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- Aug 26, 2010
- Messages
- 7,751
I know a few of yall know i got into a bit of stone tool making but lately I got to wondering what if the old guys 15,000 years ago had the chance to drop into a Walmart or Academy and pick up some fishing supplies and go fishing what would it look like if they went back to their time and did the do? Hmmm? Would they laugh at us today for what we have done or would they suck it up and embrace it and pass it on to their heirs? What I have discovered is that they certainly had the technology but did they have any reason to do so? I have my thoughts but im going to trace this hypothetical path and see what happens. I first thought they could have used spears, atlatls, traps, chemical agents, etc but what if they could just make a dang fishing rod like we use today and catch fish just like we do today with the materials they had then and do the same. Well Im about to find out just what might have been possible way back when?
I know stone hooks have been part of history and I have managed to master duplicating some of them and its time to try them out. Heres a few example i plan to try this weekend. Target: Bass, Catfish, Bream, anything else that gets in the way?
This is a bait hook I hope to catch some small perch to use for catfish bait. Chop them up... wad them up and put them on a hook and catfish love them:thumbup:
and if that dont werk then shoot them with your scattergun and pick up the pieces
OK I need a fishing rod right? Cant use nothing but natural materials and locally available materials so luckily just about amile down the road from here I have some river cane so this looks like good a piece as any.
Its about 11 feet long so that should work just fine for a can pole. BUT!!! No. We cant just have a cane pole? We gotta be able to cast like a Neanderthal on steroids! What the hey! We can do it so why couldnt they have done it then? If a dung beetle can navigate the path of a turd by the light of the moon then should be able to catch some fish
Lets now fabricate some eyelets using elk antler. Deer will work too but Elk is bigger and has plenty of marrow to hog out but moose is too solid and would be too hard so elk it is.
This is what they might look like after carving out with a flint chip. Their shape will become more obvious once you see how I had to attach them. I have no idea if this has ever been attempted by anyone but what you are about to se is what I think I would have done if I had a glimpse of the future and had to go back to my time to go fishing.
OK time to mix up some glue. What glue? Well I made my own recipe and it is not what I have ever heard of as far as primitive glues but all the ingredients are definitely primitive and available. I used hide glue made from animal skin mixed with a bit of bees wax to prevent it from being too brittle and a bit of charcoal powder and some dog hair (got plenty of that) for fiber strength. I tested this on a few pieces of plywood and the wood tore before the glue failed so that is ultimate strength. Cant get no better than that! That leads me to believe that modern glues and adhesives you buy today at your hardware stores are no better than what was made 15000 years ago. The only reason we use modern glues is out of convenience and ignorance. Nothing more. Same with natural hide glues made from animal skins. Add bees wax to soften and make pliable as well as waterproofing. What more could you ask for. Heres the tip.
Glued and sanded ready to be tied with sinew.
OK all eyelets are glued on and aligned.
First eyelet tied on with elk sinew.I cut a groove into the eyelet so I could wrap it all around the full diameter so that when it dried it would shrink and pull tension on the antler and strengthen the whole loop. Then I tied a wrap on each side to fix it to the rod. When the sinew dries it shrinks and really makes a tight connection to the rod. The white colored sinew you see is newly wrapped and just hasnt dried yet. When this stuff is dried you cannot break or tear it. It is unbelievably strong stuff.
Since it was such a long rod I figured I'd make it a takedown rod. I carved a hardwood dowell and inserted and glued it into one end of the cane and wrapped plenty of sinew on each end to reinforce the joint so I could easily pack it.
And a bit of jute wrap for a good grip on the handle. I could have made the cordage myself and I CAN do it but to be done with the project by this weekend I had to cheat and use Jute cordage made by someone else
. Ill remove that and put my own cordage later.
My fishing kit! The shorter pieces of cane are actually floats. Cut on each side of a cane joint to make a float and if you need a bigger float use two joints. The larger piece of bamboo is my tacklebox.
I keep my hooks and stuff in the chambers and tie my line around the split pieces to hold it all together for travel etc.
The curly little wooden pieces are grape vine claspers to hold on little pieces of rock for sinkers or tying on floates etc. They are great for all kinds of stuff.
Hope yall enjoyed this! Im going to bed now and getting up way too early to show yall some fishing! Back at ya!
I know stone hooks have been part of history and I have managed to master duplicating some of them and its time to try them out. Heres a few example i plan to try this weekend. Target: Bass, Catfish, Bream, anything else that gets in the way?
This is a bait hook I hope to catch some small perch to use for catfish bait. Chop them up... wad them up and put them on a hook and catfish love them:thumbup:
and if that dont werk then shoot them with your scattergun and pick up the pieces
OK I need a fishing rod right? Cant use nothing but natural materials and locally available materials so luckily just about amile down the road from here I have some river cane so this looks like good a piece as any.
Its about 11 feet long so that should work just fine for a can pole. BUT!!! No. We cant just have a cane pole? We gotta be able to cast like a Neanderthal on steroids! What the hey! We can do it so why couldnt they have done it then? If a dung beetle can navigate the path of a turd by the light of the moon then should be able to catch some fish
Lets now fabricate some eyelets using elk antler. Deer will work too but Elk is bigger and has plenty of marrow to hog out but moose is too solid and would be too hard so elk it is.
This is what they might look like after carving out with a flint chip. Their shape will become more obvious once you see how I had to attach them. I have no idea if this has ever been attempted by anyone but what you are about to se is what I think I would have done if I had a glimpse of the future and had to go back to my time to go fishing.
OK time to mix up some glue. What glue? Well I made my own recipe and it is not what I have ever heard of as far as primitive glues but all the ingredients are definitely primitive and available. I used hide glue made from animal skin mixed with a bit of bees wax to prevent it from being too brittle and a bit of charcoal powder and some dog hair (got plenty of that) for fiber strength. I tested this on a few pieces of plywood and the wood tore before the glue failed so that is ultimate strength. Cant get no better than that! That leads me to believe that modern glues and adhesives you buy today at your hardware stores are no better than what was made 15000 years ago. The only reason we use modern glues is out of convenience and ignorance. Nothing more. Same with natural hide glues made from animal skins. Add bees wax to soften and make pliable as well as waterproofing. What more could you ask for. Heres the tip.
Glued and sanded ready to be tied with sinew.
OK all eyelets are glued on and aligned.
First eyelet tied on with elk sinew.I cut a groove into the eyelet so I could wrap it all around the full diameter so that when it dried it would shrink and pull tension on the antler and strengthen the whole loop. Then I tied a wrap on each side to fix it to the rod. When the sinew dries it shrinks and really makes a tight connection to the rod. The white colored sinew you see is newly wrapped and just hasnt dried yet. When this stuff is dried you cannot break or tear it. It is unbelievably strong stuff.
Since it was such a long rod I figured I'd make it a takedown rod. I carved a hardwood dowell and inserted and glued it into one end of the cane and wrapped plenty of sinew on each end to reinforce the joint so I could easily pack it.
And a bit of jute wrap for a good grip on the handle. I could have made the cordage myself and I CAN do it but to be done with the project by this weekend I had to cheat and use Jute cordage made by someone else
. Ill remove that and put my own cordage later. My fishing kit! The shorter pieces of cane are actually floats. Cut on each side of a cane joint to make a float and if you need a bigger float use two joints. The larger piece of bamboo is my tacklebox.
I keep my hooks and stuff in the chambers and tie my line around the split pieces to hold it all together for travel etc.
The curly little wooden pieces are grape vine claspers to hold on little pieces of rock for sinkers or tying on floates etc. They are great for all kinds of stuff.
Hope yall enjoyed this! Im going to bed now and getting up way too early to show yall some fishing! Back at ya!
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