Duane Poupart Sr. carves fish decoys at Lac du Flambeau because they help him spear fish and connect him to Anishinaabe culture

As the ice descends on northern Wisconsin lakes a  tradition lives on at Lac du Flambeau,  carving decoys for winter spear fishing.  Underneath an alder and canvas teepee the fish shaped lure is lowered  into an ice hole and jigged on the end of a small stick to attract muskie.  Duane Poupart Sr. follows revered traditional carvers like Ross Allen Sr., John Snow, Earl Cross Sr. and Ben Chosa, by using the Lac du Flambeau carving style. Nick Vander Puy from the Superior Broadcast Network reports about carving fish decoys at Lac du Flambeau to listen to the five minute story, click here

 

 

As the ice descends on northern Wisconsin lakes a  tradition lives on at Lac du Flambeau,  carving decoys for winter spear fishing.  Underneath an alder and canvas teepee the fish shaped lure is lowered  into an ice hole and jigged on the end of a small stick to attract muskie.  Duane Poupart Sr. follows revered traditional carvers like Ross Allen Sr., John Snow, Earl Cross Sr. and Ben Chosa.  The Lac du Flambeau carving style includes  a curved basswood or cedar body, a single screw in line tie, and material  salvaged from rusted stove pipe.  Nick Vander Puy from the Superior Broadcast Network reports about carving fish decoys at Lac du Flambeau.

 

Duane Poupart carves a decoy at his workbench in the basement.  His ice spears hang from the wall. A gaff hook is welded to a golf club shaft.  

Several decoys, some brightly painted perch and bluegill, other’s, burnt dark suckers , dangle from the ceiling. 

 

He’s working on a bluegill decoy.

 

Poupart remembers some  advice he got  from elder Tom Young about Gunlock Lake on the Rez.

 

“Well, when you fishing you better have a bluegill with you. You know.   Back then, those old timers would say you gotta have a least two or three different  decoys in your bag. That way when you see a muskie come in there they’ll look at your fish sometimes and not like that.  So you throw something else down there and sure enough he’ll come tearing around and take a look. And stop.  Tom used to say that.  That’s why I make these bluegills.”

 

When Poupart was a kid he used to walk out on lakes   on snowshoes with his friend Joe St. Germaine.  Back then they couldn’t afford a snowmobile.  They’d chop a hole and fish all day.

 

“You gotta think like a muskie. When  you’re out there you know.You got the perch they feed on a lot. Like I used to go up to Star Lake and spear.  That’s kind of tough lake.  You see some nice fish. I get a couple.  This was like in February.  I opened one up to see what was in there and he had a nice bellyful. A seventeen inch sucker and still he was after more food.  So I hit that one just right.”

 

On Arbor Vitae Lake he’s found the muskie prefer perch.

 

“That’s where you see perch in those bellies, bluegill, sometimes a little walleye, but you very rarely see, I used to catch some nice walleye with a bite marks on’em, I don’t know whether that was northern or muskie.”

 

Sometimes he won’t throw the spear right away when he see’s a fish, for instance, when the fish  is too deep…. if he waits, in a day or two the fish may return.

 

Poupart cuts some fins for the decoy from some rusted black stove pipe.

 

 Besides getting advice from Indian elders about fishing Poupart’s listens to a popular local sport fishing radio show in Eagle River, “Let’s Talk Fishing,” with George Langley.

 During the summer and fall Duane Poupart Sr. also guides sports anglers.

 

“Kind of funny you know I like to tune into 94.5 over there in the morning listen to Ol’ George, that chain over there is similar to our chain here. He’s been around awhile, knows movement and everything. He talks pretty good. He’s got some good information on there. People should listen to him and learn something. Kid’s get a kick out of that.  (Laughs) What did old George have to say today?”

 

Old Jolin, who used to repair boats up in Boulder Junction told Poupart about  musky preferring certain colors.

 “He learned it somewhere along the line. Use sutff with brown and red. That’s why I make my decoys that way.  Like I said again, we don’t know what that muskie is thinkng. There’s a reason there.  Probably we don’t know yet. But it works. That’s why all my decoys have red on the end of the tail. When you think about they like redtail chubs.  So it makes sense to have that type of color in there.”

 

Collectors from all over the country want Poupart’s decoys for display. And other fishermen from Flambeau use them out on the ice.

 

I’m Nick Vander Puy for the Superior Broadcast Network

     

web design by Sandy Lyon

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