# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Making Stuff >  The Genuine primitive fish hook

## erunkiswldrnssurvival

The steps to making a good wooden fish hook.... 

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

the first thing you do is split out the hook shafts from a bent grained chunk of wood with a knot in it.

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and This...

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

then you pin or peg two thorns togather and lash tightly with cordage and melted pine resin.

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and..

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

The finished product is a good hook...

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

And if a knot doesnt have the diameter and curve that you need just find a tree BURL, and you will be able to spilt off what you need. Some times seperating the wood with pressure is better than wedge splitting(For long slender curves that have sharp bends). its easy to do so dont be afraid to try it.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

Here is a book that explaines how to make fish hooks much like the ones that I make. spliting off of Burls is an alternative to the STEAM BENT WOOD hook described in his book. (Ramond Mears)THE WILDERNESS SURVIVAL HANDBOOK

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## crashdive123

Nice posts and pics.

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## Tony uk

Thanks erunkiswldrnssurvival for this idea  :Smile:

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## Jericho117

You really nailed primitive fishing. I haven't yet got anywhere close to something that good looking. Did you use sinew on the bindings of the hook?

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> You really nailed primitive fishing. I haven't yet got anywhere close to something that good looking. Did you use sinew on the bindings of the hook?


Yes the Highest quality binding is sinue, my second choice would be Stinging Nettle, the third would be Indian hemp.

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## tacmedic

I am curious if you have caught anything with hooks such as these, I have made similar ones before in practice but have never succeeded in catching anything with them.  They always seem too large to me.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> I am curious if you have caught anything with hooks such as these, I have made similar ones before in practice but have never succeeded in catching anything with them.  They always seem too large to me.


I do catch fish with this type of hook, what I use is a Grape Vine pole (30')
At the tips of the "pole" I retain a few leaves so that the hook , bait and a couple leaves , all togather promotes fish strikes.If fish can see the hook, they are less likely to strike. so adequit bait and something else to distract them.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

And also to add, for small fish the materials change. instead of thorns I would switch to bone splinters. if they are too small to tie or lash, these would have to be pressed into a live honey sucle twig and in a year or so ,the bone would be securely moored into the wood ready to use.
so theres lots of options. there are a lot of things like that are available for use , and only comunity lifestyle can support some of the practices.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

Some of the Burl Growing practices involved Introducing ants to the tree (Poplar) And they would Sting the Red oaks, Black Willow,and Hophornbeam with sea enemimies.(And the stung tree would form a Burl).And there are many other things that they did to manipulate groth to provide what they wanted.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

This is a pic of some fish bones that would make exelent fish hooks, The ribs can be lashed, resin coated, then broken down to a small size, a feasable means of obtaining a small hook when you need it.

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## RangerXanatos

Thanks!  Really good info.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

Here is a fishing spear that I made awhile back. I use the same methods to make  these also...

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## tsitenha

really well laid out thread, pictures and explanation

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## Gray Wolf

This was a good post!

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## pgvoutdoors

Nice thread, very nice pictures and techniques.

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## Ole WV Coot

Like the fish spear. Great posts and pics. Keep it up, I am learning where I messed up things like that when I was a youngster.

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## Riverrat

Nicely done. Never thought of the spear.

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## rebel

Nice work.  If looks has anything to do with function, the spear is outstanding.

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## tonester

the spear looks amazing. the way it is constructed really looks like it would be efficient at spearing fish.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> the spear looks amazing. the way it is constructed really looks like it would be efficient at spearing fish.


Thanks. It is efficient how the tines turn back toward the center shaft, when you stab a fish , the tines spread and dig in to the fish.holding it firmly in place.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

weapons like this are light weight but are extreemly effective for grabbing onto fish.

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## tsitenha

The Inuit (elders) still use a very similar fish spear head today, mostly made of caribou antlers/bones and sinew.
Good one erunkiswldrnssurvival

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## chiye tanka

Love the spear.

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## crashdive123

The spear is really interesting.  I looks as though if you use too much force to spear the fish that you may have difficulty removing it because of the barbs.  Is it?

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> The spear is really interesting.  I looks as though if you use too much force to spear the fish that you may have difficulty removing it because of the barbs.  Is it?


The barbs want to hold tight, to release you would spread them open.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

No good fish Yarn goes without a catch, so here is a couple,

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## bulrush

Nice post, erunkis. Thanks for doing it in small steps for those of us who are not familiar with this. 

For thorns, we have hawthorn bushes scattered here and there. The thorns are naturally quite sharp and strong. 

What do you use in your area?

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> Nice post, erunkis. Thanks for doing it in small steps for those of us who are not familiar with this. 
> 
> For thorns, we have hawthorn bushes scattered here and there. The thorns are naturally quite sharp and strong. 
> 
> What do you use in your area?


Hawthorn is an exelent material to use, thanks for adding that.

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## Runs With Beer

Out standing Work on the hook, Great pics to. What kind of thorns did you use?

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## canid

mears himself recommends hawthorn. i'm partial to rose aswell.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> Out standing Work on the hook, Great pics to. What kind of thorns did you use?


Hawthorn is what I favor. But the hook featured here is Pine Knot and Bass Wood Thorns.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

I found this site on primitive hooks. check it out.. 

http:www.woodcraftwanderings.org/fishing.html

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

I should also add...

http://www.150.si.edu/siarch/handbook/fish.htm

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## Rick

Very good post. Nice work!!

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

This is another type of survival spear, it is split off of a larger branch. by aiming along the Back side, the splinter sharp point finds its target. (water deflects and the angled spear head corrects it

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## RangerXanatos

I'm confused to what you're saying.  That the water will make the fish seem higher than they really are and that the bent tip will actually hit the fish since you are aiming with a higher part of the spear?

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> I'm confused to what you're saying.  That the water will make the fish seem higher than they really are and that the bent tip will actually hit the fish since you are aiming with a higher part of the spear?


Yes ,thats exactly what I said!

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## crashdive123

Refraction (diffractive effect is when a wave (light wave) is traveling through one medium (air) and encounters another medium (water) it changes speed, causing the picture you see to  "bend".  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refraction  By using a projectile with an offset tip, and aiming along the shaft and not the tip you may be able to more easily hit the target in the water (as long as the angle of the tip is consistent with the refractive index that you are dealing with).  Me????  Just spear it, if you miss, try again.

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## Rick

Here are some links to spear fishing and refraction: 

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ght=refraction

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ght=refraction

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ght=refraction

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

Good threads Rick, I have a couple effective methods of spearing fish, The "HUMMING BIRD" profile spear is one of them, splinters have loose fibers that act as Barbs,also they are Sewing Needle sharp. there is a spear Gun design that I will post later. I also make these hand lines for fishing (the hook is shaped like a fish, from a sand dollar heart)


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## Gray Wolf

Don't you think that the line is a tad to thick for the size of the hook?

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

That cordage is made from the shinny rind of a coconut husk , reducing the fibers to make a smaller cord would be very difficult with this material.

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## Gray Wolf

Okay, but don't you think it's to thick for the size of the hook? That was the question.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> Okay, but don't you think it's to thick for the size of the hook? That was the question.


no , I use these to catch cat fish and other large fish. the line will hold about 20 LBS . so its just strong enough. the size doesnt interfere with its performance.

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## Gray Wolf

Maybe I was wording this wrong, don't you think that the hook is to small for that size line?

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## Rick

It might be helpful to have a tape measure next to it. That way we can see what the hook and line sizes are. 

Do you bait the hook or use it more as a lure. The reason I ask is because you said it was shaped like a fish.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> Maybe I was wording this wrong, don't you think that the hook is to small for that size line?


no, any larger hook would be too big, a smaller line would be too weak. the hook and line in the photo are near actual size

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

If that does'nt do it for you, this method of hand drawn spear gun might be better for you.. just a piece of bamboo or cane, a length of cord, and a slender spear shaft.

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detail of the cord and spear shaft as it emerges from the tail of the spear holder

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

I have had good results with this type of spear thrower for fishing, it works great!

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

in some places the people fishing will use a spear called a "DROP BOB" and it is a heavy weight with a rope hook on one end and needle-like spear points on the other . the tool is droped on top of flounder and other simular fish

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> If that does'nt do it for you, this method of hand drawn spear gun might be better for you.. just a piece of bamboo or cane, a length of cord, and a slender spear shaft.
> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
> 
> detail of the cord and spear shaft as it emerges from the tail of the spear holder
> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.


if you make a spear head like this one and launch it with the above tool you can see the potential for success.

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And this view...

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## Runs With Beer

Do you think this will work?

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## crashdive123

If that's a coaster it's sitting on, yes.  If that's an area rug it's sitting on - that'll be one BIG fish.  Either way it looks great.

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## snakeman

Those are wicked looking spears! Where do you get thorns that big

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## Gray Wolf

> Do you think this will work?


RWB did you make that hook?

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## Runs With Beer

Yes I did, Took about an hour, Made from persimmon twig.

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## Gray Wolf

Made from persimmon twig, interesting. Did you fire harden it? What size hook would it compare to?

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## sh4d0wm4573ri7

Outstanding job great post very imformative

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## Runs With Beer

Yes it is fire hardend, is about the size of a crappie hook Which are biting good right now. wiil try it out next time out.

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## tonester

this is my first attempt at making a fish hook. i used one of the methods on one of the links erunkiswldrnssurvival posted. what do you guys think? any suggestions?

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## Runs With Beer

outstanding, Is that one peice of wood?

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## Gray Wolf

Here is a site with projects But look in the middle of the page for *how to make small and large fishhooks.* 

http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/index.htm
*
Here is the link for Birch Tar Collection Tutorial*
From the bark right through to the tar and then glue. Which you might need for attaching the hooks.

http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/birchtar.htm
*
Here's he has more of his projects with directions, and some videos.*

http://www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/...0tutorials.htm

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## tonester

> outstanding, Is that one peice of wood?


yah its all one piece. it was a smaller branch that i found, not really sure what type of wood it is.

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## crashdive123

> this is my first attempt at making a fish hook. i used one of the methods on one of the links erunkiswldrnssurvival posted. what do you guys think? any suggestions?


Take it out and try it.  If it works, you will have the comfort of knowing that you will be able to catch fish in an emergency.

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## Runs With Beer

Thats right baby! You can never get out of here alive.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

I use the hooks and stuff that I make, They work good. just make them the right size to do the job.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

Less work and less skill than building nets, the thorn hook is the prudent path to take when survival fishing worldwide.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

sometimes the best thing is the smallest gorge hook that you can lash onto a vine or other fish line..cordage, or whathever you have. i think most have trouble with fish hooks because they think big and small is most often the better.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

I have put togather a survival fishing film for youtube it outlines and demonstrates the fishhook making methods and principles discussed within this thread. 45 minuets in length i hope that you enjoy. Called survival fishing, this good project has taken me several months to complete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHkep9d0x3s 

enjoy the movie, leave a comment or question, and as always.. thank you for watching survival fishing 1,2,3,4,and 5

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