TGIF! What a weekend we have ahead! Week 2 of the NFL preseason is underway, now featuring some starters. Although last night’s “game” was not a harbinger of great things to come. EPL week 2 is here, and the WWC final as well.

Survival – Personal Edition

Let’s do some ice fishing. Now remember, this is a survival version, not a weekend warrior thing. No powered drills, tents, or heaters will be considered here. Might as well just go to the local fish store for all the challenge that provides.

• First we need bait. Ideally we want some live bait. Try to locate ice in a shallow area with small fish underneath. Then drop a rock through that ice and grab a bunch of those tiny fish while they’re stunned. Those will make for some great bait. If you can’t find live bait, then make some lures. These can be fashioned from bird feathers or the down from a sleeping bag. Slap some foil on there if you have some to make it noticeable. Use a safety pin to secure this lure to your hook.
• Next scout out an area where the big fish are most likely. This will be deep pools, so you’ll need to determine where the deep water is likely to be, such as the outer banks of a bay. Like any fishing, there will be good spots and bad spots for fishing, so don’t be afraid to relocate if you picked the wrong spot initially.
• Our aim here is to fish the fishes, not sleep with them. As such, you’ll need to avoid thin ice so you don’t fall through. Some things to avoid are dirty ice as the impurities make it weaker; rocks or other protrusions through the ice; eddies and currents underneath that warm up and weaken the ice; on the river avoid the outsides of bends as the faster moving water weakens the ice.
• Almost time to fish. But first we need to cut a hole in the ice. Here you’re going to use a large knife and/or a saw if available. You don’t need a perfect circle here or a big hole. It only needs to be large enough to pull out the expected size of fish you want. If you can’t cut a hole with your tools, you can also make a fire directly on the ice to melt the ice instead.
• Bait your hook with your live bait or use your lure. With the live bait, push the hook through below the bait’s dorsal fin.
• Now lower your line as deep as possible. Once as deep as you can let it, start slowly pulling it back up to the surface. Make sure to jiggle it up and down as you do so to draw attention to your bait or lure.
• If everything works and you’re in the right spot, you’ll be catching fish at this point. If you’re successful with that hole, you can preserve the hole from freezing back over by covering it with branches and snow. Also place an identifier on top so you can locate the hole later.
• If you’re going to continue fishing, make sure to check the stomach of the fish you caught. If they have freshly swallowed fish, reserve those for live bait. If there’s partially digested food, save that to use as chum before your next session.

Way to go ice fisherman! Go enjoy that fresh fish next to a warm fire back at camp.

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Survival – Species Edition

Time to put the sexy in Friday!

Enjoy the weekend, folks! Alright, now let’s get to the comments!