Phase 02 — Stone, bone, wood and fibre toolkit / About year 1
02.14
Bone and shell fish hooks with line
AWhat it needs
Needs 6 other products in all, 3 of them directly.
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- 02.14 Bone and shell fish hooks with lineFood Year 1 needs 6 products
- 01.05 Twisted plant-fibre cordMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
- 01.03 Sharp stone flakeMaking Year 1 needs 1 product
- 01.02 HammerstoneMaking Year 1 raw materials only
- 02.03 Stone knives, scrapers and engraving pointsMaking Year 1 needs 3 products
- 02.01 Knapping kitMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
- 02.04 Sandstone grinding slabMaking Year 1 needs 1 product
Open a box to see what it needs. A dashed box is a product already drawn in full: click it to jump there. In the org chart, drag to move around.
BWhy
The stone trap catches what the tide brings. A hook and line reach the fish that stay in deep water, off rocks and in the river, and a line left set overnight fishes while everyone sleeps.
CYou need
DSteps
- Straight hook: grind a bone splinter as long as the top joint of a finger to a sharp point at both ends. Cut a shallow groove round the middle and tie the line there.
- Bait it by threading the bait along the splinter so it lies in line with the cord. A fish swallows it whole; a pull on the line turns it crosswise in the throat.
- Curved hook: take a flat piece of shell or bone the size of two fingernails. Bore a hole through the middle of it first.
- Enlarge the hole by grinding and scraping, then cut through from the hole to the outside on one side. What is left is a ring with a gap: the shape of a hook.
- Grind one end of the ring to a sharp point that curves inward. Grind a notch or a small knob on the other end, to hold the line.
- Tie the line on with several turns below the knob and a tight knot, and wet it so it shrinks.
- Line: for each hook, a fine cord at least ten paces long. Tie the sinker a forearm above the hook.
- Bait with shellfish, worms or fish gut. Fish at dawn and dusk.
- Set lines: tie six hooks on short cords to one long cord, anchor both ends with stones in the shallows at low tide, and collect at the next low tide.
- Dry lines after use and check every knot.
EIt worked if
- The curved hook holds a fish as long as the forearm without breaking or opening.
- A set line of six hooks brings in at least one fish most nights.
FWhat goes wrong
- The curved hook snaps at the bend. The shell was too thin, or the cut was made before the hole. Hole first, and leave the bend thick.
- Fish take the bait and go. The point is blunt or points outward. Sharpen it and curve it in.
- The line parts. A weak join in the cord. Test every length by pulling hard before trusting it.
- Crabs strip the bait. Lift the baits off the bottom with a float.
GIn the story
Tane's grandfather carved hooks from shell, and Tane was told as a boy that the bend of a hook is the shape of a promise. He makes his first on the island in an afternoon and wears a spare on a cord round his neck. Imani twists the finest line she has ever made, to prove she can, and it holds.
HFigures
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