The Silver Hoard Grows

I'm continuing to add silver to my hoard. I've read a number of articles and am convinced that silver prices will rise. It's a cheaper investment than gold, which to my mind has become so valuable that it might not be useful as a commodity with which to barter -- who would part with a Krugerrand for a loaf of bread when a Morgan Silver Dollar might accomplish the same thing?

Fishing Capstone -- October 31

I decided to try out all I've learned on fishing in the last month by going fishing yesterday, and concentrationg on "what works" rather than experimenting. The key things I've learned fishing in the local lakes are:

a. There are lots of weeds, so use a float/bobber to keep the hook off the bottom
b. Nightcrawlers work the best.
c. Smaller hooks catch more fish -- larger hooks lead to bait getting stolen.

I fished alomst exclusively with nightcrawlers on a float/bobber suspended about 12-18 inches below the surface. I only fished from 7-10AM, but it was warm out -- fishing in October you need to fish when the water is a little bit warm.

The results:

3 bluegills (all thrown back, but in a survival situation, they would have made a nice fish stew)
1 grass carp (thrown back, but the same rule above as for the bluegill applies)
1 largemouth bass -- 1 foot long, a keeper (the bass in my local lakes don't grow very large, and 12 in. is the state minimum)
1 yellow perch -- 1 foot long, also a keeper.

So, four different species, all caught using the same setup -- nightcrawlers on a #6 hook, suspended 12-18 inches under a bobber. In my last 4-5 outings, this is the setup that worked consistently. In a survival situation, I'd spend the day before digging up worms, then go out and spend the next day fishing. Naturally, in a TEOTWAWKI scenario, many other people will think the same thing. But in some scenarios involving depopulation (pandemic, for instance); I'm convinced that if I had to, I could be a productive fisherman. There are about 4-5 lakes within a few miles of home; by alternating them I wouldn't "fish them out".

Any skill you develop removes some pressure after the fall. My goal is to become highly competent at many things. I can now say that I know a little bit about fishing. Three months ago, I didn't.

Books on Fishing

I've recently bought two books on fishing to help me in developing this necessary survival skill.

The first is Fishing Basics by Gene Kugach.



This is a good book, particularly in its discussion of the individual fish. For a fish like, say, largemouth bass, it gives you a brief synopsis of the fish, an illustrated picture -- and then, which is invaluable -- pictures of which baits and rigs are most effective in catching the fish. The book also includes a good section on making your own lures, cleaning and preparing the different fish for cooking, and so forth. It is an excellent basic guide and very practical.

The second book is Cliff Hauptman's Basic Freshwater Fishing



Although not as immediately practical as Kugach's book, the book is a very good philosophical primer that begins with what fishing is, and then walks you through equipment and techniques for panfish and gamefish. I think both books complement each other well and would recommend both of them; if I had to buy one, I'd buy Kugach only because his is immediately more practical.

The big thing I learned from the books that I have applied in my own fishing is the use of floats. The lakes I fish in are very weedy; my best luck (with bluegills, so far) is using a fairly short line close to the float with nightcrawlers. I have had a few nibbles on crawfish style artificial lures; but my spinners and bass worms have largely gone ignored. I've lost spoons and crankbaits in the weeds; I may try some surface lures next time to try to get the elusive trout and bass.

Here's what I've caught this fall -- all released because they weren't big enough in my mind to keep:

3 bluegills
1 yellow perch
1 crappie
1 chain pickerel

Other than the pickerel, who went after a live worm on the bottom, they're all panfish. In a survival situation, I would have eaten any of them, but I didn't see the need to keep any in the current situation.

Pawn Shop

Yesterday during lunch I went to my usual dealer in Silver, the owner of a local coin store, only to find that he is closed on Tuesdays. So, wanting to make my usual monthly investment in silver, I decided to see who else offers silver coins.

The search brought me to a pawn shop in a pretty bad neighborhood. If you've never visited a pawn shop before, it is a pretty depressing experience. It is, in a sense, the opposite of doing survival prep -- pawn shops are loaded not with useful things, but with things people have decided they can do without. The biggest items I saw in the store were stereo equipment, DVD players, game consoles, and video games themselves. After that, it was cameras, and after that, watches. A woman in front of me had a bag of jewelry which the store owner -- a hyperactive but highly intelligent twentysomething -- was picking through. He was on a cell phone getting spot gold prices for 10k, 14k, and 24k gold, presumably from a bigger dealer upstream.

He looked at me curiously -- I was in my usual high tech serf costume of a polo shirt and khakis. "Do you sell silver coins?" I asked.

He did -- but not my usual Maples and Eagles. He had the older stuff -- Morgan and Peace dollars. After quickly running through my head the value of a Morgan against the price of pure silver (77.34%, if you're curious), I bought five Morgans from him.

One thing that impressed me with the Morgans is that they were coins meant to last -- the edges are heavily milled, and the face and back are stamped deeply. Even after 125 years the words E Pluribus Unum and Liberty are clearly visible. The coins impressed me for being, well, the real deal. The coin itself is the store of value, unlike the "full faith and credit" that backs up the junk coinage of today. On Survivalblog fairly recently, a commenter who lived in the Balkans in the 1990s said that trade there was often carried out in the old coinage of the Austro-Hungarian empire -- governments may change, but a silver coin lasts forever. Even though the Morgans and the Peace dollars no longer circulate, they may yet have service to perform if the U.S. ends up defaulting on its debt and facing inflation -- which it surely must. I'm going to continue to buy Eagles and Maples, but I'll also throw in some Morgans and Peace Dollars as I expect they will also be useful in the future. They are certainly durable old things.

Silver yesterday closed over $17.00 again. I'm anticipating it will go higher.

More Shooting and Fishing

It rained Saturday, so my plans to shoot one day and fish the next got compressed. I did both today, with mixed results.

Fishing was hampered by a lack of live bait. New England fish are smart, and only bite if there is real protein invovled. My usual place for bait doesn't open until noon on Sunday, so I was forced to go with plastic lures. It was an epic failure. It didn't occur to me to check the local Wal-Mart; they of course have shiners, night crawlers, and earthworms. Next time, we stock up the night before. I did get to try different rigs, and played with different sinker/lure combinations. That was, at any rate, educational.

Shooting went well. I moved my zero out to 50 yards on the rifle. At 100 yards I began to see the problems creep in -- a slight sight adjustment and I was back on target. I'm now confident on putting shots on target at 100; next time out we'll start from there and see how we do.

Gone Fishin'

Actually, I went fishing on Saturday. As with shooting, I am trying to quickly improve my skills in a number of key areas, and one of the important ones is fishing.

I hadn't been fishing on a lake since 1991, on a week-long trip where I literally caught nothing. But I bought myself an inexpensive reel (a Zebco 33 at Wal-Mart) and was determined to try out a few of the local ponds.

I got out bright and early -- six o'clock, when it was still dark. I fished with rubber lures until about nine, when I took a break and got some live bait at a local convenience store. I got a much better response with live bait; manny nibbles and a few bites. I caught two fish before I knocked off about noontime; a small chain pickerel and a crappie, neither whom were big enough to keep, though in a survival situation, they'd have gone into the pot. The pickerel was a fierce little guy, and he showed me his mouth full of sharp little teeth as I removed the hook very carefully.

A good experience; I learned a lot. My casting got better as the day went on, though I was hampered by a lack of real sinkers and the prepackaged hooks in the kit were a little bit week. I've remedied that with a trip to Dick's sporting goods, where I picked up some good old fashioned lead sinkers, a few swivels, and a package of 100 #6 hooks. I'm going to try to get out once or twice more before winter; I'll take the time to set up some good Texas style rigs before I head out. One of the larger local ponds is stocked with trout at the end of September, so hopefully I'll catch something real. Practice mkes perfect.

Bought Some of These

Bought a can of these today. We'll see how they work, maybe next spring.