Helen and Magdalen Viktora of Madison fishing on Lake Mendota in 1951. The woman in the background is wielding two jig-sticks. The pegs on the sticks are used for winding the line. Viktora is a Czech name, which made me wonder about ethnic variations in European ice fishing tradition. That’s beyond the scope of this blog, perhaps, but worth investigating! via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-69246, Wisconsin Historical Society. Photo by Arthur M. Vintje for the Wisconsin State Journal. Thanks again to Jody Clowes, exhibitions manager for the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, for curating this week’s blog. 
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Helen and Magdalen Viktora of Madison fishing on Lake Mendota in 1951. The woman in the background is wielding two jig-sticks. The pegs on the sticks are used for winding the line. Viktora is a Czech name, which made me wonder about ethnic variations in European ice fishing tradition. That’s beyond the scope of this blog, perhaps, but worth investigating!

via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-69246, Wisconsin Historical Society. Photo by Arthur M. Vintje for the Wisconsin State Journal.

Thanks again to Jody Clowes, exhibitions manager for the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, for curating this week’s blog. 

Hoop net fishing on Lake Pepin, ca. 1910. At one time winter fishing made up a quarter of Wisconsin’s annual catch. These hoop nets, which could be 6 feet wide and over 500 feet long, would have made a big contribution. Norwegian-born Ole Hem (1866-?) is on the left, showing fish to commercial buyers on Lake Pepin in about 1910. Buyers came to Wisconsin from Chicago and other major cities to arrange large rail shipments, favoring catches of sheephead, catfish, and buffalo fish. By the 1970s Lake Pepin had become so contaminated with PCBs flowing in from the Mississippi that commercial fishing was closed down. via: Pepin Public Library, Indianhead Federated Library System by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
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Hoop net fishing on Lake Pepin, ca. 1910.

At one time winter fishing made up a quarter of Wisconsin’s annual catch. These hoop nets, which could be 6 feet wide and over 500 feet long, would have made a big contribution. Norwegian-born Ole Hem (1866-?) is on the left, showing fish to commercial buyers on Lake Pepin in about 1910. Buyers came to Wisconsin from Chicago and other major cities to arrange large rail shipments, favoring catches of sheephead, catfish, and buffalo fish. By the 1970s Lake Pepin had become so contaminated with PCBs flowing in from the Mississippi that commercial fishing was closed down.

via: Pepin Public Library, Indianhead Federated Library System by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Glenn Dickerson (1916-1997) of Sauk City, with a fabulous windbreak made from a grain binder apron. Notice the ‘spud’ chisel and the strainer for clearing ice from the hole. On Madison’s Lake Mendota, 1951. Photograph by Arthur M. Vinje for the Wisconsin State Journal. via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-69255, Wisconsin Historical Society
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Glenn Dickerson (1916-1997) of Sauk City, with a fabulous windbreak made from a grain binder apron. Notice the ‘spud’ chisel and the strainer for clearing ice from the hole. On Madison’s Lake Mendota, 1951. Photograph by Arthur M. Vinje for the Wisconsin State Journal.

via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-69255, Wisconsin Historical Society

Proud fishermen with lake trout on Lake Superior, ca. 1942. They are standing in front of a windsled, an amazing contraption used on ice too thin to support heavier vehicles. For all things windsled, see Charles Nelson’s book On Thin Ice: Windsleds at Madeline Island (2001). via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-3329, Wisconsin Historical Society
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Proud fishermen with lake trout on Lake Superior, ca. 1942. They are standing in front of a windsled, an amazing contraption used on ice too thin to support heavier vehicles. For all things windsled, see Charles Nelson’s book On Thin Ice: Windsleds at Madeline Island (2001).

via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-3329, Wisconsin Historical Society

Tall-tale Postcard: Winter Scene at Little Rib, Rib Lake, Wisconsin. Big fish jokes: timeless! This postcard from Rib Lake in north central Wisconsin dates from before 1911. It’s no joke that axes are part of ice fishing tradition, though. Until recently only hard-core fishermen owned augers for drilling holes. Most people used axes or long-handled chisels called ‘spuds’ to chop through the ice: a slushy, wet proposition, as you can imagine. via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-44532, Wisconsin Historical Society
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Tall-tale Postcard: Winter Scene at Little Rib, Rib Lake, Wisconsin.

Big fish jokes: timeless! This postcard from Rib Lake in north central Wisconsin dates from before 1911. It’s no joke that axes are part of ice fishing tradition, though. Until recently only hard-core fishermen owned augers for drilling holes. Most people used axes or long-handled chisels called ‘spuds’ to chop through the ice: a slushy, wet proposition, as you can imagine.

via: Wisconsin Historical Images WHi-44532, Wisconsin Historical Society

Sturgeon decoy carved and painted by Ojibwe artist John V. Snow. A beautifully detailed sturgeon decoy for spearfishing through the ice. Made by John V. Snow, a member of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe, in the early 1990s. To use these, you’d dangle and jig the decoy with one hand and spear with the other. Archaeologists in Wisconsin have found many early Native American decoys made from carved shell. via: Wisconsin Historical Museum Read more about winter spearfishing: Ron Deiss, “A Brief History of Ice Spear Fishing on the Fox River,” Oshkosh Public Museum Thanks to Jody Clowes, exhibitions manager at the James Watrous Gallery at the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, for curating this week’s blog. She learned to fish as a girl in south Florida, and became fascinated with winter fishing after visiting a 1997 exhibit about Native American fishing traditions at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. Jody says: “I’m grateful to my ice-fishing friend Tim Kubala for sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm, even if I still haven’t taken to the ice myself!”
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Sturgeon decoy carved and painted by Ojibwe artist John V. Snow.

A beautifully detailed sturgeon decoy for spearfishing through the ice. Made by John V. Snow, a member of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe, in the early 1990s. To use these, you’d dangle and jig the decoy with one hand and spear with the other. Archaeologists in Wisconsin have found many early Native American decoys made from carved shell.

via: Wisconsin Historical Museum

Read more about winter spearfishing: Ron Deiss, “A Brief History of Ice Spear Fishing on the Fox River,” Oshkosh Public Museum

Thanks to Jody Clowes, exhibitions manager at the James Watrous Gallery at the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, for curating this week’s blog. She learned to fish as a girl in south Florida, and became fascinated with winter fishing after visiting a 1997 exhibit about Native American fishing traditions at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. Jody says: “I’m grateful to my ice-fishing friend Tim Kubala for sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm, even if I still haven’t taken to the ice myself!”

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