New series of Survivor Man. Les Stroud. Fly Fishing.

Hi all.

Over here in the UK the new series of survivor man is being show on Discovery.

Have any of you seen the the new show where Les is in the Colrado Rockies with two horses.

Now I have great respect for Les Stroud but in this show I found myself questioning his choice of survival fishing.

As per normal he eats alot of plant life but gets hungry for meat, he then proceeds to fly fish for brook trout, again no problem there. He then admits he has never tried fly fishing and given the kit that he has to carry I thought to myself that it may have been easier to hobo fish with a piece of wood, line and a spinner.
Click here for hobo fishing vid

I also thought that hobo fishing may have been less stressful and he would have not hooked the camera. I know both have their pro's and cons but what do you guys think ??? I personally would have gone with the hobo fishing side of things for small brook trout, you also have every chance of foul hooking a fish too.

[edit on 15-1-2009 by colec156]

I love the show. Sadly this will be his last year. Here is an article explaining. As far as how he was fishing on the show, he had the rod and I guess he figured he would give it a shot considering he had the equipment on hand. It would be a waste to carry it and not use it.

[edit on 15-1-2009 by Digital_Reality]

Agree that I guess it was because he had the rod and figured he'd give it a shot.

But, like the OP I thought he'd have likely had more luck with other methods of getting the fish.

Hmmm.. this just dawned on me. He had that portable electric fence and battery for it. I've seen wildlife crews collecting fish for study by shocking them. Wonder if he could have rigged up something with that to get some fish?

I only fish with live bait and have easily caught over 100 fish with my 20 dollar rod and reel.The reel doesn't cast but it still gets me fish.
I think I would just use a lewer or a hook with some real bait.
Flyfishing seems to be alot of work for nothing.
I say hobo fishing would be easier to get a fish.

reply to post by DrumsRfun


I agree and that If I was in a survival situation that the hobo style of fishing would have been less effort and more reward.

I also agree that he has his rod so probably thought it's here I might as well use it.

Fly fishing is an art, an art with a purpose. Let me explain, fly fishing allows you to present a fly in an unobtrusive way mimicking nature so to speak. A fly, I use that term to encompass any number of flying critters native to a paticular region, naturally lands very softly on the water or even hovers just above the water. A brook trout,cutthroat,rainbow, or any other Char species will feed on that fly just above or on the surface of the water. Now if this stream is overfished the trout will be very skitish when feeding and many times will swim away from the kerplunking of a bait fisherman chucking his worm at them. Walah, the flyfisherman and his o'natural presentation of a fly comes in and seduces the fish to take his "fly" If you can keep your line out of the trees you will out fish any worm chucker out there with a fly.

Any fly fisherman worth his salt knows that Trout should be released when caught. It's a unwritten law so to speak. Some fisherman even file the barbs down to allow an easier release. A purist in the art of fly fishing.

On the other hand in a survival situation, fishing takes on a different purpose. Meat gatherer and provider is a totally different scenario. I'd go with a fish-trap personnally. If your on the move and don't have time to build such a trap a spinning rod (collapsable/ 3 piece rod) should be in your BOB/pack/truck whatever. Mimicking a fly rod with a spinning rod is easy with a bubble bobber.

Only the older brits will get this.... Fly fishing by J.R Hartley......

Originally posted by Northern Raider
Only the older brits will get this.... Fly fishing by J.R Hartley......

If you dont "fish" then research what species of fish are in your area, here in the UK "coarse fish" can easily be caught and all I believe are edible though some taste a bit rank.
Remember, small hooks catch small are big fish. Big hooks only catch big fish and there are more smaller fish than biguns. Use fully barbed hooks. I carry sizes 14 - 10 and whilst my main line is 10lb mono I also carry 50' of 5lb BS, size 14 hook and a worm (lob or redworm) and Id rather bang out a dozen 6 oz perch for tea than wait an eternity for moby dick

Rgds

Personally I would have gone with hobo fishing. I've done it before and I find it easier. Considering the fact that while surviving you are trying to conserve as much energy as you can, I think the fly fishing could be a little tiresome. But I'd have probably given it a shot too.

I love this show and while I'll be a little sad to see it go, I certainly don't blame the guy. Many times I've watched the show and thought "There's got to be an easier way for this fella to make a living".

Evidently les has the same thought.

In regards to the fly fishing thing, this has been a recurring thing over the seasons. Every now and again he'll bring some sort of "survival kit" or outdoor gear of some kind and try it out/review it.

I don't recall him ever giving one a good review.

spiderj

[edit on 1/15/2009 by Spiderj]

Originally posted by Northern Raider
Only the older brits will get this.... Fly fishing by J.R Hartley......

Ah, Yellow Pages. Not just for WTSHTF.

I saw a "River Cottage" episode some years ago. Hugh double-barrel was cooking a large river fish for his neighbours and prior to cooking took the live fish and put it in a bath fed with clean(ish) river water.

The idea being that if kept in the bath for a day or so the muddy taste from the source should be filtered out.

If I recall it didn't quite work.

reply to post by colec156


Far more efficient way to catch any fish in a flowing stream or river would be to use a trot line. Tie a dozen or so 2-3 foot long leaders onto a main line at 1-2 foot spacing, attach a hook to each leader, bait the hooks, and tie a stone or weight large enough to keep the line across the current to the end of the main line. Tie off the other end to something steadfast on the bank, toss the rig into the water, and leave it alone for several hours to a day. If there are any forage feeding fish in the stream and if your bait is something they'll eat (annot go wrong with worms, maggots, small frogs, or grasshoppers/crickets) you'll have fish on the hooks when you come back to check the line. The overall energy expended by you to set this up is almost nothing and aside from bait collecting there's really no work whatsoever involved in it.

reply to post by burdman30ott6




Agree...trot lines are great. We used to set them for catfish as kids and they almost always work. Very low maintenance as well. You can tie your own flies pretty easily as well and fly fishing has its rewards so I can see where he was coming from.

I really liked the episode you are mentioning OP, who knew how much trouble having a horse would be? He spends more time trying to keep the horses in check than he does fishing or building camp.

I will definitely miss the show, Les Stroud is the real article 9ublike his counterpart that Bear fellow) but I can hardly blame him for wanting to preserve his health. Im sure many of the episodes have taken a major toll on him physically.

Best thing about Les...he will eat almost anything and like it. I guess he isnt pretending when he hasnt eaten for three or four days at a time.

Originally posted by Northern Raider
Only the older brits will get this.... Fly fishing by J.R Hartley......

Well NR that brings back many memories.
Not a one liner. Northern Raider knows many things.

There are many ways of fishing in a survival situation.
Trot line are a great idea if you are staying in one place for a time.

I do like hobo fishing and you can pick up a crap line that could be very useful and perform both hobo fishing and trot line fishing.

Thanks for all the great replys

The only reasons I poo-pooed the idea of hobo fishing were that I have plenty of actual fishing gear in my BOB so I don't really ever see myself using a tin can as a reel and I'm in the Pacific NW. My BOL's are all along rivers and streams that run salmon and steelhead. Yes, there are smaller fish in these streams & rivers as well, but for some reason I don't think it would be in the least bit pleasant to hook into a 20 or 30 lb king with an aluminum can as your only method of getting him to shore... I'm pretty confident you'd lose the fish, the line, and the can and be damned lucky to avoid losing some skin in the process.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


You do not need to use a can, say a piece of wood or like I have in my BOB a crab line. I just replaced the cord on the main frame with 20lb braid and have monoline hook lines.

Crab Line click here.

It's very small and compact and takes up no room at all with in my small fishing kit within my BOB.