Hook, Line, and Sinker

Most of us have fished at one point or another, but chances are it was with a rod and reel.  However, if you're ever in dire need of food and don't have a rod, you can create your own hook and line with materials around you. Hooks can be fashioned out of wood and bone, and fishing line can be substituted with natural cordage.  The type and size of the hook depends on what you will be fishing, but Tom Brown Jr.'s Field Guide To Wilderness Survival shows a few examples.

All of these hooks were created out of wood, fairly dry and not rotted.  A little bit goes a long way - it took only one thin branch to make all three.  The first hook resembles a traditional metal hook, and was made using part of the branch that already had a hook-like protrusion sticking out of it. 

Once it was slimmed down, I sharpened the edges with a knife and created a notch at the top to tie the line.  If you don’t have a knife though, its possible make one using a rock.  Trails.com has a simple guide to doing so, but in a pinch anything sharp enough will do the trick. If possible, its best to create a barb on the small protrusion to increase the chance of hooking the fish. Given that I was dealing with such a small piece of wood, I elected not to cut a barb for fear of breaking the hook.



The next hook was cut out of a cylindrical branch, then sharpened on both sides with a notch in the center for the fishing line. The Field Guide To Wilderness Survival refers to this as a "skewer gorge hook". In order to work it must be parallel to the line when swallowed.

The last hook was most complicated, consisting of two skewer gorge hooks lashed together with milkweed fiber. Called a "scissor hook", it opens up once swallowed. Getting the two pieces lashed together proved tricky, but I'll be interested to see if it stays together when I test it.


You can add a rock as a sinker (just put a notch or two in it) and a light stick as a floater. All that's needed is more line. I used milkweed bark and fiber, made into small pieces of cordage by using the same technique demonstrated in the earlier post. This was the most difficult part. Making cordage strong enough not to break and yet thin enough to act as fishing line was a bit of a challenge, and I'm still not sure whether it will hold up if I hooked a fish. So in a relatively short time I was able to make three hooks and a bit of line. If I had more milkweed (and daylight) I would have tested them today, but hopefully I'll get the chance soon.

Being able to create your own hooks, like many other survival skills, allows for a greater degree of confidence when in the outdoors. It's nice to know that you have your own abilities to fall back on if you ever choose (or are forced) to find food for yourself. However, if you do decide to cast a line keep in mind than overfishing is becoming a major problem - toss the fish back if you don't absolutely need it.

Learn more about overfishing
Learn more about Tom Brown Jr.