Fish spearing through the ice, and the use of decoys to lure
Northern Pike, Muskellunge, and Sturgeon to the area under the hole
in the ice where the spearer sits inside a windowless "darkhouse,"
has been a popular sport, and before that, an important source of
food for Native Americans ("First People" in Canada, to maintain the proper level of pc-ness) and European immigrants, for hundreds of years.  The sport is shrinking as animal rights types in the
Northern states and Canada make inroads against "sport" fishing or
hunting for food, but spearing is still enjoyed by aficionados in
Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and other cold-weather states and provinces.

On the other hand, collecting spearing decoys is a growing hobby (do a search on eBay for "fish decoy" and see how many come up.)

I started carving fishing lures, and then decoys, a couple of years
ago. I usually carve them out of basswood, but almost any wood
works. The fins are made of copper or aluminum flashing material.
I weight each decoy with lead, so the decoy will sink slowly
and "swim" as it is lowered and raised by the fisherman. I use an
airbrush and hand brushes to paint the decoys with acrylic paint,
then spray on two coats of clear coat.

Every decoy is different, because I try to match each one to one of the endless variety of colorations that I have seen in the fish I've caught and oserved over the years. I really enjoy the process, mainly because it brings back wonderful memories of fishing the lakes and streams of Michigan over the past five decades or so.

So far, I've given most of my decoys to family and friends as
presents and donated a couple for charity auctions.  I sold a few of
them on eBay last month, but I haven't really decided if that's the
best way to sell them. If anyone has any questions about decoys or
carving them, feel free to email me.

Herb Harroun
WTHS '64