Arizona silver belt., 1893-12-16
DEC0YING FISH.
sKlLlFuL INDIANS OF THE NORTH
 HAVE QUEER METHODS.

They Cut noIe In the Ice, Build Hut
 over the Hole and Let Down Decoy
 Through tho Icr-- Pooling Innocent orea-
 lures of tho Deep Lakes.
 "You have heard of shooting game by means Of daooy birds often enough no doubt" said an old sportman the other day, but doubt if you ever heard of fishing by means of decoy fish, where the decoy was not used for bait. 1 never saw it done myself till l visited GeoY- gian bay a part of Lake Huron, in Can. ada. one winter There found that the half breed Indians erected huts on the frozen bay and fished through holes cut in the ice by means of queer decoy. ''In order to facilitate matters, some of them had little stoves in their huts to keep them warm while they fshed. The huts had only one opening, door, and when the fisherman had entered and closed the door no light entered the hut except what came up through the floor, reflected through the ice outside and the water underneath it. This made it pos sible for the fisherman to see deep down 1 into the water and difficult for fish to see him in his dark hut. The fisherman has chair or bench to sit upon, food and drink to keep life in him during his | long watch and little stove to prevent chill. Now comes the decoy business.
 "The half breed takes out of his kit queer looking stick, painted and shaped roughly to look like fish, he ayers, | though it would hardly be breaking tho | second commandment to worship it, for 1 it is the likeness of nothing in the heav- ems above, or on the earth beneath, on in ! tho water under the earth; but if the fish | think 1t is the main object is accom- plished. This wooden counterfeit of a l fish is loaded with lead, so that it sinks and lies in the water the right way when suspended from the middle of the back | by string attached to a short fishing pole. The Indian lets this decoy down into the water and by means of the string | gives it series of short, sharp jerks, which make it dart hither and thither in remarkably lifelike manner, al- | though, of course, its range is exceeding. | ly limited, about yard in any direction
 "The thing is provided with tin fins and tail and Is weighted with lead most heavily at the head. Tho string is at. tached nearer the head than the tail, upon the back, and the skill with which these fishermen make the queer thing shoot about in a triangle under their feet, through hole in the ice, is truly remarkable. did not succeed in ac quiring the art myself. l should say from trying 1t that it is rather more diff fcult to learn than fy casting.
 Presently few fish, noticing this deooy darting about as if in active pur suit of his food, swim that way to see if there is not something there for them also. They may be fresh water herring. salmon, trout whitefsh or less valuable game; but none of them, big or little, is refused by the half breed. Fine fish he sells; the coarse ones he or his dogs or his children or his squaw eat readily.
 Pulling up his decoy, the fisherman lets down a haited hook and tries his luck on the newcomers, seldom in vain These men fish with all sorts of queer ] I haul one day using for bait only big white bone button without any hook The fish swallowed 1t greedily, and he would jerk them out of the water before they could getit out of their threats By and by pike or dogfsh, seeing the shoal of fish around the pole, darts after them. They scagser ln a hurry, and the fisherman lets down his decoy again to attract the pike.
 Now all the skill at his command must be employed to make the decoy work well, for if it lags in the water long enough for the pike to suspect its genuineness he will turn away in dis. gust If the deeoy deceives the willy pike he dashes at it, and the fisherman jerks it away before the pike can grab il in his strong jaws. The pike turns tc pursue, and as he halts to turn the fisher. man drives at him with long forked spear. If his aim is accurate, the pike i: transfxed and is brought bleeding to the surface in @ jiify.
 "These men are skilled hunters and know many curious habits of the crea lures they pursue. They say that musk rats, for instance, are able to swim long distances under the ice in this manner Taking a long breath, the muskrat dives from his pursuer and swims as far as ht can. When he can go no longer without a fresh breath, he comes up under thu ice, and pressing his nose against il breathes out all the air in his lungs This forms big bubble under the ice and the Indians say that the ice has tn, power Of making that bubble of air fresl again, oxygenizes it in fact, and that tho little fellow then breathes it in again an( dives once more. This he can do half { dozen times, the Indians say, before thu air he took with him becomes so fou that the ice cannot freshen it again.
 "Weether this property of the ice Ii true or not l cannot say. but the Indians firmly believe it, and know that musk rats can travel long way under the ice and have seen them come up under tn ice, press their noses to it awhile ant then dive again Perhaps some scientis might explain the case. New Yorl l T,-il,v,,,a