Primitive Fishing – Catching Fish

So now we’re down to where the rubber meets the road. Will my primitive fishing gear actually catch fish? Well it’s time to see. First thing I had to do was take my worm can and throw a few grubs from my garden into it. Pictured below: Closed worm can, and open worm can with grubs inside.


I’ve had this can for so long I don’t even remember what it held originally. I think it might have been saddle soap. I set up my pole with a home-made hook, a split shot weight, and a cork float. I set my cork so that I would be fishing about two feet below the surface. With bait and pole in hand I made my way down to the pond. I threaded a grub onto my home-made hook and tossed my line out into the pond. Pictured below: Grub on hook and line out in water.


I swear, as God is my witness, that on the first cast; I caught a fish. It wasn’t a mount on the wall kind of fish; just a little pan fish about six inches long.

In the next twenty minutes I caught four more. None of them were huge, but combined they would make a good meal for someone that was trying to live off the land. So, that’s how it’s done. Nothing fancy, just a little old time ingenuity, and the next thing you know; it’s fried fish for dinner.