How to Carve Fish Decoys
Though they are more regarded nowadays as a form of folk art, fish decoys were used by Native Americans as lures to catch fish in deep water. Many fishermen today still opt for fish decoys as baits because they believe it to be less harmful to the fish than hooks. Below is a simple procedure on how to carve fish decoys.
Materials Needed
- Fish carving patterns
- Heavy cardboard, preferably recycled
- White cedar wood, or any wood that does not crack or shrink in water
- Thin metal sheets, such as copper or aluminum, or tin cans
- Sander
- Sealing finish
- One or two colors of paint
- Lacquer
- Glass eyes
- Liquid lead
- Sharp wood knife, chisel and band saw
- Pencil, eraser, permanent marker and a ruler or straight edge
Instrcutions
- Before you start carving the fish decoy, you have to plan how it is going to look like first. Ask yourself what your want your fish decoy to look like. Are you going to make it so that it resembles a bait fish, or are you going to make some form of whimsical folk art?
- Another question you need to ask yourself is whether you are going to paint it and if you are going to add decorative details. If you are not keen on making your fish decoys look too fancy, then you can choose to make one of plain, unadorned wood.
- Look for your patterns. You can find them in books, craft or fishing magazines, and on the Internet.
- The length of the fish decoy should match the legal length of the fish that can be baited out of the water.
Carving the Fish Decoy
- Work first on the template for your desired pattern. Print or copy the pattern and transfer it by stencil or carbon sheets on a sheet of cardboard. Try not to use new cardboard; old filing folders or blank cardboard from packaging boxes will do.
- Hold the template against the wood block and carve the outline of the fish decoy using a band saw. Draw a center line along the length of the carved wood, and then carve the details of the fish decoy pattern using a sharp knife or a chisel.
- You can use a metal tail if you want. If you are going for a metal tail, leave the tail end of the fish blunt. If not, then just carve the tail on the wood as accorded by the pattern.
- Burn the slots for your metal fins using an electric wood burner pen. If you do not have one, you can use your knife to carve the slots.
- Set the glass eyes of your fish decoy in their slots with clear epoxy. However, if you are going to paint them, you can leave the painting for later.
- Weigh the fish decoy. You can do this by first balancing the decoy on the edge of a ruler or a straight edge to find its center of balance. Once you find it, mark it with a pencil. Also mark a point on the fish’s belly and on the gills along the center line. Carve a small hole on these points.
- Give the fish decoy its first coating of sealing finish. Afterwards, pour a few drops of heated liquid lead in the holes you carved out of the fish. To check if you have added the right amount of lead, let the fish decoy “swim” in a tank of water. It should “swim” forward on its own. If not, add a few more drops of lead into the hole in the gills.
- Let the fish decoy dry overnight. Add another coating or two of sealing finish, and then paint the fish however you want. Do the finishing touch by adding the metal fins and then spray with lacquer.
Tips
Always be careful in handling sharp objects. Also, heated liquid lead is dangerous. Avoid skin contact and cover your face when dealing with it to prevent inhalation.