1. Fishing (Intro) All right, so our skill instruction is on fishing. There are a viraity of topics we will be going over which include; a boring list of local types of fish, bait and lures, gear information, types of fishing, cooking, Types of fish near us: So there are tens of thousands of fish species in the world but we will stick with more local types. Near us we have fresh water and salt water fish species. Some of the most common freshwater fish near us are; red breasted sunfish, red ear sunfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed, yellow perch, channel catfish, croppie (black and white), and varieties of trout with many others. There are about 40 different freshwater fish species in Virginia. Some of Virginias saltwater species (including offshore) might include white marlin, barracuda, drum, black sea bass, blue marlin, Bluefin tuna, Yellow fin tuna, croaker, flounder, mackerel, sailfish, tarpon, and more. There are more saltwater fish species in Virginia but these are a basic few. Bait: So most of us know what bait is for fishing. In most places you see the good old worms being used as bait although the bait varies immensely depending on the fish type you’re going after. Worms work for most freshwater fish; a catfish will eat them, panfish including bass will, perch, and other species will go after them. While worms work you can use a piece of almost any meat for catfish. You can also use minnows for most fish such as the ones listed before. Bait shops also sell premade baits for catfish, trout, and croppie. While edible fish bat works well and all there is another way to catch fish off a line. You can use a lure; a lure is basically a piece of fake bait that makes a fish want to eat it. Lures are most often used for predatory fish such as bass but depending on type you can use them for trout, panfish, croppie, perch, and most other fish. Types of fishing: So most people think of fishing as throwing a line in the water and waiting. Well that is a type but there are many more. While some are more humane than others they all work. Some of these include fly-fishing, lure fishing, spear fishing, bow fishing, net fishing, trolling, even some as odd as using kites for fishing. Both spear fishing and bow fishing stab the fish in the process so depending on what you’re trying to accomplish they might not be the best choices. Depending on how you use your nets they can be dangerous to the fish getting trapped and other aquatic life. Trolling is when you throw one or more lines into the water generally behind a moving boat. Those are just a few.

2. Fishing (Intro) Our skill instruction for tonight is on fishing. There are a variety of topics we will be going over which include; a boring list of local types of fish, bait and lures, gear information, types of fishing, cooking, casting, and more. We do not plan on going over fishing wounds seeing as how the first aid skill instruction already went over it although, I think that if anyone is excessively talking, I will make them read out of here in the book on wounds. We will be passing out pictures, it is unlikely that you will see every single fish picture because there are a total of 16. More items will be passed around towards the end. Please don’t destroy or manipulate the items. Please don’t attempt to remove any protective covering from sharp objects. Now we will be going over the types of fish in the area. 1

3. Freshwater fish near us: Some of our nearby fresh water fish species include; Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Bluegill Black and White croppie Pumpkinseed Yellow Perch Red-breast Sunfish Red-ear Sunfish Brook, Brown, and Rainbow Trout Blue, Channel, Flathead, and White Catfish Walleye Those are just a few of the freshwater fish that live in our lakes, ponds, and rivers. There are many more but those are the basics. 2

4. Saltwater Fish Near Us: Along with freshwater fish in our area we also have many saltwater species. A few of the most common species of salt water fish are: Striped Bass Croaker Drum varieties Flounder Mackerel Mullet And Spot Far offshore the Virginia coast there’s also some more exotic fish types like; Sailfish, marlin, tuna, and barracuda. 3

5. Bait: So most of us know what bait is for fishing. In most places you see have the good old worms being used as bait although the bait varies immensely depend on the fish you’re going after. Worms work for most freshwater fish; a catfish will eat them, panfish including bass will, perch, and more species will also go after them. While worms work you can use a piece of almost any meat for catfish. You can use minnows for most predatory fish such as the ones listed previously. Bait shops also sell premade baits for catfish, trout, and croppie. While edible fish bait usually works well, and all there is another way to catch fish with a line. You can use a lure; a lure is basically a piece of fake bait that makes a fish want to eat it. Lures are most often used for predatory fish such as bass but depending on type you use, you can use lures for trout, panfish, croppie, perch, and most other fish. 4

6. Types of fishing: Most people think of fishing as throwing a line in the water and waiting. Well that is a type of fishing but there are many more. While some are more humane than others, they all work. Some of these include fly-fishing, lure fishing, spear fishing, bow fishing, net fishing, trolling, even some as odd as using kites for fishing. Both spear fishing and bow fishing stab the fish in the process so depending on what you’re trying to accomplish they might not be the best choices. You can probably figure out those two through context. Net fishing is really self explanatory, use nets to fish. Depending on how you use your nets for net fishing they can be dangerous to unwanted fish or turtles getting trapped. Trolling is when you take one or more fishing lines and throw them into the water off the side of a moving boat (generally with a lure). Fly-fishing is basically a fancy term for using a fairly small lure to catch trout and other fish of that nature. The real skill comes in in the casting process of fly fishing. As we previously mentioned lures are fake bait used to attract fish. They are usually moved in the water and sometimes have a shiny component to them. There are many more types of fishing but these are some of the most commonly used types. Choosing one of the different methods really depends on what kind of fish you are looking to catch. Although some might be more humane than others, they all work. 5

7. Cooking: Before we get into the good cooking stuff remember to always handle fish and red meat safely. Wash hands before and after preparation in case of disease. Anyway, once you’ve had some luck fishing you need to turn that animal into a meal. To start you will need to clean the fish. The first thing you do is to slit it down the belly and pull out the guys. To remove scales, scrape the skin of the fish with a knife moving towards the head. Rinse the fish with water inside and out. To cook the fish there are many ways you can do it. You can: Fry the fish – Dip the fish in flour and stick it into hot oil until golden brown (I wouldn’t recommend this, you’ll probably burn down your house) Grill the fish – Place a grill over coals and brush with oil. You should also brush the fish with oil. Don’t overcook! Bake the fish – Wrap the fish in aluminum foil and place over hot coals for 3-5 minuets per side of a small fish. Without utensils? No need to fear! – Simply run a skewer down a fishes spine (preferably trout) and tie the fish to the stick with a few wraps of string. Hold the fish over some coals for a few minuets. Pull off skin and fins to show meat. *Direct source of all information is from the boy scout handbook* 6

8. Travis: Talk about gear and stuff. Wing it if you need to. Do something. Don’t take too long (depending on tested presentation length). Good luck. 7

9. Reid: Go over casting. Make it short please (depending on tested presentation length). If you need to wing it, I don’t mind. Remember don’t take too long, this is kind of a lengthy presentation. Good luck. 8

10. Survival: The real time that you will absolutely need fishing is either when you’re homeless or if it’s a survival situation. You might have lost the camp or ran off a trail. No matter, you can go fishing so you don’t starve! The real question is what can you use to fish and get food if you don’t have a hook and line. Well, there are a viraity of options to fish with that you might just have on your person! Shoelace/Para cord – These are two amazing things you might have with you if you get lost. Para cord bracelets are in style and presumably you aren't wearing leather laces on your shoes. If you are, too bad. Anyway, the insides of these two items both have cores. Those cores are small lengths of tough string. There are 5-7 cores in shoelaces. There are 7 cores in common Para cord. If you see where I'm going with this, you can take those 7 strands of core and tie them together into a long rope of fishing line. This Para cord bracelet is about 18 feet worth of cord. 18x7=126. That’s 126 feet of fishing line from one bracelet. Interesting. Hooks – hooks are going to be a bit harder to come by if you don’t have a basic item on you. That basic item is a paper clip. It can be molded into a fishing hook and does work. If you don’t have a paper clip you could theoretically use your zipper pull if you cut and sharpened it with a rock. Same goes for a soda tab. All fairly simple. Bobber – So if you want to be that guy who absolutely needs the classiness of a bobber, take a piece of dry wood and tie it to your line. It will float until it gets waterlogged. Bait – You can use almost anything for bait. Even if it isn't something fish would normally eat in their diet. Although you should use a minnow or worm, you could try a berry because of its interesting color and shape. You could even use a fish (fish are cannibalistic), 9

11. That concludes our presentation. Are there any questions? Thank you. 10