Hooks can be made from pins, needles, wire, small nails or any scrap of metal, or from wood, bone, thorns, flint or shell.
Trapping and fishing · Trapping and catching food course
Make hooks and lines that catch fish
Fishing is the catching skill most people can practice legally today, with a state fishing license. The manual shows how to make hooks from almost anything and how to keep lines working while you do other jobs.
Why this matters
Fishing is the one catching skill almost anyone can practice legally today with a state license. In an emergency, fish are often the easiest protein near water, and a few hooks weigh nothing in a kit.
Step by step
Hooks made from wood, wire and thorns Wooden hook: a piece of hardwoodhardwood Wood from trees with broad leaves, like oak, maple and hickory. Burns long and makes good coals. about 2.5 cm long and 6 mm thick as the shank. Cut a notch in one end, set a point of bone, wire or nail in it, and tie it tight so it cannot move. Smaller material makes smaller hooks.
Gorgegorge The simplest fishhook: a short stick or bone sharpened at both ends with the line tied in the middle. The fish swallows it and it turns crosswise.: a small shaft of wood, bone or metal sharpened at both ends with a notch in the middle for the line. Bait it lengthwise. When the fish swallows the bait, the gorge turns crosswise and holds.
Stakeout: two springy saplingssapling A young, thin tree, usually thinner than your wrist. Springy and easy to bend. driven into the bottom with their tops just under the water, a cord between them, and short lines with baited hooks hanging from it. It fishes while you work on shelter and water.
A stakeout Bait nearly every fishing device. Small fish make bait for big ones. Worms, insects and bits of gutsentrails The guts of an animal: stomach, intestines and other organs inside the belly. all work.
Worms are bait for nearly every fish Fish rest in deep pools, under cut banks and brush, and around sunken logs. They feed hard just before a storm. Dawn and dusk are best.
Bluegill rest near cover in still water Take care of your gear. Dry lines and nets after use, and tie hooks on tight or you will lose them.
Today, practice this with a state fishing license and real tackle first, then try a homemade hook on the same water. Check your state's rules on how many lines and hooks you may use.
Tips from survival instructors
- Fish feed most at dawn and dusk, and before a storm. Midday in summer they rest in deep, shady water.
- Use bait the fish already eat there: worms, insects or bits of small fish you find in that same water.
Common mistakes
- A hook point tied loosely, so it twists away when a fish bites.
- Using no bait. The manual says nearly every fishing device needs it.
- Fishing midday in open water instead of dawn or dusk near cover.
- Leaving lines or hooks in the water where birds can get tangled.
Practice it safely
With a fishing license, catch a fish on store tackle, then try a wooden hook or a gorge on the same spot. Keep track of which one works.
Quick check
Which of these can become a fishhook?
- Only store-bought hooks
- A pin, a nail, a thorn or a piece of bone
- Nothing in the woods
Show the answer
A pin, a nail, a thorn or a piece of bone
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The app checks your answers, keeps your place in the Trapping and catching food, and works with no signal once saved.
Before you rely on thisA learning tool, not a replacement for training. In an emergency, call 911. Do not eat any plant, berry or mushroom here. This app never tells you a wild food is safe.