These are strange and dangerous times we live in for sure. If you are a survivalist you probably have your things ready to go in case a SHTF scenario occurs. In your survival pack there are some essential things that should be in there and some of them must be some fishing line, a few hooks and some sinkers. That is good planning but if you want to catch some good eating fish you will need some decent bait too.
In this article we will teach you how to catch that bait using a simple plastic bottle.
What you will need to make a Minnow Trap
Why do you need a bait trap? Well it does not matter if you packed just some simple fishing line and hooks in your survival pack or you just couldn’t leave that $1000 fishing setup of yours behind, you will still need some type of bait to help you catch fish. Bait is the best way to attract larger fish with the most meat on them.
Here is what you will need to make your bait fish trap:
- 1 or 2 liter plastic bottle.
- String, fishing line or tape.
- Bread or cracker crumbs.
- Sand, gravel or small rocks.
It is worth noting that most everything on this list you can usually find lying around someplace even in an apocalyptic scenario.
Related reading: Improvised Fishing Techniques for tough times
The steps to making a Homemade Minnow Trap
Now it’s time to actually put your plastic bottle minnow trap together.
STEP 1 : Lay your plastic bottle out in front of you and identify the end with the bottle cap opening. Estimate approximately 1/3 of the bottle including this open end. Take a knife, box knife or anything with a sharp edge and cut this 1/3 of the plastic bottle off.
STEP 2 : In the larger section without the top poke several small holes in it (15 – 20) about the size of a nail head. Don’t poke the holes too close together or you will weaken the plastic bottle too much.
STEP 3 : Take the two pieces of bottle and fasten them together with string, fishing line or anything small and thin. You will need to poke a small hole near the edge of each piece of plastic bottle and thread the string through it.
STEP 4 : Place the tapered end of the bottle with the cap opening inside the bigger piece of the bottle. The bottle cap end goes in first. Leave just about ½ inch of the shorter bottle sticking out of the bigger bottle.
STEP 5 : Use tape to join the two pieces together at the edge. If you don’t have tape you can poke small holes along the edge of each piece of the plastic bottle. Make these holes about 1 inch apart. You can then use fishing line or string to sew the two ends of the bottle together.
Congratulations you should now have a working minnow/bait trap.
STEP 6 : Place some gravel or very small rocks in the minnow trap to weigh it down when you put it in the water. Just add these through the bottle cap opening.
STEP 7 : Bait the trap with bread, crackers or just about anything else that is edible. Place this into the trap the same way you did the rocks.
Step 8 : The minnows will go into the trap through the small bottle cap opening and remarkably will not often find their way out. (if your minnows are getting out put the cap on and cut a hole in the cap itself, this will make the opening even smaller).
Step 9 : Carefully take off the tape or cut the string so you can remove the small piece of bottle and get the minnows out you caught. Be sure to save the bottle pieces to use again. Don’t worry about bringing a stapler along with you though. Tape or fish line will work just fine to put the two bottle sections together.
This is a lot easier than you think and believe it or not it works great.
Be prepared every way possible to catch some fish
There are also some good ways to catch fish with or without cheap fish finders with gps in a survival scenario. It easier than you might think and there are few foods that will meet your essential nutrition needs as well a fish. You will be doing yourself a big favor if you have at least allowed for some means of catching fish in your survival pack. Most experts agree that being able to catch fish should be a big part of any long term survival plan.
Of course the best way to catch fish is with a good rod and reel setup . They are easier than you think to add to a survival pack and I consider them essential equipment in mine. Throw in a virtually weightless 1 liter empty plastic bottle and you can catch bait as you learned here too. You will then be better prepared for a SHTF scenario where you had to get out before you had time to pack a lot of food.
Article written by Ben for Prepper’s will.
Ben is an IT project manager and founder of a newbie blog called outdoorstime.com. He loves outdoors activities and the nature that God has created, as any human being does. He shares what he knows about outdoors and also the passion of other outdoors’ lovers who pride themselves in living off the land for extended periods of time in wilderness settings across the US.
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