This is the first of ten fish caught on a carved jade hook while out at Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Island chain out of Port Hueneme, Ca. aboard the boat Sea Jay, on May 10, 2006. I caught Blue Bass, Red Snapper and Chuckle Head on this hook and it didn't break.

Most of the fish were under 3 pounds, so I didn't have the luxury of hooking a larger fish to see if it would hold, will have to carve another and try again. 

The hook broke after I put it away , not while I was fishing with it. While I was cleaning it, the tip snagged on my pants and snapped the tip off. No worries, I can make another and repair this one for a keepsake. It broke along the area where a light green chrome inclusion was in the material, probably a bad stress point.

I think this is the first time anyone has ever fished in these waters with a hook carved out of stone, let alone jade. I also used another smaller jade hook that didn't even have any bait on it and I still hooked a fish on it. I was more concerned that the hook wouldn't hold up under the pressure of a fish pulling on it but it did hold. I'll have to see how big a fish can be caught on one now. They are time consuming to carve but it does feel weird knowing that it's stone and that you can hook a fish and bring it in. I tied a snell knot to secure the 30 pound line to the hook, it held fast and never came loose. The jade material is from out of Ogden area in British Columbia, Canada. 

Kerry Bourgeois, GG
Graduate Gemologist
Orange, California

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