Fish hooks

by Dave Naylor
(Bailey,Co)

The type of fish hooks with the turned in eye are fine if you are fishing above the fish. As for bank or creek fishing, all of mine have straight-up points. I use a pair of needle-nose pliers and bend the points slightly outward. So if laid upon, say your hand, and pulled by the eye the point will penetrate your skin.

Let the fish take the bait, don’t try to set the hook immediately, give the fish a chance to get it in the back of their mouth, giving more area for the hook to grab onto. Not to seem cruel, a fishhook is a hook correct?

Why stop at fish when you are hungry. Prairie dogs love raisins, racoons have a hankering for marshmallows, etc. so don’t forget to put a short steel leader in your kit. Besides from stopping an animals teeth from cutting through your fishing line with there teeth, it will also make a quick snare.

There is also an old trick I haven’t seen on any survival program. A short piece of stiff wire tied in the center and then the line layed along side of one of the ends and covered with bail i.e. slid into a worm, catches fish. Give the fish plenty of time to get the "hook" way down before setting it.

No wire you say, This is where you use you brain again. Any thorns around or piece of hard plastic you could grind to shape on a rock? Whittle down or grind a piece of hard dried wood? If possible, when making a hook as such, make a small groove around the center of the "hook" to help keep the line from sliding off the ends.