10 primitivních technik rybolovu, které vám mohou zachránit život

How was fish caught before fishing tackle was invented? Simply using primitive fishing techniques that did not require professional equipment as much as ingenuity and skill. We will now introduce you to some of these techniques. Who knows, maybe one day they will be able to save your life.

So what are the 10 primitive fishing techniques that our ancestors used to get their source of iodine and necessary vitamins?

1) Primitive fishing with bare hands

Where else to start than with a technique that allows you to catch fish in the most primitive way and without any equipment – just with your bare hands. This is an effective way to catch fish in rivers and lakes, especially pikes.

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They usually hunt in dark areas of water, and can hide in holes in the bottom and hollow trunks of sunken trees. And do you know how to lure such a pike to the bait – without having any bait with you? Use the fingers on your hands instead of bait. Just move them so that they imitate worms.

As soon as the fish bites your hand, squeeze it with your other hand and catch it. Sometimes it can happen that the fish bites you. But what is a little pain and blood compared to the fact that thanks to a tasty fish you can survive until the next day? If you are still worried about a more serious injury and at the same time happen to have gloves with you, you can use them.

2) Primitive spear fishing

Well, you probably won't have a spear with you by the water, but any pointed stick of suitable length will do. This is another method that is primitive, but it does require some skill. And besides the fact that you will need to hone your spear skills, this tool can only be used effectively on certain species of fish.

The best place to catch fish with a spear is in shallow water, where you can wade and hide behind natural obstacles such as aquatic plants, rocks or sunken wood. This allows you to see your prey without being seen.

3) Primitive fishing using hooks

This method of fishing is also one of those that was invented in ancient times. You can make hooks from things that you can usually find around you in nature. From pieces of wood, bones of dead animals or even thorns of various plants. The ideal way for this type of fishing is to cast from a bank with dense vegetation, so that you are not too visible again. If you do not have a fishing line, you may at least have a rope or string in nature on which you can hang the hook and throw it into the water.

The water close to the shore should also be deep enough so that there is room to catch the fish on the hook. There are two methods for fishing with a hook. Either you can get a piece of stick somewhere and essentially create a fishing rod, or you can hold the line or rope directly in your hand. And since the hooks you find in nature are usually not bent like professional fishing hooks (so that they cannot be pulled out of the fish's mouth by the counter-pull), you will have to act quickly when you catch a fish. As soon as it is caught, pull it out of the water immediately.

4) Primitive fishing using traps

If you don't have the keen eye you think you do (i.e. the fish is always faster), or if you want a less physically demanding method of fishing, then try this one. Use traps, which are ideal for catching fish in narrow rivers or streams, in short, in flowing water. This fishing method is also effective for catching bottom-feeding fish, such as salmon – although you won't find them in our conditions.

You can make fish traps from any available material, such as reeds, pieces of wood or stones. Again, it's all about your ingenuity. You set the trap in a selected spot and come back a few hours later to check. However, if you don't put the appropriate bait inside, this method of catching fish is more about luck.

5) Primitive fishing with a good shot

When you don't have more advanced tools at your disposal, resort to this method of fishing. You don't need any spears, hooks or fishing lines. All you need is a stone or a suitable piece of wood. It is a rough but effective method. Especially when catching larger fish in shallower waters. As with spear fishing, this technique requires sufficient preparation, speed and observation. Therefore, it is not suitable for everyone and in all situations. But feel free to practice it in advance. You may find it useful for survival when you have no other option.

6) Primitive stun fishing

Fishing with poisons is prohibited in some countries (including the Czech Republic), so we can't really recommend or promote it. But we're writing about cases where survival is necessary, so we have to mention it here. Of course, it's completely out of the question to use synthetic poisons to stun fish. After all, a fish killed this way wouldn't even taste good to you. And besides, you'd be attacking the ecosystem as a whole, not just the fish themselves.

Our ancestors used natural extracts to catch fish – whether it was fruits, leaves, seeds or roots, they were greatly helped by the plant kingdom. Once you threw enough of these natural toxins into the water (be careful, it only worked on water that didn't flow), the poison stunned the fish, they swam to the surface, and you could then pick them up from the surface like in a supermarket. Natural toxins suitable for stunning fish include mullein seeds and black walnut. Try to find out in advance what options are available in your area.

However, you should check the legislation in your area before catching fish this way. Another important step is to wash the fish you catch in this way (before preparing them). You really don't want to eat the toxins that have stunned them.

7) Primitive fishing using a net

This is another old method, known for example from the Bible. Under the right conditions, nets can catch fish for you (if you have nets available) and this method does not require training. Just throw the net into the water. And choose a suitable place beforehand. Sometimes you will even have to swim and drive the fish into the baited net.

This technique is best used in shallow water. Although an empty net can be handled by just one person, pulling in a large number of fish will require more than one person.

8) Primitive fishing using kites

We present this method here rather as a rarity and curiosity. You may not have heard of catching fish with kites yet, but it is a method of fishing that was already used by the ancient Polynesians. They did this because, due to the treacherous reefs, fishing was a game of survival in many places. It was therefore necessary to develop a more original way of getting the rich stocks of fish of the Pacific Ocean out of the water.

All they had to do was create a bait consisting of sails and fishing lines. Interestingly, while the Polynesians made sails from banana leaves, they used spider webs to make fishing lines! All they had to do was throw the bait into the water. While the sails were driven by the wind, the baits attached to the spider webs sank under the water and attracted the fish.

9) Primitive ice fishing

Or catching fish with holes. It is not entirely clear when this method of fishing was specifically developed, but it was widely used by the native inhabitants of North America. In places where temperatures dropped below zero and suitable conditions were created, it was enough to cut a hole in the ice, throw a bait inside on a line attached to a rod and wait a while.

However, this was only one of the possible ways. Another was to create a structure out of wood and hang the bait on a hook from it. And you could also combine this method with traditional spear fishing. In short, you tried to hit the fish swimming by through the hole in the ice.

However, it is important to mention some of the intricacies of this method, which consist in the fact that not every ice can be safely entered. We discussed how to recognize suitable and sufficiently thick ice in the article Tips for walking on ice.

10) Primitive fishing using otters

Just like catching fish with kites, this is also a rarity that you may have never heard of in your life. It is a rather unconventional method that requires only one thing – to have a suitable otter nearby, ideally a domesticated otter. Interestingly, our ancestors used otters to catch fish as early as the sixth century AD.

The core of this method was to use a pack of otters to drive the fish into prepared traps. Thanks to this, the fishermen were able to get quite decent catches. However, the basis was to have at least a few otters on a leash and lead these otters exactly where you needed them. The other otters followed the chained ones. The method of catching fish using otters is still widely used, for example in some areas of Bangladesh.

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