The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1891-01-22
ICE FISHING IN THE ARCTIC.

ICE FISHING IN THE ARCTIC.
How the Esquimaux Provide Their Means Of
Living.
wherever there is a level field OF
this seasons ice inclosed by lines OF
hummocks the fish are sure to be
plenty. Such a field as this, about
half mile long, practically afforded
living to most of the people in the
village during the season of 1883, be-
cause that year the ice was very I'M
favorable for sealing and food was
pretty scarce in the vicinity" says
Forest and Stream, writing on fishing
in the Arctic regions.
1.-The fishing is carried on mostly by
the women and children, though one
or two old mon generally go out and
one or two Of the younger mon, when
they cannot go sealing and food is
wanted at the house, will join the fish
ing party.
each fisherman is provided with a
long-handed icepick, which he fire.
quently leaves sticking in the snow
near the fishing ground; q long line
made Of strips of whalebone, reeled
lengthwise on slender wooden shut
tie about eighteen inches long and
provided with copper sinker and two
pear-shaped 'jigs' of walrus ivory,
armed with four barbless hooks of cop
per, and scoop or dipper made of
reindeer antlers with a wooden ham
die about two feet long. Hardly an
Esquimau, and especially no Esqui-
mau boy, stirs out of the h ouse in the
winter without one of these scoops in
his hand. 10 every party of two or
three will also be a good-sized bag of
sealskin, generally made of a piece of
an old kayak cover, for bringing home
the fish. Arriving on the fishing
grounds each proceeds to pick hole
through the ice, which is about four
feet thick, clearing out the chips with
the scoop. The jigs' are then let
down through the hole and enough
line unreeled to keep them just clear
Of the bottom where the fish are play
ing about. The reel is held in the
right hand and serves as short rod,
while the scoop is held in the left hand
and used to keep the hole clear of the
scum of new ice, which, Of course, is
constantly forming. The line is kept
in constant motion, jerked up quickly
a short distance and then allowed to
drop back so that the little fish that
are nosiug about the white 'jigs' after
the manner of Goldfish, are hooked
about the jaw or in the belly.
GAS soon as the fisherman feels a. fish
on his hook ne catches up a blight of
the line with his scoop and another
below this with his reel and thus reels
up the line on these TWO sticks in loose
coils until the fish is brought to the
surface, when a skilful toss throws him
off the barbless hook on the ice, where
he gives one convulsive flap and almost
instantly freezes solid. The elastic
whalebone line is thrown off the sticks
without tangling and paid out through
the hole again for another trial. If
fish are not found plenty at the first
hole the fisherman shifts his ground
until he strikes a school," They are
sometimes so plenty that they may be
caught as fast as they can be hauled
up. One woman will frequently hring
in upward of a bushel of little fish
they are generally about five or six
inches long-from a days fishing.
This fishing lasts until about tn g
middle of May when the ice begins to
soften. A good many are also caught
along the shore in November in about
a foot of water, when there are no tide
cracks in the ice. At this season the
Esquamaux use a little rod about two
feet long with short line and a little
ivory squid, at which the fish bite.''