View Full Version : fishing with your hiking pole
benben4u
10-17-2010, 12:29
I plan on bringing a fishing line with a small hook to use on the end of my hiking pole during my 2011 thru hike. has anybody done this before? seems like a great way to keep occupied and catch some dinner, plus its weighs nothing, Its gonna be a must on my pack list, at least for me.:-?:-?:-?
HiKen2011
10-17-2010, 12:37
Good idea!!!!!!!!!!!!
M1 Thumb
10-17-2010, 14:05
Don't forget to carry the appropriate fishing license and know what is allowed to be fished. Fish and Game authorities tend to pop up when you least expect it and that kind of visit will greatly increase your $/mile for your hike.
I plan on bringing a fishing line with a small hook to use on the end of my hiking pole during my 2011 thru hike. has anybody done this before? seems like a great way to keep occupied and catch some dinner, plus its weighs nothing, Its gonna be a must on my pack list, at least for me.:-?:-?:-?
I would just cut a small branch or sapling for use as a pole. Something with a bit of spring to it works better in my experience than a stiff hiking staff. I fished a bit with a sapling, a hook and a line, during my long walk in 1993. I never saw a warden anywhere along the trail.
But I avoided using my gear near road crossings. Wardens tend not to be walkers. Nor do most fisher people, which works fine for us thru hikers. I spent only a couple hours fishing over the six months. It seemed foolish to invest several hundred dollars for licenses good for 14 states.
I have a Maine fishing license good for my lifetime. I gambled in the other states, though some probably had reciprical deals with Maine, though I never checked.
Very few thru hikers find they have much time for fishing. I tried because I was curious about what I might find. I found I would have gone pretty hungry if I had relied on fishing as a significant item in my hiking diet.
Weary
nighthiker
10-17-2010, 15:19
what ever happened to living off the land, mountian men style..now they are requiring salt water fishing lic. on the east coast! use to be free....with as many fish that are killed by lic. fisherman due to not knowing how to release a fish...is it so vain to break or take a legal or illegal fish or two?
nighthiker
10-17-2010, 15:21
i too am grappling with this question...tough call! then again, if everyone fished during their thru...how would it effect the fish stocks? thats my spin & cast on this one
Perfectly legal in Pennsylvania if you time your hike to coincide with Fish for Free Days (http://www.fishandboat.com/promo/fff/fffindex.htm). A fishing license is also not required at private fishing preserves such as Limestone Springs Fishing Preserve (http://www.limestonespringspreserve.com/).
Good luck, I have never seen many fish nor had the time or energy to go fishing.
nighthiker
10-17-2010, 15:46
a few hooks, few slit shots, 120 yards of line on an old spoil not a lot of weight for what might be an easy catch. seem catch em...fish for free days
halftime
10-17-2010, 16:21
Go for it...but know the rules and be prepared to pay any consequence if you choose not to follow them.
topshelf
10-17-2010, 16:32
how bout inventing a backcountry fishing pole that doubles as a hiking pole.
When youre hiking its the length of a hiking pole, and then when you get to the hole you take a protective covering off the bottom and pull out the rod to full length. The extendable part would give you your rod bend for fighting fish.
but I agree with nighthiker even if a few of us fished and kept our fish for dinner on a small mountain stream the fish population would be ruined quickly.
so fish but only fish using catch and release practices
how bout inventing a backcountry fishing pole that doubles as a hiking pole.
When youre hiking its the length of a hiking pole, and then when you get to the hole you take a protective covering off the bottom and pull out the rod to full length. The extendable part would give you your rod bend for fighting fish.
but I agree with nighthiker even if a few of us fished and kept our fish for dinner on a small mountain stream the fish population would be ruined quickly.
so fish but only fish using catch and release practices
I only fish for food. The idea of "catch and release" strikes me as simple torture of another creature. I know some see catch and release as a great sport, But I'll just leave the creatures in the water.
I like to eat fish, both fresh and salt water varieties. Even shellfish. But the idea of putting a hook through a creatures lip, or eye as sometimes happens, just to see if I can do it, I find obnoxious.
Anyway, my rule is simple. If I catch it, or shoot it, I eat it.
I'm also quite sure that thru hikers will never have a major impact on any fisheries, regardless of how they choose to fish.
I suspect that only in Maine is there a chance of encountering a wild fish, anyway. Increasingly most fish one is likely to catch along the trail was raised in a government hatchery and deposited in the stream a few days before the hiker arrives. Sad, but true.
Weary
Mrs Baggins
10-17-2010, 18:43
[QUOTE=weary;1060488]I only fish for food. The idea of "catch and release" strikes me as simple torture of another creature. I know some see catch and release as a great sport, But I'll just leave the creatures in the water.
I like to eat fish, both fresh and salt water varieties. Even shellfish. But the idea of putting a hook through a creatures lip, or eye as sometimes happens, just to see if I can do it, I find obnoxious.
Anyway, my rule is simple. If I catch it, or shoot it, I eat it.
I'm also quite sure that thru hikers will never have a major impact on any fisheries, regardless of how they choose to fish.
I suspect that only in Maine is there a chance of encountering a wild fish, anyway. Increasingly most fish one is likely to catch along the trail was raised in a government hatchery and deposited in the stream a few days before the hiker arrives. Sad, but true.
Weary[/QUOTE
I absolutely agree! I will not fish for it if I can't eat it! What's the point? To torture the fish? I paid for the tackle and the bait, I sat there for the hours it may take, and if he bites he's mine for dinner - period. How about "deer hunting" with paint balls??? "oh see? I got it!" No you just caused it a lot of pain with the stupid paint ball and you "got" nothing.
Boothill
10-17-2010, 20:11
as someone who has guided fly fishermen, i would suggest getting yourself a spool of fluorocarbon tippet to add to the end of your fishing line, having a crystal clear tippet material can make all the difference in the world, especially if your going to be fishing anywhere there is decent amount of pressure on the fish and you will probably need any advantage you can get when your using your trekking pole as the rod
i would suggest something in the 5x or 6x range, you can usually get fluorocarbon tippet for about $10 for 25-30 yards
boot
topshelf
10-17-2010, 20:36
you can cheat and buy fluorocarbon fishing line and it works much the same with no difference ive ever noticed fly fishing, unless you're using a small dry fly cause fluoro sinks. 4, 6 , or 8 pound line will do. you'll get 200 yeards instead of 30.
Bait fishing causes a lot of damage and harm to the fish which is why I dont do it. But fly fishing with barbless hooks and properly handling the fish causes very minimal harm to the fish if any.
Not much of a fisherman myself, but i did hike with a few. They didn't find too many places worth trying along the trail, although we did have mild success with your mentioned trekking pole fishing method. Obviously don't rely on fish as a food source while on the trail, but if you take a zero in the woods, its highly relaxing.
REBELYELL
10-17-2010, 21:31
when the weather is good for fishing you should be hiking. it is really hard to sacrafice the few good days sitting on your butt with a piece of string on your leke.I'd concentrate on your knees and feet not fish.just saying
Johnny Thunder
10-17-2010, 21:54
not a whole lot of fish on top of mountains these days.
Friend of mine took hooks and line in a tic-tac box. To catch the fish, just pulled the line in with his bare hands. Another friend of mine told a story of buying a bunch of fishing gear and going down to the wharf to fish off the pier. Didn't catch anything but some little kid with line wrapped around a tin can was hauling them in just wrapping the line around the can to reel them in.
Old Hiker
10-18-2010, 13:32
.............................
Anyway, my rule is simple. If I catch it, or shoot it, I eat it.
.........................
Weary
Does that include the intruder coming through the bedroom window at 0200 :eek: ?!?
Does that include the intruder coming through the bedroom window at 0200 :eek: ?!?
I don't sleep with a gun handy. Nor have I ever had an intruder coming through my house, right alone a second floor bedroom windows. My weapons are all stashed away in a closet like most sensible people.
skinewmexico
10-18-2010, 14:06
how bout inventing a backcountry fishing pole that doubles as a hiking pole.
Doesn't TiGoat make something like that?
And when we were fishing in Mexico, we just wrapped the line around an old beer bottle.
pointerDixie214
10-18-2010, 16:44
As an avid fisherman, both for sport and for food, I will absolutely be taking a spool and a hook.
After a long few days hikes with nothing fantastic to eat, I can't even fathom how great fresh fish would be. But I am a stickler for the rules, so I will be obtaining licenses for any legs of the trip I think I will fish.
pointerDixie214
10-18-2010, 16:45
Holy geez I didn't realize that's my first post on here as a lurker for over a year!
I guess it takes two things I am passionate about (fishing and hiking) to get me to come out of the cracks!
Omega Man
10-18-2010, 20:56
Has anybody documented the streams and lakes along the trail that hold keeper sized fish?
Johnny Thunder
10-18-2010, 21:51
Has anybody documented the streams and lakes along the trail that hold keeper sized fish?
there aren't many. i imagine that the list from Georgia to New Jersey would be less than 30 bodies of water. From there on it's tough to say since most glacial ponds are too small for anything worth eating.
4eyedbuzzard
10-19-2010, 00:07
Has anybody documented the streams and lakes along the trail that hold keeper sized fish?
there aren't many. i imagine that the list from Georgia to New Jersey would be less than 30 bodies of water. From there on it's tough to say since most glacial ponds are too small for anything worth eating.
there aren't many. i imagine that the list from Georgia to New Jersey would be less than 30 bodies of water. From there on it's tough to say since most glacial ponds are too small for anything worth eating.
Hmmm... I've always found trout, perch, pan-fish, etc. worth eating. The fish in the small alpine ponds are usually small (<12"). But if it's got gills and fins, I'll fry it and eat it. If it's tasty - it's a keeper!
I know I've missed a bunch of streams and ponds - especially some good small trout streams in VT and NH, but there's a lot of spots to fish along the AT (or within 1/2 mile or less) up here in New England. Some are stocked, some aren't, and I haven't fished them all, but I've walked past them and where there's water there's usually fish.
VT - Sucker Pond, Little Pond, Stratton Pond, Griffith Lake, Little Rock Pond, Spring Lake, Kent Pond, Lakota Lake, Connecticut River
NH - Connecticut River, Upper and Lower Baker Ponds, Wachipauka Pond, Gordon Pond, Lonesome Lake, Pemigewasset River, Profile Lake, Echo Lake, Saco River, Androscoggin River, Dream Lake, Gentian Pond, Speck Pond
ME - If you can't find a place to fish in ME, I just don't know what to say. Especially in the 100 mile - you could spend an entire summer there, stay within a mile or two of the AT, and never fish the same body of water twice.
Pedaling Fool
10-23-2010, 10:21
Geez, I can't believe I've seen the term Fisherman used in varios posts here...what are you'll a bunch of freakin' neanderthals.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3606900
Fishers or Fisherman?
And speaking of political correctness, Jerry Goldman writes:
Christopher Joyce reported on fishing, the enviro-friendly way, on July 15. But what reason could he have for substituting the noun "fisher" for the preferred (OED 2d edition) "fisherman?" (According to the OED, "fisher" is archaic and superseded in ordinary use by "fisherman.") Would he give offense to the tiny proportion of women in the commercial fishing business? Would he offend NPR's strident and politically correct movement of aging feminists? He might have avoided the problem by referring to the fishing industry or to fishermen and fisherwomen, though I'm sure the latter choice would have made him more a mockery. But frankly "fisher" really has me steaming. Please don't dismiss me as a crabby listener. I much enjoy and support NPR's independent voice, but when that voice bends to the currents of the politically correct, I simply snap at the bait.
There are in fact legitimate reasons for using the admittedly odd-sounding "fisher" rather than "fisherman."
Alison Richards, an editor on the NPR science desk, says the scientific and governmental bodies that oversee the fishing industry increasingly use the term "fisher." Joyce was paraphrasing someone from the Mid-Atlantic Council, an industry body, when he reported the following:
The U.S. government also reports that many species in U.S. waters are on the rebound. … Some commercial fishers are suspicious that ecosystem management will mean locking up the fish.
Also, Goldman may be mistaken when he says there are few women in the fishing industry. A large percentage of the industry's employees are female, not on the boats but in the on-shore processing and canning parts of the business. Perhaps "fisher" is a better generic word than "fisherman." It's worth trying... just for the halibut (groan).
Is it time to change "ombudsman" to "ombuds" as well?
And I don't want to see any one use the term Gyp in place of Cheat, but you'll have to open the link if the reason for that escapes you.
:)
Trailbender
10-23-2010, 14:20
I don't sleep with a gun handy. Nor have I ever had an intruder coming through my house, right alone a second floor bedroom windows. My weapons are all stashed away in a closet like most senible people.
If you are a sensible person that owns weapons, something that sits beside you that is handy and loaded is a good idea. I keep my carry pistol with an extended mag beside me while I sleep at home, it is a wise precaution. Criminals nowadays are getting slaps on the wrist by liberals who feel sorry for them. Perhaps getting shot by a homeowner might make them reconsider, if they live.
I keep a weapon handy, as during a break in, you won't have any spare time to walk to a closet and load a weapon.
Doesn't TiGoat make something like that?
And when we were fishing in Mexico, we just wrapped the line around an old beer bottle.
Yes they did. TiGoat recently re-added that option for their trek poles after it disappeared for 2years.
http://www.titaniumgoat.com/tenkara.html
If you are a sensible person that owns weapons, something that sits beside you that is handy and loaded is a good idea. I keep my carry pistol with an extended mag beside me while I sleep at home, it is a wise precaution. Criminals nowadays are getting slaps on the wrist by liberals who feel sorry for them. Perhaps getting shot by a homeowner might make them reconsider, if they live.
I keep a weapon handy, as during a break in, you won't have any spare time to walk to a closet and load a weapon.
I'm too busy worrying about other important things than to bother with break ins. I figure that since no one has broken into my house during the past 81 years, then no one is likely to do so in the few decades I may have left.
Not that I haven't been ripped off from time to time. A banker once took me for 300 bucks. An insurance company once even refused to pay for repairing my car after an elderly farmer ran into it. The company seemed to think my car had no value, even though it had cost me $150 and I had only driven it five years. The car certainly was valuable. I was already half way through a thousand mile drive back to school at the time. These things seem to just keep happening. Why just last week I bought a dollars worth of bananas and when I got home, I discovered half of them were rotten.
However, thanks anyway for your advice about break ins. Do you have any ideas for coping with these more bothersome rip offs? I don't think a weapon would have helped me cope with the banker, the insurance guy, or even supermarket clerk. Do you?
Weary
Use a Coleman Fishpen:
http://cdn.propertyroom.com/ImageServer/Sellers/Seller600045/Images/OrigImgs/600045_1862010112430146.jpg
http://www.blujay.com/1/246/2408693_s1_i1.jpg
Wise Old Owl
10-23-2010, 20:04
Has anybody documented the streams and lakes along the trail that hold keeper sized fish?
Because the AT is ridge running the streams on the mountain will contain edible prawns and frogs, the fish are sardine sized. As you come down to the trail towns and gaps there are stocked streams that can be fished. Large keepers need lots of water, bugs, and other food. Documentation? I thought a gps points for water in times of drought would be more important... guess not.
mkmangold
10-23-2010, 23:17
Use a Coleman Fishpen:
I have that. The reel broke before I even got to use it fishing. I like the rod though: it’s size and collapsibility. I tie the line onto the last eyelet and eliminate the weight (although small) and unreliability of the reel.
Great White
10-28-2010, 23:43
Jack Spirko has some excellent videos on fishing in a survival situation. It all starts with a knife, some flower buds, snelled hooks, small spool of fishing line and some para cord. Perfect for back packing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEh1g2zQ8kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYefLL13Eic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTKOQGR0lFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJSuyIp7iLg
bronconite
10-29-2010, 07:41
Because the AT is ridge running the streams on the mountain will contain edible prawns and frogs, the fish are sardine sized. As you come down to the trail towns and gaps there are stocked streams that can be fished. Large keepers need lots of water, bugs, and other food. Documentation? I thought a gps points for water in times of drought would be more important... guess not.
What are these edible prawns you speak of?
Being a fisherman when I thru hiked I had the vision of comming across streams loaded with fish, catching a few and cooking them up for dinner.
I brought along on my hike some hooks, sinkers and 25" of mono line.
I discovered that most of the days I was just to beat at the end of a long day to do anything but eat and sleep.
Saw some nice trout in a stream in Virginia and fished for a while using small crawfish for bate. Cought nothing after fishing for 1/2 hour. Fished even though this stream was along a road and posted that two different licenses were required.
What made carrying gear worth it was setting up my tent on the shore of Pleasent Pond in Maine, catching three brookies 7-8" long and cooking them for dinner. That was one of my fond memories of my hike.
If you like to fish, bring some hooks. You won't regret it.:)
....What made carrying gear worth it was setting up my tent on the shore of Pleasent Pond in Maine, catching three brookies 7-8" long and cooking them for dinner. That was one of my fond memories of my hike.
If you like to fish, bring some hooks. You won't regret it.:)
Every little stream one crosses in Maine tends to have legal-sized trout in them. Yep. There are small. But 3 or 4 makes for a special supper or breakfast.
Lakes and ponds have bigger fish, but they are more difficult to fish. You can't do much casting with a line on a leki or a tree sapling (my preference) but these instruments are perfectly fine for a stream one can walk across.
Most Maine streams have totally wild brook trout. Though some streams and many ponds are stocked -- including Horns Pond, located just a few yards from the shelters on Bigelow.
Weary