Ginger Root...

[Maine_Fishin38]

Quick survival tip:

If you find yourself stranded on an island whereon fish are visible in either tidepools, ponds, lakes, or offshore then you can easily obtain mass amounts of fish for consumption. All you need is ginger root. If ginger root is able to be accessed than one should crush the root (releasing oils) and throw it into the body of water containing the fish. The ginger root contains toxins which are deadly to fish and soon enough the aspiring survivor will find his/her self treated to many little, belly-up morsels the result of a fatal dose of kitchen spice.[cool]
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[AdamL]

I read this and found it interesting so decided to try it out today.

I used a bayou which runs along side where I work for my testing area. (if you dont know what a bayou is, think of a creek) The conditions were not perfect as we had just had a huge storm 24 hours prior and the water level was up still and the normally almost non existant current was noticeable today.

I crushed up about a good hand ful worth of the root at least and dropped it into the water where I saw many minnows frolicking about. I tried to find an area that was as still as possible, but at least half of the root quickly began to drift down stream.

Also, obviously the water was murky, as water will be after heavy rains, so even if one of the little guys had succumbed to the root, there was a good chance I may not have noticed him.

But ly, I didnt notice any little fishes become ensnared in my deadly little cocktail.

So with the poor conditions aside, I am here with a few more questions.

Mainly how much of the root is suggested to crush up, and also, roughly how long should it take to work? Also, any idea how long you could keep the ginger root with you before it would lose its potency?

I plan on trying again in a few days once the conditions return to normal, but any insight into this would be grand.

Thanks.

-Adam
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[AdamL]

[indent]Tried it again today since water conditions were back to normal.

Got to say it didnt do anything aside from feed the fish. I watched for about 15 minutes, and it didnt kill one little 1/2 " sized minnow in that whole time and the little guys were swarming the pulpy ginger root I had put into the water.
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[cat_man]

I gotta say it probably is not a real method to catch/kill fish.

I would use some other method in a survival situation, such as herding fish in shallow water into a corner, using a shirt or blanket as a net to scoop them,or rig up a makeshift fishing pole with a stick, some line made of whatever you've got available (fishing line, untwisting strands of twine or rope, fashioning a line from tree bark strands, etc.). You can carve sharp hooks made from sticks or spines of bushes, etc. You can also reach with your hands under undercut banks and grab hiding fish.
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[AdamL]

I have not totally given up on the ginger root tho however I am gonna attempt a different use for it.

Despite none of the fish actually dying, I was really impressed at how they totally swarmed and devoured the ginger root. They totally loved it. I like using fish nets for traps and I think next time I will try some giner root as bait and see what all it attracts.
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[addicted2fishin]

While this method may or may not work, there is one proven great use for ginger root. You can get pills of ginger root at your local store (vitamin section). Ginger root has been proven to be great at curbing motion sickness. I was on a cruise in Mexico and took a day fishing trip with 4' waves all day long rocking the boat. We took some ginger root and the motion sickness was very minimal. The people that told us about it said they got the idea from a Myth Busters show where they tested all of the usual motion sickness remedies. Ginger Root came out on top as the most effective, followed by the little patch behind your ear. AFTER those came the usual over-the-counter pills. Somewhere near the back of the pack were the bracelets.
It worked great for me. I now have a big bottle I take along when I am going to spend a day on the boat and there are likely to be waves all day.
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[davetclown]

it makes a nice ginger ale and a pretty dicent ginger snap [:p]

so try taking some cold verners and a bag full of cookies, you may not catch any fish but at least you wont have to worie about the munchies...[sly]
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[fishguy01]

I wonder if this is effective? Although ginger root has so many uses as well.
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[riverdog]

It would probable work but you’d likely need to dig up and crush a ton or more. The fish wouldn’t begin to replace those wasted calories. Lot easier ways to get fish in an emergency.
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[willami]

If you're starving why don't you just eat the ginger roots? They contains vitamins and carbohydrates, maybe then you'd be able use common sense to trap, grab, stun, net or spear fish.

Posts you won't see:
I went out and tried this, I tossed some ginger root into a local pond, came back the next day and there were thousands of dead fish, the authorities were baffled...

"Went out fishing, sprinkled some ginger powder off the side of my boat and as soon as I did two 15lb cats came belly up"

I did check google as "ginger root kill fish" and the first results were about ginger curing ick, so we don't need to call the myth busters about this. I suspect this guy ginger root with mandrake root.

Also checked "fishing with poisons" and got this site: [url "http://www.primitiveways.com/fish_poison.html"]http://www.primitiveways.com/fish_poison.html[/url]
Didn't see ginger mentioned but its a good site if you really want to learn how to use piscicides. gotta get me some indian hemp- make some fishing stuff with it, poison some fish and or dogs, maybe make chewing gum too..
Seriously, the problem with survival hunting and fishing techniques is you are almost never able to legally practice them, especially in colorado but wherever basic laws exist you shouldn't be allowed to poison water in any situation with any substance unless, somehow, its the only way to survive. Sounds like something only a sociopath would want to do.
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