Ice fishing decoys

[Hellsangler69]

[size 1] I been viewing all the ice fishing decoys online at ebay . Has anyone ever tried a fish decoy while ice fishing and any tips on how to use them . Some of them are quite the art work . Do they attract the species that it is created after ? Like a bass decoy is for attracting bass . Can you tell I'm itching for some hard water . LOL [/size]
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[theangler]

Hello HA69,

I've heard of and tried many fishing techniques but have never even heard of fishing decoys. I'll look forward to reading the replies to this post, as my guess would be no they don't work but thats just a guess.

It would seem to me that fish school more for fundamental reasons (habitat, food source, breeding, cover, etc..) and less for company. Just a guess but bring on the answers guys, I am curious about this one!
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[Flagmanonice]

[cool] Here in Minnesota , we do alot of hard water fishing, and decoying is very popular here ! What there used for is to decoy the fish (which is mainly the Northern Pike ) into a hole around 2 x3 , some times bigger , through the ice , and they'll spear the fish when it comes into the hole ! This is done while your in a fish house that is totally dark (no windows) !! Anymore questions , just ask !!!

Flagmanonice...........I'm not a spear chucker !!!!!
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[Flagmanonice]

[] Also , there very collectable around this area , some will go for hundreds of dollars !!!!
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[davetclown]

as Flagman has stated decoys have been around for a long time, actualy in use longer than the art of sport fishing has been around.

the algonquin indians have been using decoys for hundreds of years.

crafted from hand carved from wood, they droped them through the ice or over the side of their canoes and hovered over them with a multi tiped speer.

they start at about 12-15 bucks for a plastic one at the supermarket and run up in to the near thousands if you can find one of them aincent lures. (americas first fishing lure)

I made a post on this subject some time ago, I will see if I can find it and provide a link for you. there is some history of the lure and related information.

as for weather they work or not, I can only say, I cant imagin an indian spending all that time to carve a peice of wood with a stone chop a hole through the ice with a stick and go through the trouble of tieing prongs to the end of a stick if it didnt work.
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[davetclown]

[center][/center][center][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=20327;search_string=search_string;#20327"]Ice Fishing Outlawed (banned) in great lakes area [/url][/size][url "http://www.fishdecoy.com/images_eskimo/smIndian2.GIF"][/url]
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[lonehunter]

i'll get some pics of a couple that a guy at work has at work . there so goodlooking he refuses to use them for anything but a desk decoration !

it's pretty fun using them , you get to see the pike or muskey come in for the kill , slowley inching there way in twards the bait , what a rush !

you definatley gotta know your fish thou , thoes muskeys can fool you !
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[Hellsangler69]

Thanks for the info guys . I also got some more info in the utah forum if anybody is interested in this thread .

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=63931;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=63931;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread[/url]
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[lonehunter]

HERE'S SOME PICS OF THE LAST ONE HE HAS AT WORK , SOME OF HIS COLLECTION STARTED TO DISAPEAR , AND AT $ 35.00 AND UP , I DIDN'T BLAME HIM ONE BIT !

THE CAMERA DOSEN'T DO THE DECOY JUSTICE . IT'S A SMALLMOUTH BASS , GLASS EYES , BRASS FINS , HAND CARVED AND PAINTED . THE DORSAL FIN HAS 5 HORISONTAL HOLES IN IT FOR DIFFERENT POSITIONS FOR PRESINTATION IN THE WATER .
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