19th Century Fishing Tackle and Ephemera

We hope that you enjoyed this "little bit of angling history".

There are some metal Native American fish hooks for sale in the Classic Hooks section of the site!

The "Wooden Fishhooks" in the background are:
Northwest Coast of U.S. Hand Carved Wooden Halibut Hooks C 1900

"Hooks On This Page Are Not For Sale"

Bone Fish Hooks
from the Cahokia Mounds Site, St. Clair County, Illinois

This type of bone fish hook was found several years ago on the Cahokia Mounds Historic Site. They were discovered
during the excavation of the stockade wall. They appear to be made of deer bone (possibly from the toe bone). An
estimated date for these hooks is somewhere between A.D. 900 to A.D. 1300.

Fish hooks have been found on Mississippi, Woodland and Archaic sites. Bone fish hooks 8,000 to 9,000 years old have
been found in Nebraska in 1957.

To the Mississippian people, fish were extremely important source for concentrated protein. The bones from several
different varieties of fish such as flathead catfish, alligator gar, drum buffalo, largemouth bass, walleye,
channel catfish, gar and suckers are found in abundance on many Mississippian village sites.

Fish techniques varied greatly just as they do today. The use of nets in pools left by receding floodwater
would account for large and easy catches. The use of harpoons, hooks and gorges would produce
much lower volumes of fish.

The paucity of fishhooks on Mississippian sites suggests angling was of relatively little economic importance. Most
fishhooks were probably used on trot lines rather than the single lines and poles we use today.