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"you are stranded"

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You are stranded....

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poll stranded
10K views 59 replies 20 participants last post by  JakeF 
#1 ·
Lets see how great minds think....

you have been dropped of On a rocky island on cape cod....

you want a striped bass for dinner, you have no rod or reel just a poxket knife and a book of matches...

after walking the beach, sorting through the drift wood, you find a birds nest of line with an old, rusty but servisable hook, entangled in the birds nest of mono there is a dead sea gull, dead no more than a day, it's bill stuck in a soda can....

using what is available, what do you do to get your bass for dinner...

Lets see how many realistic answers we get...no repeats

I will donate one of my custom super giant pikies, black tiger stripe scale pikies to to the winner of the most realistic answer...

May 1st we will have a comunity vote, only those particpating in the thread in a serious manner will be allowed to vote.....

The prize plug... 16" over all 6 ounces....
 

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#2 ·
ide use the matches start a fire away from the shore not to spook the fish. clean the bird with the knife, cook him, eat him for some energy so i can hunt for the bass...i would use the birds head for the eyes and slide that over a small piece of bone, then i would use feathers and a small piece of line to tie a feathertail on the hook. i would sharpen the hook on a stone then rig the best plug i could using the bird head (no beak) i just want the eyes, the bone and the feathertail. i would wade out near the rocks and wait for the sun to fall then start my painfully slow, throw and retrieve. if no takers after the first tide change, i would then return to camp, fuel the fire, sleep, and look for better bait in the morning. and try again...theres gotta be some green crabs under some rocks.
 
#3 ·
After untangling the mono and sharpening up the hook with a piece of stone, I'd take my pocket knife and slice off a nice filet of breast meat from the seagull and bait up that hook. Next I'd take the soda can seal it up as best I could with a little smashing here and there and attach it to the line as a float. I'd find a sturdy piece of drift wood to wrap the line around as a handle (in case I get a strike I don't want my hand cut off with mono) and toss the rig in the water letting the tide and wind take it out from shore. Sit back and wait for the inevitable strike.
 
#4 ·
get everything ready for a fire that evening; untangle the line and stretch it out somewhat tight and leave it in the sun and hope to lose most of the memory; then get that hook sharp with a stone, use my knife to hack up the seagull saving some feathers to dress the hook using some of the mono to fasten it; then bait it with gull innerds.. use the can to manage the line like a spool for hand-lining... take some of the bird pieces and start chumming with small chunks.. cast the rig and wait.. :ukliam3:
 
#5 ·
First I'd pull the gull out of the soda can. Do the best I could unraveling the tangled line and sharpen the hook. With the pocket knife I'd cut up the bird for bait. I'd tie the line around the soda can and wrap the line around it. Find a piece of driftwood. With the knife I'd carve in slots to put the line in/through and use it as a bobber/float. Set my length of leader off the wood and tie on the hook. Wade out and start fishing.
 
#6 ·
I would take the matches to start a fire, and cook the dead bird, after cooking and eating part of the bird i would take it's bones and then make as many other hooks as i could, i would take the fishing line and cut it up into as many lengthy pieces as i could with my knife(long enough to cast out and enough to play a fish). I would NOT make a long line, and the only reason why is because with as many big stripers as there are on cape cod, if you got more then 1 fish on the hook or a big fish you risk losing all of your equipment and then you're stuck with nothing. I would take the soda can on the beach and dig for some clams, or gather muscles making sure not to use my bare hands with the clams, because if you cut your hands up and you're in a survival situation then your worst enemy could be an infection. I would use the clams/muscles for bait on my hooks, and maybe a snack (which I would also cook in my can) as long as I knew there was no red-tide warnings. I know that crushed clam shells can also be used as an attractant, at least it is with groundfishing. So I would crush up the clam shells and throw them out into the water and hopefully bring in some fish.
I would then set up as many fishing poles that I could with lengthy sticks. I wouldn't want to lose my precious fishing line, so I wouldn't want to fish on bottom and take a chance of getting snagged on a jagged rock, so I would tie on a piece of drift wood to serve as a bobber and fish as close to the bottom as I could without getting my line snagged. In order to cast my line out the drift wood would be heavy enough for me to throw out as far as I could. If I was able to have enough line to make a couple fishing poles then I would do the same with the other poles and just increase my odds in catching a striper in a survival situation, and remember this is a survival situation so I probably wouldn't want to catch a large striper, which would possibly break my old sun-dried line that I found on the beach. So I would try to catch schoolies just enough to fill me up and make a delicious meal.
 
#7 ·
Well after walking the beach and finding the line,hook and soda can I'd start to search out some dry drift wood high up on the beach above the tide line and start to dry out the matches in my pocket...wet matches are hard to light but if dried out and a litttle luck with the striker a fire can be started with dry kindling...a fire is a must for warmth and as a beacon/smoke for those who may be looking for me.....after some time and work I'm lucky to get a small fire going....there is a nice pile of dry driftwood to burn so I sit and start to untangle the fishing line at the same time wrapping it around the soda can to get the kinks and memory out of it....it takes quite a time to unravel the birdnest of line,but it looks like there is enough line for me to wade out into the surf and throw my line.....now its time to work on the hook and look for a long stick that will make up my pole...I find a rather straight one about 5 to 6 feet in lenght that seems to be sturdy and begin to shave off any knots and stickouts...I want to use that soda can so I undo the line and wrap it around 2 limbs(3 ft apart to keep it from tangling and stretcting out the memmory) that are sticking off a large log...with my knife I cut the soda can in half and flatten it....its a shiney beer can that I think I can fashion into a lure...taking my time I cut the outline of a small fish(Herring)from the flattened`can and then trace it again to get 2 halves...I poke a couple of holes in the body so I can tie it together with some line as I as I slip a couple of small pebbles in the cavity for weight....I make a long leader from some of the line and run it through the front(head) and through the body to where I attach the hook out the back along with some hackles off the dead seagulls head to hide the hook....I saved the tab from the can and now tie it to the tip of the stick to make an eye loop....with the fire blazing and smoke I undo the line that is now relaxed and in nice big loops and thread it through the tab....with my weighted lure and fishing stick I begin to work it like a fly setup....making small casts at first and then longer ones later...I remember seeing a video on casting and try a Hattarass cast which gets me farther out then I ever thought I could and await the strike of a bass.....
 
#8 ·
Good one Joe!

Get all the driftwood from every possible location and start the biggest
freaking blaze possible. Big enough for some boater passing by to see.

We're at capecod right. Boaters everywhere!

Screw the line. Dig a hole for the bird and bury his sorry ass.

Call the first boater over, and get a lift back to the docks.

Maybe the boaters are fisherman too. Well, maybe use some of their
tackle and see if someone can catch some fish.

If not, go home lick your wounds and be back at it the next time.
Worst case, stop off at a local shop and eat!

Hope I didn't spoil the intent of the contest here...Just my spin...

--cal
 
#13 ·
i bet roc would use the dead bird to attract crabs and fish with them, or hes got a way of trapping eels with a soda can and dead birds...seroiusly i think you would walk to the nearest town, if there is a soda can sitting there there must be civilization, after cleaning up the mess of dirty line and rusty hooks on the beach, and you would buy yourself a nice 10' surf whip combo and some live eels and fish the night for cows.
 
#14 ·
I'd light a fire with the matches and driftwood. I'd look for the perfect rock that I could hammer out a little dimple on another rock. I'd place the dimpled rock into the embers of the fire. While that is heating up I set off to untangle the birdsnest, wrap it around a piece of driftwood and sharpen the hook. Now the fire and rock are hot enough I cut up peices of the can and place them in the dimple of the rock to melt them down. When the aluminum is melted, I retrieve it from the fire and place the hook eye first into the molten aluminum an set aside to cool. After it is cooled I take it to a rock to grind it down so the eye is visable and I have a nice shape to it. Next I'll take some feathers from the bird and tie them to the jig. Now I take the bird and cut it open. I check the belly to see if there is any bait in there(hopefully there is). If not, I'll cut a piece of intestine and tip my jig with that. Now I tie the jig to the mono and head over to the rocks and cast around. If the Bass are there, I'll have dinner in no time.thumbsup.gif
 
#16 ·
There's not much metal in a can so I'd use what little I can get out of it to build a bucktail

1. Make a fire

2. Chip out a mold, a small round bottomed indentation in a smooth very dry rock. Carve a groove on either side of the indentation to fit the shank of the hook. Not too deep, you want the hook to ride point up if possible to keep it from getting snagged on the bottom.

3. Test the rock. Start heating the rock next to the fire. Let it get really hot so you're sure that when you go to make the jig you can be confident that the rock is not going to explode or crack and spill the precious aluminum.

4. Cut out a bit of fat from the bird. Bird store their fat in and around the tail, so remove the tail, saving the feathers. Use the fat to grease the mold, this will help the metal release once it's cooled.

5. Use the knife, cut the can into small meltable bits.

6. Set the presharpened hook into the grooves you carved to hold it it on either side of the indentation in the rock

7. As soon as the rock is hot enough to melt the metal start feeding in the bits of aluminum until the indentation is full of molten aluminum

8. Pull the rock away from the fire and let it cool.

9. Once cool remove your jig head, because of the bird grease it should pop right out.

10. Resharpen your knice on a rock and skin out the bird, very carefully removing the long tendons from the wings

11. Remove a selection of the softer feathers (not the heavy flight feathers) from the bird skin and using long thin, still damp strands stripped from the tendons tie the feathers onto the jighead. The strips of tendon will shrink and harden as they dry locking the feathers in place.

12. Cut some 1" wide tapered strips of skin from the breast of the bird with the small white down feathers attached to use in the same way you'd use pork strips on a bucktail.

Wade out to a spot where there's whitewater washing over a pool near the outer edge of the rocks. I'd wait until I saw dorsal fins and tails before tossing my jig out there, no point in taking unnecessary risks with it. If the mono is long enough I'd handline it, if not I'd tie it to the end of a long stick and fish it that way.
 
#20 ·
Well, Roccus, first I'd have to get my poxket knife out! :)
I'd cut the gull's stomach open, using any bait in it's gullet as bait.
I'd then start cutting the can into spoon size (fishing spoons, not shreaded wheat) shapes, using the rocks to dull the edges in order to not cut the line.
I'd then start to work on the line, untangling it check it for nicks and abrasions.
I'd take the hook, and carefully scrape it across the rocks to bring the point back to life, maybe use sand if it's available to bring any shine back to shaft of hook.
Now, I have line, a hook, bait from gull's stomach, and spoon like lures from can.
I'd attach spoons on the line above the hook, as spinners, then bait hook w/bait from gull
I'd do what I could to cast it out into current, hoping current would take it over waiting stripers, I'd be sure to cast in current flowing towards gulls feeding on live bait downstream.
Not sure what to do w/matches, since it doesn't sound like there's any drift wood, (wrong, bad memory, there is driftwood, which is where I found line and gull/can)I only read rocky island.
Might have to use knife to cut striper up, and eat it as sushi. (I can roast striper w/driftwood fire, and send smoke signals when dinner is served)
LMJ
 
#22 ·
I would untangle the line, take the can and cut the ends off, turn it inside out, wrap it around a stick (1" diameter or so), tie the hook to the back, and tie the bird beak to the front (diver), and take my new plug fishing. It's not as fancy as your custom one, but it would work in a pinch with the shiny aluminum body, the hook at the back, and the bird bill in the front to help it dive. thumbsup.gif

Excellent question!
 
#23 ·
OK being dropped off I'm guessing i have dry clothes and shoes. SO i would look around the rocks for crabs,musselsorclams and smash them up and fit them in the soda can with a string hole punched in it and a piece of mono tied on.-- with more mono and the hook i would bait up and crawl onto a boulder,tossout the chum bucket and wait for the sent stream to attract the fish toward my hook line with bait.after catching a fish ,cooking with the fire started with the matches i would then snuggle up to the long legged blond that was dropped off as well. HOWS THAT
 
#24 ·
No kiddin’ there I was, birds nest of line, hook, dead seagull, soda can, drift wood, miraculously dry book of matches, a pocket knife, and an empty belly. There was also a sea full of fish and bait.
No hope of rescue any time soon because no one knew my Kayak had sunk. I had not told my wife where I was going because I was PO’ed at her for and not wanting to help pay for the boat I wanted, I needed those 175 horses to push that 27 footer to bring home the bacon! SELFISH! Like a third job would be a hardship with 5 toddlers at home. I was offering her a break.
The first thing I did was to look for the best possible fishing spot. Rocks and mud or sand and some ambush points where the fish attack bait. I watch for activity and get the line untangled and check it for serviceability (nicks, scrapes, and brittleness) as I wrapped the most serviceable portion onto the can and set the rest aside.
I remembered seeing many Mexican fisherman on the shore in Iowa who used a can as a fishing reel and would played the fish with their hands. I can remember seeing them giving and taking line in a connected and skillful way that made the act of fishing and catching a sort of blue collar opera set to the sounds and sights of the Mississippi River.
They would cast upwards of 50 yards with a 1 oz weight and 12 lb test. The soda or beer can acting as their reel. Their heavy tackle was a 2 liter soda bottle and twenty pound test.
Swinging the weight and hook around like a lasso, these field hands would absolutely launch it into the current on a low trajectory that did not leave a lot of slack when it hit the water. The rig would hit and stick with the line taut and very little play in the line. They would then wait patiently until a fish took the bait. I admired their ingenuity and grit.
When the fish took, they would feed it line gingerly until it turned from them and ran. The hook set was an upward snap of the line followed by another and then again. The fish was gently steered to shore and landed with a quiet intensity that bordered on Zen.
Tying the line to the tab on top, I wind it neatly around the can. I have approximately 45 yards of what looks to be 30 pound test weakened to around 12 pound test. I then sharpen the hook on a handy piece of granite until it catches on my thumbnail and continue to observe the surf and rocks for fish activity. I soon spot an area that the baitfish are using. It is a small protected area behind a large rock and I know that my quarry is lurking nearby. The water is cloudy and once I saw the bait scatter. Whether it was a striper spooking them or not, I will never know. I do know that in about two minutes, they were right back where they had been.
Looking at the high tide mark, I recognized that it would take some looking to find the right place. I wanted some water and access. I found the right spot soon enough. It was a small niche in the rocks that held water and would hold crabs, sea worms, clams and small fish if I put them there.
Now I had to catch the bait. I also knew that I had to have a plan B for food. The seagull was the focal point of my plan. I filleted the breast and thighs and sliced these thinly and laid them out on a rock after dipping them into salt water to preserve them. No flies were apparent and I watched them for a few minutes.
I then plucked 90% of the feathers,split the seagull carcass in two, added a couple of small rocks to the carcass and tied my line to it’s neck and threw it into a small depression below a rock. I then wedged my can into the rocks and went in search of other bait.
Since it was low tide, I walked and looked for bait or more things to use. As I walked around the Island, I soon saw a small mud flat on the leeward side that looked like a perfect place to find some sea worms or clams. I took two sturdy pieces of drift wood that had closely forked ends and walked onto the mud flat. In about 10 minutes of digging, I uncovered 5 clams and two sea worms.
The tide was starting to come in and it was show time!!!!
The clams and seaworms went into a piece of bark I had happened upon and I headed back to the site I had started to establish.
I did a quick assessment:
-One hook and a weakened line.
- I would have to target schoolies and keep my bait away from bluefish.
- I did not have a weight
- A float would keep the bait off the bottom and out of snags.
- Keep the float away from the rocks.
- Do some practice casts to learn how to use the can.
-Fair supply of bait:
- Keep fresh baits in the water.
- Go back for more clams and worms.
-Dusk was coming in about two hours:
- Be fishing in less than an hour.
- I would need to re-stoke the fire and make sure that the stone was heated up.
- I would also need to gather grasses for bedding.
I turned around and spent another half an hour getting bait and managed to find 11 more clams and two more sea worms.
Joy of joys, I discovered an old plastic bag from Walmart that had washed ashore. It was tucked under a piece of driftwood and all I could see was a sliver of blue buried in the sand. Most of the clams and sea worms went into the bag and I headed back to my fishing site. Three of the clams were set out in the sun for immediate use
Finding a small stick the size of my thumb and about 8” long, I quickly used my knife to carve a float. I exposed new wood on top to make it bright and carved a fairly deep groove for my line around the bottom. The float would go through a slip-knot and I would keep my line strength and be able to adjust the depth and keep my hook out of the rocks.
The tide had come in about a foot and a half. I partially filled my bait bag with fresh water and put it into the bait hole, quickly restoked my fire with as much wood as would fit under the stone and checked on the pieces of seagull. They were perfect and I took a little taste of one. Perfectly disgusting. Note to self, add looking for fresh water to the list of things to find.
Walking up to the can in the rocks, I could see the line moving in little jerks as the resident crabs fought for control of the carcass. The crabs were doing their thing and I had to do mine. I crept up to the line and ever so slowly started pulling it in. I felt like the pied piper as I led the crabs closer and closer to the skinny water. There were about 10 of them on the carcass and it looked like a chicken covered with silver dollars. As the carcass got closer, I saw that they were peeling off 1 or two at a time. I stopped moving it and they started coming back. This was eating into my fishing time.
The crabs and seagull were in about 2’ of water. I crept in on my belly and gently and gradually grabbed two of the crabs. This went well until the piece of skin between my ring and middle finger was grabbed by a struggling claw. I stayed calm and gently withdrew. The crabs pulled back and fled. I took my crabs to shore and flung the painful one on the ground and stepped on him as he tried to get back into the water.
The second crab went into the bait hole and tucked indignantly into a crevice.
I quickly retrieved the seagull carcass, and untied it. It joined the other half on shore for further use.
Inspecting the line and hook one last time, I tied a palomar knot and secured the makeshift float about three feet up from the hook. I made two practice casts and found that the rig went where I looked. Maybe I would start fishing this way…
NOT!!!!
Using the knife, I cracked open the first clam. I threaded the half dollar sized nugget onto the hook looked at the incoming tide, picked my spot and let her fly to where I had seen the baitfish at low tide.
I was looking for a 2-3 pound schoolie to fill my belly for the night and maybe one for breakfast.
The float lay on it’s side and I waited to feed the little sucker the line until he turned.
I waited for about 20 minutes and went to retrieve a sea worm. I threw the clam in my hole, baited the hook with the worm and let fly. The bait slowly drifted in and I steadily brought in line to accommodate it. Suddenly, something big was breaking in the inbound surf. I let the bobber get within a few feet of shore and cast to the right of my baithole about 10 feet past my rock.
I knew that it was just a matter of time. The bobber twitched and it suddenly stood on end and disappeared with a “plunk,” and a plume of water.
There was no gently feeding the fish line and setting up on it as if I had in my vision of this catch, she set the hook herself. She was BIG.
I quickly felt her power and the line strreeetched to it’s limit. I knew she had me and this called for drastic action.
I quickly stuck a forked piece of smooth driftwood in the sand and let the line run over it as it came off the can. I was down to less than half my line. I held the remaining line between my fingers and watched it come off the spool.
I knew I was losing and it came to me. I threw myself into the surf and kicked after her as quickly as I could. I was no longer losing ground, I was holding my own. I knew I had to turn her head and bluff her into thinking I was her master. I eased to the left and set my heels against the bottom and shifted my arms to the left.
This turned her. I had a chance and I wound more line onto my can and held the pressure. I finally saw a boil and turned her head again.
Going hard to the left, giving and taking line I fought her nail and claw. One being in conflict with itself. Struggling to join its separated spirit into one.
Soon I hit the mud flat. She was big and she did not like the feeling of the mud against her belly. She surged and I used a gentle head turn to master her. She was beached (barely). This was my chance and I tackled her. She came to life and smacked me with her tail, bloodying my nose. I respected her effort and grabbed her tail and reached under her gill plate and she was mine. We were both exhausted and covered with muck and I gently rinsed her off.
I don’t know her weight and won't try to speculate. A mere number would not do her justice as I relaxed and applied the lessons I learned here to my life. I marked her length on a piece of driftwood and it was 42” when I was rescued. I was down to two sips in a half empty bottle of water I had found in the flotsam, three sea worms that I returned to the muck, a live and dead crab that I returned to the deep, some clam shells (I had a snack), a pocketknife with a small spot of blood from a worthy opponent, a rotted seagull and some seagull jerkey that were returned to the ocean, and a fishing rig that will hold a place of honor next to a 42” fiberglass replica of a Striper who reestablished the value of life, family, and knowing when to put on the pressure to the limit to master things by turning heads that you feel outclass you and your gear.
The “Paco’s Sunken Kayak II,” goes out every day during the season and my wife and kids await my return each night.

Fishin is more than fish.
Lenny
 
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