Ice Fishing Gill Net

[SteveP]

Inserting the ice jigger board, pole and net

Retrieving net and fish

The ice jigger also known as prairie ice jigger or prairie jigger is a device for setting a fishing net under the ice between two ice holes, invented by fishermen of Canada in early 1900s.

"The jigger is a dart-shaped plank about 6 feet (1.8 metres) long. It is equipped with a steel-tipped wooden arm running through a slot and hinged to a steel rod. A long rope is attached to the rod.

To set a net, the jigger is placed through a hole cut in the ice. The jigger is positioned so that the steel-tipped arm sticks up against the underside of the ice at the water's surface. When all is ready, the operator pulls on the rope (applies force). The rope is attached to the metal rod (the lever) on the jigger. When pulled, the rope applies force to the wooden arm, pushing it upwards and causing the steel tip to dig into the ice and propel the jigger forward a meter or so.

When the rope is released, the steel tip drops away and returns to its former position. The operator tugs the rope again and the process repeats until the jigger has moved a distance from the first hole equal to the length of the net. Sometimes the jigger can be seen through the ice, especially if it has been painted a bright colour, but usually the tapping noise made by the steel tip under the ice is used to locate it. Then a second hole is drilled just in front and the jigger with its trailing rope is retrieved.

The jigger rope entering the first hole is then tied to the gill net. As the rope is pulled from the second hole, the net enters the water through the first hole and is pulled into position, straddling the two holes."

from Saskatchewan Ice Fishing 1947 Patuanak

Another approach involes using a serious of holes and a long pole which is pushed to each hole to feed cord through. Inuit Ice Fishing with Gill Net and Taaq

See also Taaq, never leave home without it!

Once the location has been found and the area for the net planned, the holes may be chipped. I use the word chip to coincide with the more tradtional method of making holes–with a taaq or ice chipper. The taaq is a simple chisel on the end of a long pole. This tool is still in use and far outnumbers the more modern ice-auger in our community. I suspect this may be common abroad in the arctic. I believe this stems from the simplicity, durability, and multiple uses of the taaq over the augers. Augers cut holes quickly–but are good for nothing else. Taaq’s can make virtually any size and shape of hole and can make ice anchors for tie-downs. Moreover, it is common for survival oriented individuals to choose a tool with more than one purpose when out and about.

I have paid attention to and asked questions of elders in the know about ice chipping. When chipping through up to seven feet of ice, one quickly appreciates a well constructed taaq and technique. It literally means the difference between 20 minutes (a very experienced chipper) and 2 hours or never getting through the ice with vast amounts of energy used. Not to digress too far off topic but the taaq needs to be razor sharp (or as close as one can get it). The taaq also tends to have a heavy blade or chisel width around two inches wide. Light weight taaqs force one to use the strength and weight of their arms. A heavy taaq is somewhat thrown towards the ice with its own weight impacting the ice instead of one’s arms. Narrower chisels are slower at breaking up the ice. The bevel on the chisel is tapered on one side only over the distance of and inch or so. The one sided taper allows for one to carve straight walls when keeping the flat side of the taper to the outside edges of the hole. To do otherwise would result in a hole that quickly tapers to a point. The long taper allows for a more efficient time at making the hole. At some point in the future I hope to write more about the taaq in that it is an important tool for winter survival.

It would be nice if the game were able to incorporate a large degree of innovation so that the player in some fashion has to assemble the gear properly, perhaps crafting the various parts. We'd need some method to make holes in the ice (hatchet, auger, axe, taaq) and a way to determine the location of the underwater board (visually or by sound) Using the Inuit method of a long board and a series of holes, you can line up the board visually as you push it down into the hole and then guide it up as the far end surfaces, hopefully under the target hole. Handy to have more than one person for this approach.

Using a gill net raises the possibility of larger fish harvests. Outdoors in winter, it should be possible to freeze the fish after cleaning (gutting, scaling) Fish can be frozen raw, cooked or smoked. Smoking involves brining, gathering alder wood (or maple) This would let us create light weight high calorie food suitable for traveling long distances. Frozen meat could be stored in an underground cache covered by rocks. If it weren't for winter, such a cache could be dug. Possibly with stones and a sledge, it would be possible to move enough stones to safely cover a meat store to protect it from the ravages of the roaming bears.

I'd also like to see us be able to use a board or sheet of newspaper and snow to cover our ice holes and prevent refreezing. If you fail to cover your net holes, they will refreeze overnight and require much chopping to free the net. I wonder if I drop a piece of wood into an ice hole, if it would prevent freezing in the current game? :-) Another trick I've heard is to poke a lot of evergreen boughs into the fishing hole to keep it open. Evergreen boughs have other uses such as insulation for under your sleeping mat and for cover from snow and rain for your debris shelter.

Fail to retrieve the net each day will result in dead fish which spoil quickly and smell bad. Nausea from bad odors and food could be another medical malady.

I don't know if implementing these suggestions would involve a large amount of developer effort. I've mentioned several useful objects (net, rope, buoys, weights, caches, sledges) and at least one new operation (feeding net and fish catching) Obviously several new items and probably crafting options for some of them. Is the scale of this feasible? I think it would greatly enhance interest in the game however perhaps its away from the pure survival theme. I do think that innovating many tools is a big part of beating the survival problem of depression and the need to solve many technical problems along the way. I'd like to see innovation play a larger part in the game but I'm not sure how one implements that in a largely menu driven system. Command driven games like the original Adventure let you connect verbs and objects. This could produce the hoped for results! The Action submenu seems like the place to apply a variety of new actions; you might discover a Taaq and not know what it was good for however the action menu gives you clues. Thunk it down indoors and make holes in the floor and dull the bit. Try it on ice and no results for a while except lots of ice chips. Be careful and don't drop your Taaq!