YoYo Fishing Reels Can be Used for Fishing, Snares or Warning Devices

yoyo fishing reels

I have had YoYo fishing reels for well over twenty-five years.  The ones I have are so old they are labeled White Auto-Fisher.  For years, they seemed to have disappeared from the market, now all of a sudden they are all over the place.  They are a great item to have in your bug out bag or around your home.  YoYo fishing reels are a multi use item.  Uses include fishing, snaring small game and birds and making early warning devices.

They are a spring-loaded wheel with approximately 12 ft of 60 lb test line with a swivel on the end.  For most uses, you tie the reel to a tree or other solid anchor point.  You then stretch out the line, which turns the wheel compressing the spring.  When you get as much line as you want out, there is a small latch that you place in one of the notches in the wheel.  When the line is disturbed, it trips the latch and the spring-loaded wheel reels in the fish.  For fishing, you will need to include at least a short leader and assorted hooks.

yoyo fishing reels
In this picture you can see the latch set into the notch in the reels.

Using these to catch game is fairly easy.  If you bait a small hook, you can use them to catch small birds.  Using a larger hook, you can catch ducks, but you need to be close or they may get away.  Treble hooks work best.  They can also be used as a trigger to trip various snares for rabbits and rodents.

If you are camping and want to be warned of people approaching, these will work well.  Simply take a can full of rocks and stretch the string across the area you wish to protect.  Set the string at ankle height so that any disturbance will trigger the YoYo fishing reel. You can add fishing line to lengthen the string. When the YoYo fishing reel retracts, it will cause the can to fall or shake, warning you that someone is in the area.  There are many other ways that you can use this to trigger a warning, even using it to trigger electronic devices.

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YoYo reels can be rigged up in a variety of ways that are only limited by your imagination.  They only weigh about 2 ozs, so you can carry several.  Surprisingly big fish can be caught on them, leave them set overnight with good bait and your chances of getting a meal are pretty high.  They can be found on the internet for about $2.00 each.

yoyo fishing reels
Here you can see some uses

 

Be sure and check local game laws before using, they may be illegal to use in many states.

Howard

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5 thoughts on “YoYo Fishing Reels Can be Used for Fishing, Snares or Warning Devices”

  1. Very cool, just have to be creative with the tools you have every now and then to create something like this. :Cheers

  2. Have used yo yos for snare triggers and trip lines many times. They really work great with the shot gun shell signals. Snare triggers quick and dead humane on the animal normally breaking the neck.

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