# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Fishing >  Need examplels of makeshift fishing lures anf flies!

## pgvoutdoors

Hello everyone,

I have volunteered to instruct survival classes for the NWTF's Women in the Outdoors (WITO) program for a number of years.  I will be at the Ohio State Chapter's event being held at Camp Muskingum located in Carrollton, Ohio from the 9th to the 11th of September 2016.  http://www.ohionwtf.org/outreach-pro...-the-outdoors/ .  One of the classes I will be instructing is Survival Fishing; a class that focuses on improvised fishing equipment and methods.

Here's what I need -

I will be putting together a video displaying fishing lures and flies made from items found in the wild to include trash.  This will be displayed on a TV during the class to give the students some examples of what is possible with a little thought.  If your interested in helping all you need to do is create some examples and post a picture and a short explanation on this thread.  I will copy the picture and explanation to be included in the video.  I will use as many as I can so if you wish to do more than one feel free to do so.

I will credit the forum for its assistance and each contributor by your member name.  Thank you in advance for assisting the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Women in the Outdoors program, and me.  I'll be looking forward to seeing all of your ideas.

Thank You,
PHIL

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## 1stimestar

I caught a salmon using a piece of hot pink yarn.  Does that help at all?

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## pgvoutdoors

Sure, that could be pulled off a sweater you're wearing, now all you need is to fabricate a hook.

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## kyratshooter

Back in 1979 I had a contest in one of my "life skills" classes for a group high school kids at the military academy I taught at that was right down this line.  

One of the kids in the class had won a fishing tournament using a top-water plug he had made himself from a broomstick.  They made lures from all manner of trash and some were very good.  Since most were living in a dorm and had no access to a sporting goods store some of them were extremely trash oriented!

They used soda can pull tops, Pringle can pull tops, tin foil and all manner of plastic pen tubes and other plastic bits.

My brothers and I often made hook, line and sinker rigs from scratch, finding our "gear" along the banks of the river.

You also might remember that fish hooks with eyelets in the shank are sort of new in our world.  Fish hooks in the old days had a straight shank and were tied to the line without a loop.  Commercial hooks are still made with no eye.  

Learning to tie the hook to the line without the benefit of an eyelet will make hook fabrication much more simple.  You can make a hook from any bit of wire you find including bobby pins, paper clips, fence wire, round metal key ring.  All you need is a lump or twist on the shank.

And if you are dealing with a woman's group never forget the contents of their purses.  Things like dental floss, spiral note pads, ink pens, fingernail clippers and such.  A well equipped mom is a survival kit all by herself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3Im8x3i2Nk

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## pgvoutdoors

Nice Point Kyratshooter, straight shank (eyeless) hook designs are much easier to use when making lures and flies.  Trying to create a standard modern hook with an eye can get tricky. To tie an eyeless hook to the line would require the proper knot knowledge to attach the hook securly.  Very Good Point, Thanks!

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## hunter63

That was the same vid as I had watched here a awhile back.....was a good reminder or the way my MF and uncle tied some of theirs.

Somewhere I have a silver tea spoon made into a lure from back then....have no clue where, have to look.....
Does look like this one off the web.....
http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/t...z10onzraw.aspx

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## pgvoutdoors

Ah, the original spoon spoon, it's hard to believe what that simple idea has turned into.

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## hunter63

> Ah, the original spoon spoon, it's hard to believe what that simple idea has turned into.


You can say that again......LOL....There must be 500 hundred sizes, colors, shapes.....

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## kyratshooter

At one time the Hudson Bay Company had a standard survival kit they issued to company employees traveling in the bush and to the bush pilots in their employ.

That kit contained a stainless steel spoon with a hole drilled into the edge of the spoon bowl, another at the end of the handle.  It was specifically for using the spoon as a spinner lure.

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## pgvoutdoors

BUMP!  Please keep tis request in mind, hope to see some examples.  Thanks!

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## hunter63

Years ago my Favorite Uncle (the one my mother didn't like as he smoked cigars, drank whisky and would spend days fishing and hunting...leading MF astray....)
Gave me a fly tying kit.....or what was left of one....Was a Herter's kit as I recall.

Made many flies and didn't really know what I was doing, as the were not modeled after any specific proven design.....rather they were creations of what ever was left in the kit.

They did catch fish, as I believe that a hungry or bored fish with strike most anything form time to time.

That said, maybe want to check out this group of pic's...

https://www.google.com/search?q=home...HYG2BD0QsAQIGw

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## crashdive123

> BUMP!  Please keep tis request in mind, hope to see some examples.  Thanks!


I'll make up some this weekend.

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## pgvoutdoors

hunter - some of those could be made in the field under survival circumstances.  I really need members of the forum to put some personal examples together and post some pictures.  This will help me and give the forum some rep at the same time.  I know we have many "Crafty" members out there...

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## kyratshooter

You might also consider a secondary avenue, which is "bait".  

The natural bait in most areas goes well past the humble worm on hook, and natural baits have always done better for me when fishing for pan fish from the shore.  

There are grubs and larva of local nature as well as grasshoppers, crickets, minnows and small frogs, slugs and snails from the edge of the water.  They are the natural foods of the area and require no skill or craftiness to put in use.

There are also the last remnants of the half finished bologna sandwich you do not dare eat, the stray Fretios in the bottom of the bag and bread balls.  I have caught catfish on each of those items.  The bread balls are especially good if dusted with garlic powder before rolling.  

Even the lures we are considering generally work better in combination with a natural bait, such as a small frog on a spinner or, perish the thought, a small strip of raw bacon (works best if cut to the shape of a frog).

It is one of the reasons most of the fishing tournaments specifically prohibit natural baits!  The lures are working at a disadvantage from the time thy hit the water.  

I do not have "lures" in my tackle box, just a few 1/8 poppers for jigging crappie in the brush with a minnow or cricket attached to the popper.  Almost all of my fishing is with natural bait to acquire fish for the skillet.

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## hunter63

I have really used my home made spinners, minnows, and had tied flies since a was a very young man....and have given all that gear away.....so can't really help you out.
Most of that stuff isn't "field gathered anyway, if that where you are going with this.

I'm mostly a bank and boat, live bait drown-er these days.
Flip rocks or rotten logs over for worms, mesh ball cap or face net (camo or bug) for minnows...

Any kit should have hooks that can be used with found live bait....and field gathered material for hooks should be included.

https://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-...-fishing-hook/

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## kyratshooter

Most people would not be impressed with my tackle box.  

A couple of dozen hooks in three or four sizes, some split shot, a couple of rolls of line and a pair of needle nose pliers.

I am not into a lot of fishing gear, just a lot of fishing.  Nice to have the lake 1/4 mile down the road.

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## pgvoutdoors

I do agree that live bait is more than likely the best method on average.  In this case the hook is the focus and will require some ingenuity to make.  Everything will start with a hook or some method of snaring, be it bait or lure fishing.  Hook examples would be great for the class.

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## kyratshooter

What tools are you assuming these ladies have on hand?

Are they stuck in the woods on a picnic gone bad? 

Are they on a canoe trip after watching their overturned boat float downstream?

Did they run out of the house with only their ID and a credit card?

Do they have one of those little purse sized tool kits, a cheap multi-tool, or only a pair of fingernail clippers?

You know this crew, we do not work well without boundaries.

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## crashdive123

Here's a few I threw together this afternoon.

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I'll be out of town for a few days on business.  If time allows, I'll find a lake and give them a try.

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## kyratshooter

I got down to business this afternoon and put some hooks into form.

I may have overthought things some but I decided to use only the tools and items I might find in the average woman's handbag, or perhaps the glove box of the car, or even the floor of the car!

Here is the picture of the gear I used;  emery board (was the best point sharpener I had).  scissors and dental floss from the FAK, there was also gauze and all the other stuff one might find in an FAK.  SAK Classic which is a common keychain knife for a woman's key ring.  A note pad which furnished wire enough to form a dozen hooks.  Regular fingernail clippers which gave a trimmer and also a file for sharpening the hooks.  A small multi-tool such as might be found in some women's handbags simply because their husbands keep putting them in there.  Since this multi-tool had almost all the other tools present (file, scissors, knife and pliers) it was really the only thing I needed and what I used to do most of the work.  You could also scarf wire from the key ring, or the ring on the SAK, or even from a piece of old fence along the road side if necessary.

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Here is a close up of the hooks I made and one sorry lure I attempted.  All are made from either the wire from the note pad or from a paper clip, since I assumed that most any handbag might contain one or the other of these items.  The double hook was the easiest to form and it looks like it might actually catch a fish if baited presented to some starving piscine subject.  Even though I formed an eye for most of the hooks I still used the knot needed for an eyeless hook because the eyes were not perfect and I wanted some added security.

The gore hook is make from simple wire twisted into a loop and given a sideways twist for security.  I have never used one of those but they have been in business for 10,000 years so I figure if you know how to bait and present them properly they would work, other wise we would not find so many of them made from bone and horn in archeological sites. 

The lure is made from a paperclip hook with a scrap of fabric found in the glove box.  The spinner is made from the bottom of an empty Pringles can, which also might be in the floor any vehicle used to transport children.  

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You are probably not going to catch a big fish on them but they should be plenty strong enough for the average five ounce pan fish.  Only problem I see is the lack of a barbed hook, which means you are not going to be fooling around with a fighting fish.  When they grab the bait sling them onto the shore before they can spit the hook out!

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## Lamewolf

I've caught fish numerous times with  nothing more than aluminum foil wrapped around a hook and shaped as much as possible like a minnow.  Used pieces of shoe laces as a makeshift worm type lure.  And for catfish, just a piece of rag on the hook dipped in the goo of road kill or other animal blood.

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## Rick

If road kill is down to the "goo" stage it is NOT going fishing with me. I might take fresh roadkill or even a couple of days old. They don't talk much or drink much of your beer. But not stuff that's down to "goo". A man has to draw the line somewhere.

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## pgvoutdoors

Kyratshooter - Very nice job! Thanks, this will help.  When working with barbless hooks I've found that the circle hook works well.  I've also heat treated the soft wire and quenched it in water to make it a bit harder to bend.

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## Wildthang

I just crumble up a box of EX LAX and throw it in the water! Best fish bait in the world!















































When the crawl out on the bank to poop, I hit them in the head with a big stick!

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