Bow & River Gigs

Attention All Fishermen! Bow Gigging is alive and well in the Ozarks!

By Ray Joe Hastings
After a lifetime of avid practice and 16 years of devoted, extensive research, Ray Joe Hastings has compiled a landmark story documenting the history, techniques and methods of a native sport anthropologists say is exclusively Ozark and that still thrills hunters and fishermen today.

From its ancient Indian roots to its adaptation and development by early settlers in the region, through its modern refinement, Hastings has documented, like no one else, how this important skill has lived on as its participants transitioned from survival to sport.

Meet the gig makers, past and present, rare, skilled craftsmen, still firing up their forges and producing the same sturdy gear their ancestors used in the same beautiful clear streams they fished for the past two centuries. Richly illustrated with detailed, full-scale photography of Hastings’ extensive collection, along with others, showing the progression of designs and the many variations of gigs and spikes used through the years as well as those used today.

Truly a fascinating account of Ozark folk heritage for the next generation to enjoy that will be an essential part of any fisherman, hunter or historian’s library.