For centuries Native Americans in the Great Lakes region used decoys to attract fish for spearing through holes in the ice. The earliest decoys were weighted shells, pieces of antler and fish-shaped pieces of wood. Most decoys were intended to simulate prey species of fish but frogs, salamanders, turtles and other creatures were used. Ice spearing has been prohibited in many areas but is still allowed in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Montana. The earliest known reference to use of fish decoys appears in the diary of Alexander Henry, a fur trader in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in 1762. It is worth citing at length:

"A spearhead of iron is fastened on a pole of about ten feet in length. This instrument is lowered into the water and the fisherman…lets down a figure of a fish carved in wood and filled with lead. Round the middle of the fish-effigy is tied a small packthread; when at the depth of ten fathoms… it is made… to move forward after the manner of a real fish. Trout and other large fish, deceived by its resemblance, spring forward to seize it: but by a dexterous jerking of the string, it is instantly taken from their reach. The decoy is now drawn to the surface and the fish takes some time to renew the attack, during which time, the spear is raised and held conveniently for striking. On the return of the fish, the spear is plunged into its back and, the spear being barbed, is drawn out of the water."

A later reference in a letter from Redwing, MN, dated 1859, describes the use of "…a coy fish fashioned of wood, tin fins…" upon which "…the real fish fancy they are going to have a good meal…" [Thanks to www.oldfishdecoys.com for this and the above quotations].

The first fish decoy patent was issued in 1865 but most decoys continued to be made by countless, mostly unknown, individual carvers. As with duck and shore bird decoys, fish decoys have become an art form in their own right. Today, they are eagerly sought by collectors of North American folk art, and they can be found in corporate board rooms, socialite cabinets, hunting lodges, kitchens, cottages and even lowly fishing huts! Some ardent collectors seek only the high end, signed decoys by known carvers, while others prefer weathered but robust working decoys (as I do, myself). That is the very essence of folk art, beautiful, interesting, functional and anonymous!