How to catch fish on a remote island

There’s a youtube channel called Survival Skills Primitive and in september 2019 they dropped a video about catching lobsters with primitive boats and traps.

In just a few months it racked up 3.1 million views and 16k likes which got us thinking.

Firstly, that a lot of people must be interested in catching lobsters.

But also about the classic “if you were stranded on a desert island” question and what you could do to catch fish in order to survive?

What are your options when you have no fishing equipment?

Well today we want to take a deep dive (pun intended) into how you can catch fish if you were stranded on a remote island.

Grab some shells:

Not sure if you have noticed but fish are fast creatures.

You can easily startle them and end up losing your lunch before you even had a chance to try anything.

In a survival situation every calorie counts just like fuel for a road trip as you don’t know where your next meal is coming from.

Wasting valuable energy from chasing one fish wouldn’t be the best idea.

Why not go for something that cannot run away from you and can be harvested in large numbers, such as mussels or oysters?

They can be found in reef areas or during a low tide.

They tend to be in peak condition around the winter months but can still be caught anytime of year. You will want to be wary of already broken shells or dead shellfish as eating them can make you sick.

In non life or death survival situations you should also be aware of the licensing regulations around harvesting certain shellfish like oysters.

Noodling fish:

What on earth is noodling right? Yeah we thought the same during our research.

This is when you simply grab a fish with your bare hands out of it’s nest or den and pull it to shore.

This technique is traditionally used to catch catfish and from the sheer size of some of them, it could provide you with days of food in a survival situation.

This strategy also does not require any equipment however this method will not be easy and could require knowledge such as knowing the fish nesting habits.

You could also end up getting a horrible bite so you would need to take great care.

There are lots of videos online showing people who go diving when noodling, if you have the time to check it out.

Spear fishing:

When I think spear fishing, this scene from the movie cast away comes to mind.

It’s that awesome moment when the audience realises that tom hanks has not only survived a plane crash on a remote island but was able to live there for years. (probably spearfishing that whole time)

This is one of the more ancient techniques used to catch fish. It’s said that in France at the Cosquer Cave, artwork from thousands of years ago show this method in action.

Modern equivalents would be diving with a spear gun but it is unlikely you will have this option in a survival situation.

This does use equipment in the form of a sharpened stick but that is something that should be easily obtainable.

This method also probably won’t be easy, you will need lots of practice and sharp reaction times to be able to spear a fish.

Setting a trap:

If it works in the woods for catching game it should work underwater right?

Correct, fish traps is also another great way of catching many fish at once with little effort.

This is usually done nowadays using special shaped weirs made from mesh material such as the Zite fishing foldable (affiliate link). This will allow many fish to swim in different entry points but leaves them unable to get back out.

In a survival situation you most likely won’t be able to just order one of these on amazon but a stick alternative can easily be put together.

Although once your trap is set, you could be waiting a long time for something to get caught so bare this in mind if you find yourself without food for awhile you will need a faster method to survive.

Primitive fishing nets:

You could also say this is a type of trap that can catch many fish at once however unlike an underwater trap this would require more immediate action once something is caught.

On a remote island you probably won’t have a fishing net to your disposal or a speed boat to go trawling in.

Well check out this incredible video showing a fishing net made entirely of bamboo!

It just goes to show you the tenacity of humankind, we will always find a way to survive with what little we have at our disposal which is one of the core values of this blog.

Conclusion:

We hope you found this information helpful and gave you some knowledge on what your options are should you be in this daunting situation.

You could be stranded on an island for years or not discovered at all so these tips could be certainly worth gold in keeping you alive.

Any tips you feel we should have mentioned? Share it with us in the comments below.

Thank you for taking the time to read and please check out our other content.

TIl next time survivors!