Carving Traditional Fish Decoys

Use These Templates to Make Your Own Life-Like Decoys

Carving fish decoys is a folk tradition that long preceded European settlement of North America. Native peoples skillfully crafted fish decoys using bone, shell, and wood to lure a vital food source within spearing distance. White settlers learned the craft, and so a hunting and collecting handicraft was passed between cultures.

In Carving Traditional Fish Decoys, Anthony Hillman, an expert illustrator and carver, has collected 17 species of game fish, providing step-by-step instructions and full-size templates for carving lake sturgeon, brook trout, largemouth bass, Coho salmon, yellow perch, and a dozen more. Instructions include such points as leading, weighting, adding fins and eyes, and painting, making these decoys both collectible and useful for fishing. Sixteen of the decoys are also portrayed in color to aid in ensuring natural coloration.

Whether you're just starting out with carving or have a collection you wish to add to, this guide will provide you with the advice and schematics you need to create beautiful, life-like decoys.

Be sure to add other guides by Anthony Hillman, published by Echo Point Books, to your library: Painting Duck Decoys, Carving Miniature Duck Decoys, Carving Waterbirds, Painting Shorebird Decoys, and Carving Favorite Songbirds.