Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1902-03-13
NOVEL MODE OF FISHING ON
GREAT LAKES.
LIFE OF DAILY PERIL
City of Buffalo Alone Has Quite Two
Thousand of These Winter Fisher.
nen-Dogs That Figure Promi.
nently in the Chilly Work-Many
Interesting incidents.


of the fishing business which is car
ried on every winter in Buffalo. They
know that fish are caught through
the ice, that a strong southwest WIND
occasionally carries a few OF the
brawny fisher lads down the river
while a south wind drives them on
floating ice to the Canadian shore;
that storms come up suddenly and
cause death, and that the fishermen's
dogs very often figure in heroic
roles, but most people do not know
that hundreds OF men in the city
make their living in the winter by
casting lines through the ice, and
that this city, for that very reason, is
one of the biggest hand-flshing cities
In the world All along the lake men
go out on the ice and catch messes OF
pike, whitefish or ciscoes (herring)
but at no point does the number equal
the number of men engaged in the In
dustry in Buffalo.
Many years ago the only ice fisher
men hailed from the island, in the
vicinity of the foot of Michigan
1o'H
living. catching good strings every
time they went out and easily dispos-
ing of them at good prices. These
hardy men lived In little cottages on
the lake front, fished from the middle
on January till the latter part Of
March or April, and accumulated suf-
ficient money during this period TO
enable them to live the entire year.
The seeming ease of the life and the
generous remuneration during the
brief period of activity appealed to
men living in other parts of the city,
and the original band of 800 or 400
fisher folk began to grow, Last year
II was nothing unusual to see between
1000 and 1900 fishermen trail into
the foot of Michigan street between
and o'clock in the afternoon. The
fish bite just as well as ever. but the
price paid is not so high rs 1t used
to be.
Fishing this year began much
earlier than usual. The Ice ordinari-
ly is not thick enough before the first
of February to sustain a man. except
at points close to the shore. This
year fish were being caught through
the Ice during the first week OF Janu
AIRY. Now the ice extends far up the
lake, and the men are able to get up
almost to their favored spots. which
lie OF Bay View The fishermen
start out for their days work about
O'Clock In the morning, and so ar.
range things that they are busy at
their lines at daylight. Then they
sit over holes in the ice until | or 2
o'clock in the afternoon, at which
time they start for the shore.
Each man, II he be a so-called pro.
fessional fisherman, makes three or
four holes in the Ice within n 50-foot
square, and through each drops two
lines with tip.up arrangement. which
tells him instantly II the bait is be
ing attacked. An expert can get
four bites at once and lard a fish
from each line. Others less adept
will lose half
When the weather is mild there is
no more inyigorating and diverting
sport than this. 49,, when the wind
bowls. as it so often does. sweeping
up clouds of fine snow and driving ice
chips into the faces of the fishermen
when the air is SO crisp that the water
which trickles off the line freezes OF
the fingers of the sportsman, ant
when snow falls so heavily that it Ii
impossible TO see anything but 1
stretch of ice curtained with white
then fishing is no delightful pastime
IL is, in fact, doubtful If any field o
labor is so filled with perils as is this
The man who leaves his home In tn,
morning knows that he may fall
through an air.hole in the ice ant
drown that he may be lost in ter
rifc storm. or that the ice may par
and carry him far ont into oper
water 20 perish from exposure or ht
plunged into the icy water by the
chipping up of his frozen raft. He
is never free from these dangers
There are times. in February. wher
the weather is stiff and clear and the
ice thick and endless, when he Is
comparatively safe but early In the
season. or late, the risk is very great
The wonder is that the fatalities ar,
not greater in number. Two reason,
are given why they are not; the In
telligence and faithfulness of tn,
dogs, and the ruggedness of the men
The average island fisherman ca,
weather 20 storms. any one of whicI
would cause the death of an ordinar
person. They sit at the ice hole.
hauling in their lines with bare hand,
on days when the crisp air woul
frostbite in minute the uncovere
hand of anyone else. They so OF
without overcoats on days when ses
garments and double underwea
would not be sufficient TO keep war;
the average business man.
But the dogs are by far the mos
interesting features of the entire Iii
the lank, homely. NANCY dog
which leer at strangers and loung
laxily about the little island home
during the summer.
9.har,,,av nn,a NE