Survival Guide: How to Make a Fishtrap

Generally, the need for food is not of immediate concern in a survival situation, should you find yourself stranded. It does become increasingly important as you resolve your more immediate problems.

That means you have some time to make preparations. You can scout out the potential food resources. You can prepare weapons such as a rabbit stick or bola or spear. You can examine the wild plants available. You can fish. With luck, depending on your circumstances, you can find sufficient resources to avoid having to dine on Jiminy Cricket.

Energy Expenditure

There is one equation you need to keep uppermost in your mind when it comes to gathering food. To survive, you must expend the least amount of energy to produce the maximum amount of food.

Fishtraps 101

Trapping is an efficient food production option which does require upfront effort in making your trap, but then requires minimal further effort through endless reuse. Fish is an excellent source of protein, so finding a way to trap fish is going to be very useful.

The concept of the fishtrap is simplicity itself. Create an enclosure with a narrow opening at the upstream end and bait it to draw in the fish. Once inside, fish find it difficult getting out. You may catch something else that will produce food. Les Stroud caught a turtle in a small fish trap in a Georgia pond on one of his Discovery Channel Survivorman episodes.

Also called weirs, fishtraps have been around since Fred Flintstone. There is, in fact, a website with an aerial shot of the remains of a fishtrap English fishermen constructed around the time of the Norman Conquest 1,000 years ago. Check it out at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1162395/Google-Earth-reveals-fish-trap-rocks-1-000-years-ago-British-coast.html?ITO=1490

Making the Trap

Find a running freshwater stream, keeping in mind that all freshwater fish are edible. Create a box with stakes you make from tree branches. They don't have to be too fancy. Just create a fairly impenetrable wall, with the open end upstream. If you have the time, you can weave long leaves through the stakes to create a more solid barrier.

Use more stakes to create a cone that leads fish who enter the area towards the opening to the box.

You can bait the box with a piece of meat or anything else edible you have available. If you'veeated fish, you can use a fish head, for example. Check your fishtrap once or twice a day to see if you've gotten anything.

As the photo I've linked to indicates, you can also use the fishtrap in ocean waters, at the low tide line, for example. Keep in mind that there are some saltwater fish you should not eat. It would be advisable to familiarize yourself with those.