Ozarkers found plenty of ways to harvest fish. I posted something a while ago on bowin' and spikin' a few months back. I was inspired by a book written by Ray Joe Hastings about river gigs and bow gigs. The spikes were hefty arrows made of cedar, sassafras, pine and cypress and the bows made of much the same.
HOWEVER, this off shoot was also used. It is not a bow but I am posting it here. If I am in error I am sure the moderators will graciously move it where it belongs.
In the age when sling shots were becoming popular this adaptation was used in the Ozarks to launch spikes at fish. Hastings found one and published a bit on it in his book. I took some measurements of his original artifact and made one of my own.
I used a cedar handle, upholstery thread, inner tube slices, and some diacron 50 for the string. There was no remaining strap or cord but I made some educated guesses after visiting with Hastings about the matter. Hastings made one too.
I mad ethis one to "look right but found out quickly that modern inner tubes are not made of real rubber. They have little elasticity or pull. So I will make a working version that has surgical tubing for straps.
Fish beware.
