.
Warnings
- Never wrap a fishing line or cord around your hands, wrists, or other body parts. A very large fish can cause a serious cut with a sudden jerk.
- Do not lean or stand over water if you are not a capable swimmer.
- Even a capable swimmer can suffer hypothermia if exposed to cold water.
- Wear a life jacket when trying these methods.
