In America, Canada and Europe, people have the advantage of fishing with fish finders such as the Hawkeye Fish finders, which people use on bass boats, canoes, float tubes, ice fishing and more.

There is no question that you will catch more fish with a fish finder to help you see where fish are hiding, what kind of terrain they are hiding in, where are there hidden food sources for fish, and more. But for a change, we'll pretend that you have no fish finder (nor perhaps even a rod and reel. What are some of the unusual ways that clever people around the world use to catch fish?

Fishing with birds

For thousands of years, the Chinese have been fishing with cormorants, a rather tame fishing bird about the size of a Canadian Goose. Fishing on boats and rafts up the Yangtze and other rivers of China, a cormorant fisherman can have up to 10 cormorants hovering on bamboo poles off of his boat.

When it's time, the birds will go into the water and dive for fish. Cormorants are fantastic at cashing fish, but long ago the clever Chinese discovered that they have a small esophagus and by putting a ring around the bird's necks, they can't swallow the fish.

Perhaps now and then the birds are rewarded by fish without the ring around there neck, but most of the birds belong to the fishermen.

Sewer Fisherman

I don't know about eating them, but plenty of fishermen like to go sewer fishing.
Often even without a reel, just some line and bait, and a sewer near the water.

How to catch fish in a sewer, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNcaiTM77cM on Youtube is a great example.

Bass fishing with an RC model boat

Don't have the money for a boat, nor the energy to throw a kayak into the water. No problem. Simply tie a line, a hook and some bait into the back of and RC model boat and troll it out into the water.

Want to see you it's done? Go on YouTube to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSGdXIbOL4E. This is certainly a clever alternative to shore casting.

Catching fish with coke and mentos

Certainly, one of the most novel ways of catching fish is found on this YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLv-8jBh4Vw. A young man goes to a small body of water, and on the edge, digs about a two-foot hole which he packs with a lip of mud.

He then pours about 15 or 20 mentos in the hole and adds coca-cola to the mix, which you all know, causes an enormous fizz. Somehow, this fizzing attracts fish buried in the mud, and time and time again, like a magic trick, he is rewarded with fish.

Kite Fishing

Want to go to the ocean to fish but unsatisfied with casting from shore. No problem, go kite fishing. You rig your line above the ocean, then gradually dip your kite so your bait enters the water.

It's not unheard of to be casting 800 meters beyond shore with a kite fishing technique. There are plenty of videos on YouTube, but consider starting with this one at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8T9qiHjxZM


Catching fish with grandma's linen

In a YouTube video entitled way too funny, two Arab gentlemen show you how to catch fish with grandma's linen. You need a shallow stream and don't expect to catch prize gamefish, you and a teammate, kick a little mud into the center of the sheet or linen you are using which causes it to go near the bottom, then you whisk it a few feet before checking out your catch.

It's definitely worth a look at https://youtu.be/KDSvD2n-EsA.

Noodling

Why bother to buy a rod and reel, a bunch of lures and bait when you can use your bare hands. Generally for catfish, in places like Oklahoma, people actually pay to be guided onto a river, feel for catfish with their feet, then reach down and pull them out of the water with their hands.

Personally, I prefer a nice fishing boat, a rod and reel and a cold drink in my hand, but noodling does work. See it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JkcZRBUNtw.

Banging and stoping while ice fishing

No video here, but apparently ice fisherman in Russia which has plenty of ice in the winter, like to cut a single hole around a yard in diameter, then dance, stomp, and beet homemade steel drums around the ice hole.

Apparently, the noise and the stomping attracts fish, and the next time you go ice fishing in Minnesota, if you forgot to bring your Hawkeye fish finder, you might try this technique on your own.

Fishing with dynamite and electricity

We hesitate to mention this because fishing with dynamite is pretty much illegal everywhere, but if you want to see how fish react to a dynamite charge, take a look at this YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPlVDQ6UfVk if you want to see it literally rain fish.

Meanwhile, fish and game employees often use electricity to zap fish in the water, catch them and tag them. You can see a legal zapping  at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73hBHShAqCE, but if you want to do it to catch food, you'll probably need to go to the Amazon or something to do it without fear of breaking the law.

Fishing with otters

Again, no video, but for hundreds of years, people have kept otters and use them similar to a collie herding sheep, into their nets, in particular in areas like
Norway or Sweden.

Fishing with poison

In the Amazon, some tribes grind plants with poisonous substances and dump them in the water. The poison causes the oxygen to be depleted, and fish struggle and are easily netted. A few hours later the poison is gone, and the whole village has dinner.

We hope you have enjoyed this brief diversion into the world of weird fishing, but again, hope you remember that the best way for you to find fish consistently, is with a Hawkeye Fish Finder.