Vintage Ice Spearing Decoys

Spinoff affiliate marketing sites – ones that target a segment of a market already covered by one of our larger sites, have been good performers for us. My recent discovery of ice fishing flashers led to research on ice fishing product sales and ultimately to the decision to launch a new site: The Ice Fishing Shop. The first clue that such a site could be useful was a look at the ice fishing leaf category on eBay: currently a jumble of about 3,500 listings of a variety of ice fishing gear. That is a category crying out to be broken down into smaller chunks for easier shopping.

Spearing fish through holes in the ice is an ancient practice learned from Native Americans, but how do ice fishermen convince the fish to cooperate by getting near enough to hit? They use decoys! Ice fishing decoys are weighted fish models, typically made of wood with a lead weight and aluminum or wooden fins, sometimes featuring glass eyes and realistic paint jobs, other times looking more like a cartoon of a fish. Apparently, Pike and Muskie are not too picky and will investigate anything that might possibly be food. If they get close enough, that investigation is their last mistake.

The decoy pictured at right a Walleye from the 1920s. Some of the paint has flaked off and there is a pretty good sized scar on one side, but it still sold for $57. The market for vintage ice spearing decoys is strong, so don’t throw away any trashy-looking old lures! They can be worth money, as can the vintage ice fishing tip-ups!