fishing gear in PSK

C

ChadHahn

Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
490
Living in the deserts of Arizona I figured that there really wasn't much reason for me to carry fishing line and hooks in my PSK since there isn't that much water on a year round basis here. I know of a few oasis here and there but generally there isn't much in the way of fish in them.

On one of the routes I hike, there is a big steel water tank. I have walked by it time and time again and finally decided to look in it. It was teeming with goldfish! Now this tank is on a very heavily trafficked trail and if I fell and broke my leg or something that required me to think about fishing I would probably only have to wait 10 minutes before another hiker came along.

It does make me wonder that perhaps there are other stock tanks in more remote areas also stocked with fish. I think that I'll go ahead and add some line, hooks and sinkers to my PSK after all. Just because I'm in the desert doesn't mean that there aren't any fish.

Chad

1.jpg

2.jpg
 
Not to mention you can use the fishing supplies for other things. You can catch birds and squirrels with small hooks and line. You can use the line for cordage for various things, too.
 
well that is very interesting. I would be interested to know how they got into those tanks
 
That is rather interesting. I would like to know why they put fish in them, if they are indeed put there..
 
A couple of possibilities on how. One is that maybe it's a joke. There was a recent thread on the silly things we've done to create a "what the hell?" moment for others. The more likely answer is that the owner threw a couple in there to control mosquitoe larvae.

As for catching fish in a stock tank......dude, it's a stock tank! Use a net or even your t-shirt.
 
Goldfish are like carp so if you like the taste of carp they are good. The tank is a pretty good hike up in the mountains but there are a lot of horses that are on the trail. Somebody, for whatever reason must have packed the fish up. Maybe in a water bottle. Goldfish will get as big as their environment will allow so a tiny goldfish can grow into a foot long fish.

The stock tank is about 8 feet high and twenty feet across. So it would be a little hard to catch these fish with a t-shirt.

Chad
3.jpg
 
Im guessing goldfish probably taste terrible. A goldfish is basically a little carp. I ate a carp before when I was a kid and it tasted gross, and I love fish. But if I was starving I guess they would taste great.
 
What do they eat? I'd be interested to know how they stay alive, especially in the heat of the desert I'm sure that water gets pretty darned hot. Also, they look pretty small as if they were just put in there not too long ago. As someone else said they'll continue to grow to suit their environment and they still look small.
 
I suppose its possible they were deliberatly put there for insect control, to eat mosquito larva for example? Or maybe to keep down the algae? (are goldfish carnivors or herbivors?)
 
myright said:
What do they eat? I'd be interested to know how they stay alive, especially in the heat of the desert I'm sure that water gets pretty darned hot. Also, they look pretty small as if they were just put in there not too long ago. As someone else said they'll continue to grow to suit their environment and they still look small.
Click to expand...

The last time I was there the water was about 6 feet deep. So it is probably fairly cool along the bottom. Most of the fish in the picture were about 6 inches long so for goldfish they were pretty good sized.

They are like carp so they eat what carp eat, mostly insects and fungi. They are bottom feeders so they eat a lot of mud which is why most people don't like the taste of them.

Chad
 
Must be some pretty big animals to reach 8 feet high for a drink. :p


This did give me an idea though. I always see many many small minnows next to shore. I wonder if you laid your T-shirt down like a net with the corners tied with 550, and then dumped some of that floating flaked fish food from the pet store above your T-shirt. I bet those minnows would be all over that food, and then just lift your shirt out of the water with your catch.

Keep a few minnows for your fishing kit to try to catch something bigger, and cook the rest. I think a small ziplock bag of food is all you would need.
 
1_BIG_BUNKER said:
Must be some pretty big animals to reach 8 feet high for a drink. :p
Click to expand...
In the first picture you can see a smaller concrete tank to the right of the steel one. Water is able to be siphoned into that tank for the use of animals. I'm not sure why there is this big storage tank out here.

Chad
 
Somewhat related post...

This article was the Survival feature in the latest issue (May) of Field & Stream. Might be some ideas here folks can use.

fishingPSK.jpg
 
I tried to make it a little bigger/more legible, but Photobucket seems to be reducing the pixel size automatically. :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top