“Hard to tell this thing from a real crappie,” said my friend Dan Scherer, as we passed around the glistening decoy. “Except for we can’t clean and fry it.” In my hands, the crappie was solid, but its ...

It’s never too late to start a new hobby. In Brian Shallbetter’s case, he started two around the age of 50. In 2008, he brought a flat, inexpensive spear out to Pelican Lake by Monticello, dropped ...

Duane Steinkopf's motivation for carving his own spearing decoys was hardly storybook stuff, far less romantic than good old-fashioned German frugality would allow. "I started because I wasn't going ...

When most people see a cedar fence post or an old, broken cedar limb on the ground, Dave Kober sees a trout; or a perch; or maybe, a bluegill. Kober carves fish decoys. Decoys have long been used by ...

Ely, Minn. – Fish decoys are the embodiment of functional art. In water, they attract fish. On display, they lure people. According to fish decoy-carver and appraiser Tim Stouffer of Ely, Minn., a ...

When most people think of decoys, their minds typically drift to fields and sloughs packed with lifelike replicas of mallards or Canada geese. For one entrepreneurial couple, decoys take on a much ...

Eric Wallace, 22, of Maple Grove loves making decoys so much he's put a pause on his college education to see if he can make a living doing it. These decoys are used in "darkhouse angling" to attract ...

MANISTIQUE, Mich. Making fish decoys started out as just a hobby for Manistique resident Walter Welch, but it's turned out to be much more than that. Welch's pastime brings peace and tranquility to ...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Decoys for waterfowl hunting? Check. Decoys for turkey hunting? Definitely. Decoys for dove hunting? Sometimes. But decoys for fishing? Unheard of. Fish decoys are used to ...