Catawba Cane Fishing Arrows

[swamp monkey]

Catawba people lived in the Deep South in what is today the Carolinas.  They had plenty of wading streams to access and lots of fish to harvest.  They crafted a clever fishing arrow that was made from the native river cane (Arundinaria gigantea).   Their arrows were simple to make, easy to sharpen and effective for taking fish.  You do not have to live in the Catawba’s former range to craft or use these fishing arrows and here is how you get started.  
To craft your own select cane shafts that are at least a year old, ˝ inch thick at the base and 44 inches long or greater.  Bundle these and season them for a few months.  When ready select some shafts to straighten to your liking and sand the nodes down a bit to prevent them from scraping your knuckles when you shoot.  So far this is a lot like making typical river cane arrow shafts.  
Follow this with filing or cutting string grooves in the nock end.  Shallow grooves will require a pinch release.  If you like the three finger method you will want slightly deeper grooves.  
The last step is to cut the double tipped point.  You will be taking advantage of the cane’s hollow nature.   You will cut at a shallow angle shaving off a wedge shaped section on opposite sides.  It may take you numerous whittling strokes to accomplish this but the overall effect is removing a wedge.  See the diagram below for details.  
You may want to sand the face of the point for precise sharpening.  
When fishing you will notice the arrow is fast and requires a full draw to keep on moving in the water.  It is light weight and you won’t be penetrating numerous feet of water depth with it.  Even experienced archers will miss fish and the good news is you will not need line or a reel for these arrows.  The cane floats easily and wading through the summer time water will allow you to regain your ammunition.  
The tips are not exceptionally tough so you will need to re-sharpen them after a few strikes on gravel and rocks.  A few strokes from a pocket knife and your arrow is ready for fish again.  When I fish like this I carry a number of arrows made in this way.  I hate to make it sound like they are disposable but they are not made to last for a long time.  I doubt the Catawba considered them to be durable.
If you make some and fish with them, bring a stringer or a gunny sack to hold your spoils. Oh, and bring a friend.  It is clearly a buddy oriented activity.  Enjoy.

[david w.]

Very cool. I will need to try this

[aero86]

thats awesome..  ive been wanting to get into primitive bow fishing, thats perfect as ive got plenty of river cane dried..

[JustinNC]

This one grabbed my attention. I grew up and lived in Catawba County all my life until 2 years ago. Live just across the river (catawba) now.

Neat!

[LEGIONNAIRE]

Pretty nice. Are those the finished arrows? or do you use flethcings?

[maddog314]

would you be ablle to cut barbs on those?

[swamp monkey]

Pretty nice. Are those the finished arrows? or do you use fletchings?

The resources I have do not indicate fletching were ever used by the Catawba, but there may be some historians out there with more insight than I have.  Obviously sinew and hide glue will not last long with this style of use.  With some other tribes I am aware of use of goose feather fletching and fine cordage wraps.  I have done some replicas of these too and will perhaps do a post on that.  I used phragmites but yikes that stuff is hard to straighten.  They break so easy. 

One note here I have never used these arrows from a boat.  This is a wading endeavor. 

[swamp monkey]

would you be able to cut barbs on those?

barbs, hmmm.  i have not experimented with it but suspect the point is not the place to do that as the cane is thin there.  If I was going to do something I would slide about 2-3 inches down the shaft and put some annular rings that point down the shaft.  I will see about rigging one up like this and posting my idea.  interesting idea. 

[JackCrafty]

Always good to see Native American arrows being discussed.   

I've seen a reference to Catawba arrows being fletched with whole feathers (singly or in pairs) that are simply laid flat along the shaftment and tied down on the ends with very thin cordage.  Encyclopedia of Native American Bows, Arrows and Quivers, Vol. 1, page 81.

[Pat B]

Also, I think the extra length helps to stabilize these fishing arrows without fletching. I have seen pics of African and South and Central American natives using long arrows(some man size) with no fletching for fishing.

[maddog314]

that picture looks like he has a barb on that one. you could just take your knife and partially ct into the bo and that would create a barb. MAybe somthing simular to this

[swamp monkey]

Always good to see Native American arrows being discussed.   

I've seen a reference to Catawba arrows being fletched with whole feathers (singly or in pairs) that are simply laid flat along the shaftment and tied down on the ends with very thin cordage.  Encyclopedia of Native American Bows, Arrows and Quivers, Vol. 1, page 81.

excellent information.  I now realize I may have mis-communicated that I was unaware of the Catawba fletching arrows.  I looked that reference up and indeed those are fletched arrows.  however, what I was trying to say was I was unaware of the Catawba fletching their fishing arrows like this style.  Sorry if I caused any confusion.  I appreciate the diligence and quality information.

[swamp monkey]

here is a combo I cranked out during lunch using a pocket knife and a dremel.  It shows an experiment with the barbs mad dog mentioned and the annular rings I mentioned earlier.  I knocked this out really fast so i can go hunting this afternoon. Call it Catawba version 2.0   The barbs could go a bit deeper.  The annular rings work like tire spikes in not letting soft flesh pass easily over them in the wrong direction.

[maddog314]

That looks sweet . Let us know how they work..

[Parnell]

This is a very cool post.  I'm going to have to give this a go - thanks.