February 2017
“Oreno Decoy”
Unknown Maker
1940s?
Fisherman have been carving their own wood decoys for over a hundred years for spear fishing in the wintertime. In this case, someone saved some time by removed hooks from what appears to be an old wooden 1920s Bass-Oreno lure and added some weight so it sinks, a homemade set of line ties made from a single piece of wire, and some hand-cut large metal fins. It also appears he painted the fins and also applied a new coat to the lure.
I have no doubt this worked fine for the user to attract in those big pike in his spearing hole. I wonder how make pike were speared thanks to this decoy? It this bait could talk, it probably would tell stories about fish it hooked…and fish it attracted in to spear. It lived a double-duty life.
Now it can enjoy retirement and rest in my glass case sitting next to my other decoys.
