News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-02-18
Fish-Spearing Through the Ice.

About thirty years ago was stranded
by the severe winter weather, which put
stop to navigation, at the old army
station of Green Bay, now q flourishing
city in the great State of Wisconsin, at
the mouth of the Fox River-at the
southwestern extremity of long arm of
Lake Michigan. l hadsfrequently no
ticed on Fox River curious lot of black
dots on the Ice, in the retired hooks and
cOves along the farther shore. "What
are they 2' asked; and the invariable
reply was : "They are Indians fishing"
This puzzled me still more, and l re-
solved to investigate. So one day l
crossed the frozen river, and, approach
ing one of those mysterious black dots,
found 1t to be apparently only a bundle
in q blanket, scarcely large enough to
contain human form. But, looking
closer, could see, first from one bundle
and then from another, the quick mo-
ton of pole, Oh spear handle, bobbing
up and down. A word, touch, even a
gentle push, only called out q grunt in
reply, but at last one bundle did stretch
into bright young Indian brave with
wondering and wonderful eyes peering
at me from under a mop of black and
glossy hair. A little tobacco, little
pantomime, and little broken English
succeeded In making him understand
that | wished to know how he carried ON
his fishing under that funny heap.
Then l saw it all Seated, Turk fash
ion, on the border of his blanket, which
he could thus draw up so as to entirely
envelOp himself in it, he was completely
in the dark, so far as the daylight was
concerned; and, thus enshrouded, he
was lowering over round hole in the
ice, about eighteen inches in diameter
A small tripod of birch sticks erected
over the hole helped to hold up the
blanket and steady a spear, which, with
a delicate handle nine or ten feet long,
was l--~s~aW-~e rlgnt hand, the tines
resting siedge of the hole, and the
end of the pole sticking through an
opening in the blanket above. From
the other hand, dropped into the water
a string on the end of which was rude
wooden dccoy fish, small enough to rep
resent bait to the unsuspecting perch or
pickerel which should spy it. This de-
coy was loaded so as to sink slowly, and
was so moved and Unanswered as to iml-
tate the motions of living fish.
Crawling under the blanket with my
Indian friend, | was surprised at the
distinctness and beauty with which
everything could be seen by the sub
dued light that came up through the
ice. The bottom of the river, six or
eight feet below us, was clearly visible,
and seemed barely four feet away. The
grasses, vegetable growths, and spots of
pebbly bottom formed curious little
Ylstas and recesses, in some of which
dreamily foated a school of perch and
smaller fish. Each little air bubble
sparkled like a gem, and the eye de
lighted in tracing and watching the
mystery of beautiful water formations,
where every crevice seemed a little fairy
world, with changing lights or shadows
made by the sunlight through the trans
parent ice.
Suddenly, from somewhere could
not tell where, it seemed to come by
magic-a large ''dory," or ''moOn-eycd
pike" appeared on the river bottom.
The watchful Indian slowly raised the
decoy bait toward the surface, the
larger fish following it with interested
and puzzled eyes. There was a sudden
movement of the spear; down it dartcd
It's sharp prongs pierced the unsuspect-
ing pike, which was speedily drawn up
and throw wriggling on the ice. Then
the blanket was read justed, and the
fishing was resumed. My bright young
Indian friend said he could catch from
twenty to thirty pounds of fish in an
afternoon in this manner, and somctimcsFi
could even secure double that quantity.
j. o. RooRBACH, in st. Nicholas.