How to Make a Fish Hook in the Wild

Being able to make your own fishhook in the wild is an important survival skill. Not only can you catch your own fish, you can also use the hook for a variety of other jobs like retrieving items from the bottom of a crevice or ledge, or hanging your catch in a tree away from rodents and bears. These steps show you how to make your own fishhook in the wild using what you can find around you.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Knife or sharp rock
• Branch
• Twine

1. Find a branch from a hardwood tree like a maple, spruce, elm or birch that has a few branches still on it. You can also use pine if no other tree branches are available. Be sure the branch is dry; you can use wet or live branches as long as you dry them out first.

2. Whittle the branch down to a hook shaft, as small as you can while still leaving enough mass to keep the hook shaft strong. Leave a section of the branch as a grip, as well as a section at the bottom of the shaft that is a little fatter than the rest in the shape of a ball or square.

3. Bore a hole into the bottom of the hook shaft.

4. Whittle a smaller, pointed hook section from the same branch section, and then insert it into the hole.

5. Secure with pine sap, twine or anything else that might secure the hook point into the hole.

6. Cut off the grip section, and notch the top of the hook to attach your line.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use the smaller branch sections that grow off a larger branch as the hook points. These can simply be whittled into sharp hook points, but they are not always as strong. Test your hook and wood strength before you decide which one to use. You can also make a fishing hook from just about anything you have, including safety pins, keys or metal scraps.
• Making a fishing hook from wood takes a little skill, and they can break, so be sure the wood you choose is dry and strong, with no rot!

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