Catching with home-made fish hooks

[falcon]

Just been reading a related thread and viewing the pictures on it so thought I'd start a separate one.

Some of the home made hooks are beautiful creations and the whole subject fascinates me. What intrigues me most however is have you, or has anyone you know, managed to catch with one of these? I'd be really interested to hear of any accounts - where, the circumstances, type and weight of fish etc.

 

[Stuart]

I have never caught anything on mine, but thats probably due to me doing very little fishing with them, when i have tried I have just failed to rouse any intrest from the fish.

 

[jdlenton]

I've just made a cordage set like Stuarts but with a hook made from antler not wood, thorns, bone etc. and I have just started to make a fixed long line kit, I’m going to start a thread on cordage fishing gear when I finish my long line so I’ll post pictures of my kit there



Now I’ve not fished with mine yet either I’ve had a good chat with a friend who fishes a lot and about the hooks and bait to use so I’m all ready to go out and give it a try just need to find a nice small estuary and have a go I’ll report back when I’ve either caught something or snapped my fishing kit that took hours to make and come home in a huff

James

 

[den]

I have only ever caught fish on improvised hooks in salt water and then I was using nylon line.
As for fresh water hooks must have attempted a fair few over the years but have never got around to trying them out too I’ve not got my hopes up as they are to small for my fingers to make a decent small hook.

On the cordage side of things I have often wondered whether it is better to use braided instead of twisted cordage? Maybe on a small trace on a long line catching flattys that won’t do much twisting would be ok. However if the bait was suspended in the water or you had a lure of some sort on the end I think it would not be impossible for the cordage to untwist as the bait spins in the water.

I might just get around trying some cordage this year as all my fishing kit was kicked last week off my boat when I was only 20 meters away sleeping. Even took the fish I caught out of the bucket. Left the conger though

 

[spamel]

When you do try, don't get disheartened if you don't catch anything. If you watch Ray on his aboriginal britain programme of bushcraft, he doesn't sound too excited when he checks his lines and finds three flatties. This is because he bloody cheated, of his own admission, and a guy from his production team bought some fish and stuck them on the hooks just before they filmed!!!

I think he 'fessed up on radio five or something, an interview which can be listened too on their website.

 

[Stuart]

whilst I have never personally succeeded in catching anything on handmade fish hooks I have just met a man who does called Patrick, owner of backwoods survival school and when you see the stuff he makes you'll see why he succeeds were many of us have failed:

the fish lure you can see in the top of this image is painted bone!:

the pictures dont do them justice though, each one is a work of art, the lines are plaited cordage, the weights made from stone, hooks and lures made from bone and wood, even the swivels are carved from wood.

 

[falcon]

Great pics. I had a good look at Patrick's creations at the Wilderness Gathering and was awestruck - the quality is incredible..I think he also produces his own resin glue to hold everything together. He also had bowdrill sets and home-made cordage...he joined the forum yesterday and posted some pics with his first thread.

 

[Stew]

Wow! I guess practice does make perfect.

 

[Diederik Pomstra]

I hope Patric will reply on this thread...I noticed several halibut-hooks from the peoples on the Canadian westcoast: do these work on our European fishes as wel !? That would be great. A good read about those hooks and amazing native fishingtechnology is Hilary Stewarts 'Indian Fishing'.
I've been fishing with stone-age gear a bit (bone and antler curved hooks and gorgehooks, nightlines, dragging lures from a dug-out, dead bait on the bottom with line on a float etc.) but only caught two small perch once with a tiny bone gorgehook. I've made lines from twisted bark, braintanned leather and rawhide all with a gut underline because this becomes nice and supple when wet. Especially with the nightlines there were many bites, but the hooks didn't set. I guess hook size is very important.
During a four-week camp we did catch fish easily by driving fish with several people towards a wattle weir and a trap. That worked great, but took a lot of effort to build. I'd love to learn to catch efficiently with hook and line.

Any chance of a course in this subject at your school Patric??

Diederik