How to Survive Survivor!
Dateline: 8/21/00
If the folks on Survivor Island had been fishermen, they wouldn't have had to eat rats! Or maybe they would, if their fishing luck is like mine!
As those folks return to the real world, they might need something to help them survive. I suggest fishing. After the calls from the the Today Show and CNN, they will need a relaxing way to get away from it all. What better way to head to a lake or pond, put out a line, kick back and relax? Many of us fishermen do that as often as possible to escape the daily insanity of life.
Don't know anything much about fishing? There is all kinds of info for the beginner on the net. And it really doesn't take a lot of effort - no mandatory events!
For eating, may I suggest learning how to catch fish, clean your catch and cook them. Even in the "wilderness" of a lake or an island, you can easily clean and cook your catch and have a good meal. No more roasted rat! Baking fish on an open fire is simple, and makes a great meal.
Catching fish may be a little harder. Some of us with expensive bass boats, costly equipment and all the latest electronics still don't have much luck, but if you keep it simple you will probably do better. A good old cane pole with line , hook and sinker attached will often out fish more complicated equipment. And after eating grubs, fishing with them should be a snap. Bait you get where you are fishing is usually the best. Try live worms, grubs, grasshoppers, lizards and other critters on your hook rather than in your cook pot!
No room for a pole on your life raft. Take along a spool of line, a few hooks and sinkers, maybe a cork or two and you are all set. All that will fit in a pill bottle and you can cut your own pole where ever you land!
Another great thing about fishing - you get to select your companions in advance. No voting them out of the group - unless you join a bass club. Even in those clubs, you only have to see the other folks a couple of times a month, not often enough to really get on each others nerves!
An if you want more exciting stuff when you return from your self-imposed exile, head to a World Championship Fishing tournament. There the scream of boat motors on bass boats being raced through a course will surely provide you with the noise and excitement you missed while on that tropical island paradise!
If you really want to get away from it all and relive your exile conditions, this time without cameras and crew, hike in to a remote fishing location like 7 Mile Hole on the Yellowstone River. You will get plenty of exercise to keep that thin, haggard castaway look while enjoying great fishing, too!
What would you do if stranded on Survivor Island - while there and after returning? Do you have any comments to offer? You can also post information about it for others on my message board - you must register to post but can read the board as a guest. Also, if you have thoughts you want to share about this topic, let me know about it at fishing.guide@about.com. for a "Fishtale" or discuss it in the chat room on every night at 8:00 ET. Tell others what you like.
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TWO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK - 08/24/98
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State and Country Resources List
Lists of resources by state and country will be added starting next week. Here
are my plans, please offer your suggestions.
Check out Coming Next Week - Next week's column topic, contest prize and new additions to the resources lists.
