Some new fishing hooks

[torjusg]

I made some new fishing hooks, haven't tested them yet though. All of them are "of course" made with stone tools only. For scale: The broken needle is 5cm long.

From lower left corner clockwise:
- Small hook made of sheep bone.
- Needle made of reindeer antler (That is the one I started on in the lavvo this summer, Chris, Ian and Neil).
- Needle made of duck bone.
- Hook made of reindeer antler (The reason why it is so bulky is because this particular piece was a little weak).
- Hook made of birch.
- Lumpy needle made from elk antler, broken in the eye. Will be reused as a barb for a fishing hook like the next one.
- The sinew needs some trimming and pitching. The stem of this hook is made of aspen and the barb is a small halibut bone.

 

[leon-b]

very nice
leon

 

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

Great work :You_Rock_

I've fished for 30 years and have no doubt that these hooks would perform well.

Thanks for sharing the picture

BTW - what would be you prefered "line"?

Phil.

 

[torjusg]

Thank you for your kind words.

Phil
I am braiding a fishing line of nettle. Have just finished 3m now though. Aiming for about 10m. Also have a antler spoon lure under way. The largest antler hook may be fitted for that one, for fishing pike and large lake trout.

 

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

Thank you for your kind words.

Phil
I am braiding a fishing line of nettle. Have just finished 3m now though. Aiming for about 10m. Also have a antler spoon lure under way. The largest antler hook may be fitted for that one, for fishing pike and large lake trout.

WOW - that is a wonderful project and i wish you "tight lines" when you take these hooks out for a fishing trip.

As for the line - how will this cope with being stored/how will you preserve the line beofre use?

The spoon lure sounds wonderful - please send me a picture when you made it, I'd love to see it

Phil.

 

[queeg9000]

What a superb bit of craftsmanship, please let us know how they perform, and what you catch with them! :You_Rock_

 

[JonnyP]

I can't see the picture, but it seems others can, Hmmmm....

 

[Snufkin]

Really nice work. Have you had any luck with primitive fishing? And remember to dry your nettle line after fishing, don't leave it coiled up wet and come back a week later to a mouldy mess (experience speaking ).

 

[Moonraker]

Lovely work torjusg

Can you give an idea of just how you created the hooks with stone implements?

 

[torjusg]

Thanks again all.

Thank you for the tip snufkin. I have never been successful with the primitive hook and line before, but these hooks are of a far better quality than any former attempts. Spearfishing with everything from bone to wooden points I have successfully many times. Also handfishing and whacking them with a simple stick can be quite effective.

The antler hooks are generally inspired by the antler hook tutorial of Patrick from Backwoods Survival School. The wooden hook was easy, just whittled with flint from a cleft branch and burnished to help keep out the water. The composite hook stem was simply tapered to one side and the barb lashed on top.

I have discovered one thing when making bone/antler hooks that isn't mentioned in Patrick's tutorial. If you use a rounded section of antler or bone, you will more easily get the desirable profile he talks about.

 

[seany boy]

Hi Torjusg
Fantastic work, :You_Rock_ i think its great that so many of the things made by people while involved in bushcraft are beautiful and practical too.

Incidentally, i was wondering how your name is pronounced. Excuse my ignorance but we are so lazy were other languages are concerned.

 

[dwardo]

I vote that you should post a few tips and how too`s plus pictures as this looks like a perfect fire side activity for those early nights......

PS please lol

 

[torjusg]

Seany boy

Well, it is kinda hard to pronounce correctly for Brits I think. Not being too good at phonetics I think I'll pass on trying to explain. (The g is just the first letter of the surname, the first name is Torjus )

For antler and bone hook Patrick's tutorial is very good (I used handdrill instead of bowdrill though):
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=8238&highlight=antler+hook

For wooden and composite ones: I'll write it on my list and see what happens, but I wouldn't expect too much within a few weeks.

A tip when working with bone and especially antler:
Use water (saliva etc... preferably varm water). It really makes the antler softer, by coating it just barely will soften the outer layer instantly, scrape it off and wet again. Makes life a lot easier.

The needles are easy, only problem is making the tiny eyes for the thread. Make the holes before you finish the rest of the needle (but after you have cut out the blank. Otherwise you may easily risk the hole becoming a weak spot on the needle.

 

[mtnfolk mike]

wow.. great job on those hooks and needles.... i've been trying to make some of those lately......

thanks for the link too...

 

[torjusg]

Now finished with the line, I didn't have enough fibres for more than approximately 6m. The line is less than 2 mm thick, made of nettle and seems very strong. The line was braided.

Please excuse the untidy coiling on this particular picture.

 

[penvisser]

It all looks very very good, an inspiration to try this myself.

Penvisser

 

[Burnt Ash]

I've fished for 30 years and have no doubt that these hooks would perform well.

Please believe me when I say that I have no wish to pee on anyone's picnic, but I've fished for over 40 years and have grave doubts that these hooks would perform at all, let alone well.

Folk art is one thing; practical gear is another.

Burnt Ash

 

[torjusg]

Please believe me when I say that I have no wish to pee on anyone's picnic, but I've fished for over 40 years and have grave doubts that these hooks would perform well.

Folk art is one thing; practical gear is another.

Burnt Ash

Feel free to suggest improvements.

And by the way, I have probably caught somewhere in the region of 25000 trout with regular hook and line in my rather short fishing career (20years). What I have most doubts about is really the thickness of the line. I doubt it will perform too good in summer in clear water, because of visibility. As long as the hook isn't too big and is possible to cover it in bait, I see no reason why it shouldn't catch fish.

 

[Burnt Ash]

Feel free to suggest improvements.

Well, okay then: here are some ideas. Fish hooks rely mainly on sharpness for penetration and efficacity. Some thorns; some fish bones (maybe) might achieve this, but everything else is unlikely to be sharp enough as well as strong enough for the required penetration in order to be effective. Gorges are something different: here we're talking about something sharp enough to catch in the fish's gullet so as to allow the gorge to 'toggle' and jam sideways into the wall of the throat. Here, sharpness is important, but less critically so than for a true fish hook. Take it as read that gorges are at least an order of magnitude (probably two) less efficient than modern, sharp steel fish hooks in the ordinary line capture of fish.

Apart from a knife and reliable firestarting equipment, I maintain that a few fishhooks and a few metres of modern monofilament fishing line are the best investments in terms of cost, weight/volume to be carried, against potential survival return (provided you're somewhere where fishing is a practicable means of food gathering).

Burnt Ash

 

[torjusg]

I hear what you are saying Burnt Ash and I was a little concerned that my hooks wern't sharp enough. I have sharpened them quite well now. Bone and antler can become quite sharp.

The wood hooks seems to be unlikely to be able to penetrate. Though I have seen people on Norwegian television actually using hooks made from juniper for this purpose. I think fire hardening is the key.

My usual quarry; the trout, is quite a lot softer in the mouth compared to for instance pike, which I would judge as very hard to hook with bone hooks. Though I am sure it would be possible. For instance beaver bone, is much harder than many other bones.

Bone and antler hooks are fairly common objects in some archeological sites. If they didn't work, they wouldn't have bothered making them.

I am going fishing this weekend and I will test some of them then.