NOW here is a real STONE FISH HOOK

[larson1951]

I can hardly believe it
this is a real fish hook

[jeff of pa]

Nice !

Congrats !

[bravowhiskey]

what a hook. I would sure like to find one someday.

Really got to peel an eye to find stuff so small.

Good job.

BW

[uniface]

Who woulda thunk it ?

Nice !

[creek astronaut]

very nice,great find!thx for sharing

[shopdog]

nice lookin hook great find . this might sound a little odd but are you a car or truck tech im a automotive tech with hands that look just like yours my wife seen your pics wanted me to ask

[larson1951]

shopdog, I am a farmer and a contractor
thanks for your post

I am still having a hard time believing I found a flaked stone fish hook
I thought there was no such thing

[joshuaream]

Great find, actually I've really enjoyed going back and looking at some of your finds from that incredible site you hunt, but I don't think it's a fish hook... I have no doubt that it's an authentic hook, but I don't think it was used to catch fish.

A couple of years back, some collectors and a knapper tried making and fishing with stone fish hooks. Big, little, thin, fat, knapped, hardstone, ground and polished flint, burlington, flintridge, edwards, etc. stone, slate, etc. None of us could land a fish. (For those of you who like fishing, try it some time.)

The first problem was finding a way to bait the hook. Worms were out of the question, chunks of beef worked, as did dough balls and 3 inch blue gills, but really any movement and the bait came off the hook.

The second problem, was that we found that fish couldn't bit the hook hard enough to hook their jaws and it wasn't sharp enough to hook them in the gullet if swallowed whole. As example try taking that hook (or a modern stone hook) and pressing hard with your finger. You'll dent the skin, but you probably won't cut and penetrate unless you saw back and forth. As many of us have seen or felt, if you accidentally do the same thing with a metal fish hook it'll slide right through with very little pressure. I went to a pond in Indiana that is jammed with carp (you spit in the water and the fish jump to get it.) I couldn't hook a single fish (they took the bait, but I couldn't hook them.) One of the guys in Kentucky let the hook soak over night with a chunk of meat and managed to hook what he thought was a large catfish on a fairly thin hook, but the hook snapped as he was trying to pull it up.

The neat part was that a couple of the guys tried with bone hooks, and managed to land small fish (if the hook was very fresh bone, they didn't even need bait.)

[RGINN]

Neat find. I read that stone fishhooks were a popular fake years ago, but I have seen a couple found in SE Okla. and there is no way you would believe they were planted. At least you would think they were fishhooks by looking at them. So I wondered if maybe they were mounted in a handle, then used to smooth arrow shafts, pulling the hook towards you along the wooden shaft. As to Native American fishing, my grandpa and his brothers would put a bunch of green black walnuts in a gunny sack, then drag it along behind the horse over the ground on the way to the creek. This would rough the hulls up. They would throw the sack in a pool and the poison in the hulls would cause the fish to float up, and they would sack them up. These days, I prefer Rapala.

[larson1951]

josh, thanks for your post
I believe you when you say you could not 'hook' a fish with this, I think this would be impossible
but, I know I could catch a catfish pretty easy if I put something like a piece of liver on the hook
and put it out on a setline OVERNIGHT which would allow it to be SWALLOWED not hooked (I am pretty sure about this) but I know it would be impossible to catch a bluegill on somethig like this
the missouri river and its tributaries are loaded with catfish and were prolific when these village sites were lived in.
I have found quite a few needles made from catfish pectoral spikes including one needle over 5 inches long which
would have come from a catfish weighing 50 to 100 pounds
the indians in the dakotas ate lots of fish (catfish, buffalo, sheephead, walleye/sauger/saugeye, white bass, goldeye, etc.)
the other day I found a pearl from the inside of a sheephead (fish) which I will go photograph and post as an example of how fish were
important as a resource for food, tools, and ornaments
P.S. THANKS to all for the Banner!

[larson1951]

here are 2 pearls from fish called sheepshead (fresh water drum) these were found in my artifact field
they are usually about 2 to 4 pounds but can get alot bigger
2 pearls are found in each fish located in the head
they were used for making beads or ornaments (these were found in my artifact field)
I have a copper fish hook as well as many bone fish hooks
also I have many fishing weights if you would like me to post some pictures of them?

[naturegirl]

Here's why I love this forum, you can learn so much. Larson, I found a bunch of those "pearls" different sizes, and couldn't figure out what they were. Wow, now I know. And ver interesting thoughts on fish hooks as well. Thanks for posting the pic and Congrats on the banner find!

naturegirl

[Newt]

here are 2 pearls from fish called sheepshead (fresh water drum) these were found in my artifact field
they are usually about 2 to 4 pounds but can get alot bigger
2 pearls are found in each fish located in the head
they were used for making beads or ornaments (these were found in my artifact field)
I have a copper fish hook as well as many bone fish hooks
also I have many fishing weights if you would like me to post some pictures of them?

Too cool!
Newt