Hook Making

Part of Fishing

No hooks in your salvage kit? No problem. Humans made fish hooks from bone, thorn, shell, and wood for 40,000 years before metal hooks existed — and they caught plenty of fish.

Materials Overview

Almost anything rigid, sharp, and strong enough to resist a fish’s bite can become a hook. The key properties are: a point sharp enough to penetrate mouth tissue, a bend or angle that prevents the fish from ejecting it, and enough structural strength to hold under the pull of the fish and your line.

Material	Sharpness	Strength	Ease of Shaping	Best For
Bone	Excellent	Good	Moderate — needs carving	Curved hooks, gorges
Thorns	Excellent	Fair	Easy — natural shape	Compound hooks, small fish
Hardwood	Fair	Good	Easy — whittling	Gorge hooks
Shell	Good	Fair	Difficult — brittle	Curved hooks (coastal)
Wire/nails	Excellent	Excellent	Easy — bend with pliers	All hook types
Safety pins	Good	Good	Very easy	Immediate use
Soda can tabs	Fair	Fair	Moderate	Emergency hooks

The Gorge Hook

The oldest and simplest fish hook design. A gorge is a straight piece of material, sharpened at both ends, with the line tied at the center. The fish swallows the bait (and the gorge). When you pull the line taut, the gorge rotates 90 degrees and lodges crosswise in the fish’s throat or stomach.

Construction:

1. Select a piece of bone, hardwood, or thorn — 1 to 2 inches long (25-50 mm)
2. Sharpen both ends to fine points
3. Carve a shallow groove around the center for the line
4. Tie your line to the center groove with a clove hitch or constrictor knot
5. Bury the gorge lengthwise inside the bait — the fish must swallow the entire gorge

Advantages: Dead simple to make. Works with almost any material. Very effective on catfish, carp, and other species that swallow bait whole.

Limitations: Requires the fish to swallow the bait — does not work on nibblers. You must wait longer before setting the hook. Harder to release fish (the gorge lodges deep).

Important

Let the fish run with the bait for 5-10 seconds before pulling the line taut. If you set too early, the gorge has not been swallowed and will simply pull free.

Thorn Hooks

Nature provides ready-made hooks on many plants. Large thorns already have the curve and point — you just need to prepare and attach them.

Best thorn sources:

• Hawthorn — strong, sharp, naturally curved, 1-2 inch thorns
• Honey locust — massive thorns up to 6 inches, excellent for large fish
• Blackthorn (sloe) — dense, very hard thorns
• Acacia — paired thorns at each node, good for small fish
• Mesquite — sturdy thorns common in arid regions

Preparation:

1. Cut the thorn with a section of the branch attached — this gives you a natural shank
2. Trim the branch section to about 1 inch for the shank
3. Carve a notch or groove in the shank end for line attachment
4. Harden the thorn tip by briefly holding it near (not in) a flame — 10-15 seconds
5. Tie the line to the shank with a snell knot

Thorn hooks work best for panfish, trout, and other small to medium fish. They are fragile compared to bone or metal — carry spares.

Compound Hooks

A compound hook combines a wooden or bone shank with a separate point lashed at an angle. This is faster to produce than carving a complete curved hook from a single piece and allows you to replace a broken point without making an entirely new hook.

Construction:

1. Cut a straight piece of hardwood or bone — 1.5-2 inches long — for the shank
2. Flatten or notch the bottom end of the shank
3. Select a sharp point — a thorn, bone splinter, or sharpened nail
4. Lash the point to the bottom of the shank at a 30-45 degree angle using sinew, fine cord, or thread
5. Apply pine resin or birch tar over the lashing to waterproof and strengthen the joint
6. Carve a groove at the top of the shank for line attachment

The angle of the point matters. Too shallow (less than 20 degrees) and the hook will not set. Too steep (more than 60 degrees) and the fish can lever it free. Aim for 30-45 degrees from the shank.

Carved Bone Hooks

The highest-quality primitive hook. See Bone Hooks for detailed carving techniques. In summary: select a flat section of dense bone (leg bones of deer, cattle, or large birds), score the hook outline with a sharp flake, and carefully carve or grind to shape. A well-made bone hook is nearly as effective as a commercial metal hook.

Metal Salvage Hooks

In a post-collapse environment, metal is everywhere if you know what to repurpose.

Safety pins: Open the pin, bend the non-pointed end into a small eye for line attachment. Instant hook. Small but effective for panfish and trout.

Wire and nails: Heat the nail or wire in a fire until red, then bend to a J-shape with pliers or by hammering around a cylindrical form (another nail, a stick). File or grind the point sharp. For nails, flatten and bend the head end into an eye.

Soda can tabs: Snap off the tab, cut one side open with a knife to create a hook shape, sharpen the cut end. Weak but functional for small fish.

Paper clips: Unbend and reform into a hook shape. Too thin for anything over a pound, but good for bait fish and minnows.

Tempering Metal Hooks

If you heat-bend a nail or wire, it becomes brittle. After shaping, reheat to cherry red and plunge into water to harden, then gently reheat until the metal turns straw-yellow (about 400°F / 200°C) and let it air cool. This tempers the hook — hard enough to hold a point but flexible enough not to snap under load.

Adding a Barb

A barb prevents the hook from backing out of the fish’s mouth during the fight. On primitive hooks, carve a small notch or backward-facing shelf just below the point. On metal hooks, cut a small flap with a knife and bend it outward.

Not all hooks need barbs. Barbless hooks actually penetrate more easily because the point has less resistance. If you maintain steady tension on the line, barbless hooks hold fish just fine. Barbs matter most on passive setups like trotlines, where the line goes slack between checks.

Hook Sizing

Match your hook to your target fish. A hook that is too large will not fit in the fish’s mouth. Too small and it will bend out or fail to hold.

Target Fish	Hook Length	Material Thickness
Minnows, small panfish	1/2 inch (12 mm)	Fine — toothpick thickness
Trout, perch, crappie	3/4 inch (20 mm)	Medium — matchstick thickness
Bass, walleye	1-1.5 inches (25-38 mm)	Sturdy — pencil thickness
Catfish, pike, carp	1.5-2 inches (38-50 mm)	Heavy — thick bone or wire

Carrying and Storage

Primitive hooks are time-consuming to make. Produce extras during downtime and store them safely. Stick hooks into a piece of bark or a folded piece of leather. Keep bone and thorn hooks dry when not in use — moisture weakens both materials over time.

Key Takeaways

• Gorge hooks are the fastest to make and most effective for fish that swallow bait — sharpen both ends of a 1-2 inch piece of bone or wood
• Hawthorn and honey locust thorns provide ready-made hook points — harden tips briefly near flame
• Compound hooks (wood shank + thorn point at 30-45 degrees) are the best balance of speed and effectiveness
• Salvaged safety pins, wire, and nails can be bent into serviceable metal hooks with minimal tools
• Always make spare hooks during downtime — a single lost hook can end your fishing capability