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Fishing rod - Marcus Mummius - 07-22-2008
Salvete,
I'd like to build a fishing rod to be used in a Roman impression.
Has anyone got any sugestions?
What to use for the rod, what to use for thread etc...
Any tips and information would be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Valete,
Falco
Re: Fishing rod - brennivs - tony drake - 07-22-2008
Marcvs I have made fishing rods so I am working on some thoughts, I also carry a fishing kit in my pack and would suggest a wax cord for the thread as to the material I will see what can be used that may have been available
Regards Brennivs
Re: Fishing rod - Marcus Mummius - 07-23-2008
Quote:Marcvs I have made fishing rods so I am working on some thoughts, I also carry a fishing kit in my pack and would suggest a wax cord for the thread as to the material I will see what can be used that may have been available
Regards Brennivs
Thanks Tony! I look forward to your valuable information
Re: Fishing rod - Nemonius Agricola - 07-24-2008
I have made a fishing pole and net for my personal kit. You can see the net here:
http://rlqm.com/ftmac2008/ftmac2008.05.papilio.net.jpg
I used ash for the rod or you can use juniper or some other hard wood. As for the fishing line I used hemp rope for the fact it holds up better against salt water and other water than flax twine or rope. I also used three simple brass strips fitted the pole to keep the string from getting out of control. With this I have found that the string "reels" in easy but is almost impossible to lose tension. The rest of the string is wrapped around the bottom of the pole. As for the hooks I used iron and hammered out the top flat and worked the hook part. In the next few days I will post pictures of the rod and fishing hooks.
You might want to look up work from Oppian he wrote 3500 hexameters on the subject of fishing in the books of Halientika.
Re: Fishing rod - Nemonius Agricola - 07-24-2008
Here is the top part of the rod and the rod it self. The rod stands about 4 feet and has a taper to it from top to bottom. I also used walnut oil on the rod to waterproof it a little. The handle is just hemp twine wrapped on the bottom to get a better grip on the pole.
Re: Fishing rod - Marcus Mummius - 07-24-2008
Great stuff, thanks Jeremy. Laudes!
I'm considering carving a float too.
Vale,
Jef
Re: Fishing rod - caiusbeerquitius - 07-24-2008
A wonderful site about ancient fishing is here, though only in German.
www.schleifischer.de/
Re: Fishing rod - D B Campbell - 07-24-2008
Quote:Any tips and information would be very much appreciated.Haven't a clue about Roman fishing -- I assumed they just used nets --, but I found this picture of a fishing mosaic.
Re: Fishing rod - Nemonius Agricola - 07-24-2008
I would use a large piece of cork. You can find cork blocks in places that sell yoga supplies or sometimes sporting good stores. Or you can work old wine bottle corks if you wish too. And that way you can have a round shape or square shape. I used a cork block to make a float for the net. And based the shape on that mosaic to create the floats on the net.
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Re: Fishing rod - Marcus Mummius - 07-25-2008
Quote:A wonderful site about ancient fishing is here, though only in German.
www.schleifischer.de/
Very interesting website, thanks Christian. Luckily I can read German.
Re: Fishing rod - brennivs - tony drake - 07-25-2008
Marcivs I have not forgot your request, step daughter getting married this weekend so will get back ASAP. but the mosaic Duncan posted just what the doctor ordered
D Regards Brennivs
Re: Fishing rod - Nemonius Agricola - 07-26-2008
This is from the Roman rhetorician Claudius Aelian he wrote this in the between the 175 ad and 235ad. It comes from the work called "On the Nature of Animals" many experts beleive this to be the first accounts of fly fishing.
"I have heard of a Macedonian way of catching fish, and it is this: between Boroea and Thessalonica runs a river called the Astraeus, and in it there are fish with speckled skins; what the natives of the country call them you had better ask the Macedonians. These fish feed upon a fly peculiar to the country, which hovers on the river. It is not like the flies found elsewhere, nor does it resemble a wasp in appearance, nor in shape would one justly describe it as a midge or a bee, yet it has something of each of these. In boldness it is like a fly, in size you might call it a midge, it imitates the color of a wasp, and it hums like a bee. The natives generally call it the Hippouros. These flies seek their food over the river, but do not escape the observation of the fish swimming below. When then the fish observes a fly on the surface, it swims quietly up, afraid to stir the water above, lest it should scare away its prey; then coming up by its shadow, it opens its mouth gently and gulps down the fly, like a wolf carrying off a sheep from the fold or an eagle a goose from the farmyard; having done this it goes below the rippling water. Now though the fishermen know this, they do not use these flies at all for bait for fish; for if a man’s hand touch them, they lose their natural color, their wings wither, and they become unfit food for the fish. For this reason they have nothing to do with them, hating them for their bad character; but they have planned a snare for the fish, and get the better of them by their fisherman’s craft. They fasten red (crimson red) wool around a hook, and fix onto the wool two feathers which grow under a cock’s wattles, and which in color are like wax. Their rod is six feet long, and their line is the same length. Then they throw their snare, and the fish, attracted and maddened by the color, comes straight at it, thinking from the pretty sight to gain a dainty mouthful; when, however, it opens its jaws, it is caught by the hook, and enjoys a bitter repast, a captive."
I read some work from two Greek writers where they mention a fishing rod and fishing line."...that a good rod must be slender and springy, because a heavy rod would cast a shadow and scare the fish. The line must not have knots or be coarse, and it should be white so as to match the color of the water." Dionysius also wrote that "...an angler with two rods, four hooks apiece, and an assistant could catch more fish than a net, if good bait is used."
Re: Fishing rod - brennivs - tony drake - 07-28-2008
The mosaic looks like it shows a what would be called today a carp rod, basically a long pole with line attached, you just lift the rod and the fish will come to your hand as the line is as long as the rod. The other rod looks like it has a lure on it may be a polished plate with hook on. The post of Nemonivs that mentions flys, again great stuff it is good knowledge to know that at certain times of the year fish will only eat certain flys or larva so other baits will not tempt them. As with sea fish they will take crab,rag, lug, limpet ect but again it takes time to understand what fish will take. The rod material will be a good hard wood Ive used Greenheart which the Romans would not have had, this wood does not bend at all and the tip thickness is about 5mm from a pole that starts at about 25-30mm at the butt with a total length from 12-15 ft long. One thought hypothetical is if they could have obtained bamboo via India these make excellent cane rods, here is a link to a firm up the road who make excellent rods;
http://www.hardyfishing.com/index.php?i ... 54&pid=167
As you can see they are very thin but are very light and strong.
The hooks posted are also still used today and are much stronger tied to the line than a eyed hook which is what I use in my pack. On the other hand you could borrow the Centurians Decipede pole to use as a rod :lol: :lol: I am looking for a couple of books at the moment on rod making ect so will get back
Regards Brennivs
Re: Fishing rod - Tarbicus - 07-28-2008
This is a fascinating thread. Takes even more of the Stone Age out of our favourites.
Re: Fishing rod - Nemonius Agricola - 07-29-2008
Here is a example from Greek art of a boy fishing with a fishing trap.
http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_a ... l_start=71
The Greek historian Polybius (203 BC-120 BC) wrote in his Histories, describes hunting for swordfish by using a harpoon with a barbed and detachable head.
Fishing for sword-fish at the Scyllaean rock is carried on in this way. A number of men lie in wait, two each in small two-oared boats, and one man is set to look out for them all. In the boat one man rows, while the other stands on the prow holding a spear. When the look-out man signals the appearance of a sword-fish (for the animal swims with one-third of its body above water), the boat rows up to it, and the man with the spear strikes it at close quarters, and then pulls the spear-shaft away leaving the harpoon in the fish's body; for it is barbed and loosely fastened to the shaft on purpose, and has a long rope attached to it. They then slacken the rope for the wounded fish, until it is wearied out with its convulsive struggles and attempts to escape, and then they haul it on to land, or, if its size is not too great, into the boat. And if the spear-shaft falls into the sea it is not lost; for being made of two pieces, one oak and the other pine, the oak end as the heavier dips under water, the other end rises above it and is easily got hold of. But sometimes it happens that the man rowing is wounded, right through the boat, by the immense size of the animal's sword; for it charges like a boar, and hunting the one is very like hunting the other.
Some examples of fishing in Roman art.
http://www.biomareweb.org/3.2.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h_savill/474743588/
Notice the hand net one of the fisher men is using.