Hooks

The Samoan trolling hooks with shell shanks and turtle shell points mark the highest development in local fish hooks. They leave little to be desired as regards shaping and lashing. Between the gorges and the trolling hooks, however, there seems to have been an experimenting ground from which no successful experiment has spread widely enough to create an established type in common use. A straight point tied at an acute angle to a straight shank has been successfully used but has seemingly remained local. The tilting of fish bone gorges may have led to the idea of tying a fish bone point to a straight wooden shank at an angle. This technique was used in some parts.