So we folks here in Northwestern B.C. Canada are in the middle of our salmon fishing season. This morning I was out trying my luck, and while I passed the time waiting for a strike a friend and I practiced friction fire skills. No sooner had we started a bow drill fire than I looked up and saw a most awesome and terrifying sight. My rod, sitting in it's holder, was undulating up and down with terrific violence. It looked as though is was going to break in half. This is a 12 foot heavy duty salmon rod with heavy reel and line, and any description I provide falls short of conveying the anxiety I felt while I rushed toward my setup. I was able to reach it and set the hook before any major damage was done. To make a long story short, 35 arm burning minutes later I was in possession of a fish weighing around 50 pounds (other fisherman have caught salmon that weighed twice as much).
As I worked with the huge fillets I got off the salmon, I began to wonder how one would preserve such a catch in a survival situation. A fish this size could feed two people for a couple of weeks, if it didn't go rotten. So, the question to those with experience is, how do you preserve fish, or for that matter, any other wild meat, in large quantities when you lack any facilities such as smokers, salt, refrigeration? Imagine you have only a knife, axe, but not much else, and were able to luck out and secure a large amount of meat. What would you do?
As I worked with the huge fillets I got off the salmon, I began to wonder how one would preserve such a catch in a survival situation. A fish this size could feed two people for a couple of weeks, if it didn't go rotten. So, the question to those with experience is, how do you preserve fish, or for that matter, any other wild meat, in large quantities when you lack any facilities such as smokers, salt, refrigeration? Imagine you have only a knife, axe, but not much else, and were able to luck out and secure a large amount of meat. What would you do?
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