HSM Outdoors-Minnesota Darkhouse and Angling Association

Winter spear fishing requires chisels, augers and saws of various kinds to cut through the ice that can be more than three feet thick. Fish decoys and jigging sticks or reels hung from the roof of the shanty are also part of the spear fisherman's toolbox. Spearing decoys, or fish decoys as they are called by collectors, are the main lures used to try to entice fish to the ice hole, although live suckers, shiny spoons and even tin cans have been used with success. The history of spearing decoys dates back to primitive tribes of humans or Eskimos and ancient examples of fish decoys carved from bone or tusks have been found. Spear fishing is one of the oldest forms of fishing done by man, predating angling, especially angling as a sport. Native Americans were spearing fish through the ice long before Europeans reached North America. It is difficult however to pin down the precise origin or darkhouse spearing. Spear fishing in general was thought to have been independently introduced in many places around the world; no single location can be credited with its introduction. It could have begun in northern Asia, North America, or northern Europe.