# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Fishing >  Fishing with plants

## sthrnstrong

A long time ago I remember a old mant telling me that you can grind a certain plant into a powder and use the powder to to fish with. After we ground down the plant leaves we sprinkled the powder into a small slew at the lake. Took about 15 minutes (if i remember right) and the fish in the surrounding area of about 30 feet were stunned and floated to the top. The fish were not dead but just knocked out. 

My question is does anyone here know what that plant we used might be? Unfortunately that old man is no longer with us, and without him here my education about these things is very limited.

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## crashdive123

Could it have been one of these?  http://www.primitiveways.com/fish_poison.html

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## sthrnstrong

Thank you for the info, after reading that i believe it was probaly the black walnuts. Thanks again for the info really helped I hope to try it again this weekend

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## Sourdough

I once used a .458 Winchester Magnum to stun some fish. The truth is it does not work very well.

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## sthrnstrong

> I once used a .458 Winchester Magnum to stun some fish. The truth is it does not work very well.


lol must have been some big fish

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## DOGMAN

My dad tells me a story from his childhood of shocking fish with one of those old school crank telephones. Put the phone in the water and start cranking it and it shocks fish and they come to the surface stunned.
I have also heard of "dynamiting" fish and having the same results.

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## sthrnstrong

> My dad tells me a story from his childhood of shocking fish with one of those old school crank telephones. Put the phone in the water and start cranking it and it shocks fish and they come to the surface stunned.
> I have also heard of "dynamiting" fish and having the same results.



Im going to the flea market tomorrow might see if i can find one of them phones. If so ill let you know. Im always up for something new

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## flandersander

maybe some kind of RPG...

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## klkak

I've used "Green" Black walnuts to stun fish. Put the nuts in a burlap sack and smash them up then place bag in water. I have also used a "TA-312 field phone" to shock fish. With the phone, you attach wire to the terminals and lay the bared ends in the water 10 or 15 feet apart and start cranking. The phone also works for getting earth worms and night crawlers to come to the surface. You can get the phone at Army Surplus stores.

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## Buddha443556

Croton is rather common down here, never used it for fishing though.

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## Rick

Here's a thread we did a while back on it. 

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ht=poison+fish

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## Omid

oh yea i remember reading about a bunch of types... what were they?

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## Rick

Well, you are close on the phone but don't put it in the water. You need leads from the magneto to a couple of metal rods. You can put one rod on the front of a boat and one rod in the rear if you like. Both rods should be in the water and insulated from the boat. Then, when you crank the magneto, current will pass from one rod through the water and into the second rod. Any fish between the rods or relatively close will be stunned and float to the surface. All quite illegal, however. 

As for the dynamite, Trax has metioned this several times, you will destroy far more fish and aquatic life that never comes to the surface than you will fish that float. It's a really stupid and wasteful way to fish.

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## Chicago Dan

I was "fortunate" to witness the dynamite method once 20 years ago.
A friend of mine had a uncle with a pond he made on his land.
Over the years it had been invested with unwanteds. Yeah it works to a degree with some fish and others coming to the surface but after a few days many more were floating and were now inedible. My guesstamite was that less than 10% were available day 1 and 90+% went wasted. In this case it was not a problem and he was deliberately clearing the pond but as a harvesting method it stinks.

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## DOGMAN

> Well, you are close on the phone but don't put it in the water. You need leads from the magneto to a couple of metal rods. You can put one rod on the front of a boat and one rod in the rear if you like. Both rods should be in the water and insulated from the boat. Then, when you crank the magneto, current will pass from one rod through the water and into the second rod. Any fish between the rods or relatively close will be stunned and float to the surface. All quite illegal, however. 
> 
> As for the dynamite, Trax has metioned this several times, you will destroy far more fish and aquatic life that never comes to the surface than you will fish that float. It's a really stupid and wasteful way to fish.


Thanks for clarifying....as I said- my dad just told me stories....I never have seen fish taken in either manner- only second hand info.

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## Ole WV Coot

> I once used a .458 Winchester Magnum to stun some fish. The truth is it does not work very well.


Didn't think it would work. Knew a man once that got mad, leaned over the river with a 12 ga in his right hand, stuck the barrel in and pulled the trigger. Now "Ole Lefty" don't fish much anymore. :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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