The fish hook is a device which is used to catch fish, with the common goal to be to impale the fish in the mouth so it can be dragged towards either land or into a boat. Many hooks have barbs, designed to prevent the fish from being able to shake the hook out of their mouth, although this practice is banned for many species for conservation reasons.
Using hooks to catch fish has been employed for millennia, with the world’s oldest fish hooks being discovered in Sakitari Cave in Okinawa Island, which have been dat
ed between 22380 and 22770 years old and were made from sea snail shells. Many more recent fish hooks have been discovered around the world, making it difficult to trace the exact origin, as the invention predates all written history. One of the earliest written references to fishing hooks is found in the Book of Job, in reference to the Leviathan.
Fish hooks have changed little in design over the years, although some of the more modern creations involve attaching hooks directly to lures, which are typically designed to look like smaller fish which larger predators would eat.
