No matter how seemingly adventurous we are, we never hope to find ourselves in a survival situation. But what if we find ourselves in one? It could be your vehicle engine failing as you travel far out in the backcountry or a sudden storm capsizing your boat till you have to evacuate to an isolated piece of land.

In this case, you’ll need to attract the rescuer’s attention, create shelter, treat injuries and obtain water – easy if you’re close to a body of water. Getting food may be further down your priorities, but not after a few days, as food suddenly becomes essential. Since there’s a body of water close by, hunting for fish may be your best bet.

So, how do you do it? Try the following techniques:

1. Hooks

It’s relatively easy to make a hook with a gorge – an inch-long piece of hard material, straight and sharpened at both ends with a notch in the middle. Tie the line to the notch and cover the gorge with bait.

When thrown into the river and you feel the weight of the fish as it swallows the gorge with the bait, jerk the lines, so the gorge traps the fish’s throat.

You can also make hooks from needles, safety pins, paper clips, nails, bird bones, and so on.

2. Lines and Lures

You can make fishing lines from threads in clothing, pieces of wire, twisted bark, and dental floss. Likewise, you can make lures from metals resembling natural food like a minnow, pieces of cloth, hooks, and feathers. It takes as simple as a strip of colored clothes strapped to a hook to catch a fish.

3. Spears

Making a spear is more flexible compared to lures and hooks. A splinter of bone, metal, wood can be improvised to make a tip. Or you can carve the end of a bone, metal, or wood to a sharp and barbed point. This is even more effective if you’re wading at night with a lamp.

4. Nut Case

You can collect small fish by immersing crushed red buckeye nuts or walnut hulls in small, still areas of the water. These nuts release a chemical that makes it impossible for the fishes to breathe. This way, the fishes die, and you can gather them for your next meal.

Another flora that performs the same function is crushed mullein plants and lime squeezed from mussel shells.

5. Dining on the Shells

Mollusk like oysters, mussels, and clams are great survival foods to try. Not only are they abundant, but they also can’t fly, run or swim from their predator. So dig into the shallows of gravel or sand-floored streams and search for freshwater mussels. You will find many oysters, clams, and other seafood at low tide. Gather only fresh ones with tightly closed shells – they will open as you cook them.

You will find nutritious crustaceans, too, such as crayfish and crabs. Tie a scrap of meat one on the end of a line to coax them, and you will find them huddled on the line. Lift them from the water and cook as you like.