Makau
Fishhooks
The art of fishing was greatly respected in Hawaiian society. The habits of different animals were carefully studied by anglers, and specialized gear and fishing methods were used to catch specific fish. A complete list of the types of fishhooks and their associated techniques would have been very long.
Turtle shell is the most common source for fishhooks in Bishop Museum's collections, with bone as the next most widely seen material. Composite fishhooks were made by lashing parts together with cordage.
One of the more complex composite fishhook forms were the pā uhi, or bonito lures. Bonito fish, called aku, are still one of the more popular food fishes in Hawai'i, and the pā uhi was an intricate and effective lure.
Te Rangi Hiroa, also known as Sir Peter Buck, director of Bishop Museum from 1936–1951, tells of a fishing trip off Kona using traditional bonito lures:
Maunupau lifted his catch out of the water…he dexterously caught the fish under his left arm, extracted the hook quickly with his right hand, and swung the hook back into the sea. It was astonishing how quickly the bonito took the lure. The size of the catch depended upon how rapidly the hook was dropped back, hence the barb, which prevents easy extraction, has no place on the points of bonito hooks….