Bait Buckets

Sometimes ice fishermen maintained a small cache of live bait to augment their carved wooden lures.

This bait was kept in small buckets which were dangled in the water with a length of fine chain to keep the fish alive and ready for use. The exterior decorations were quite elaborate and typical of manufactured products of the period 1890-1920.

Cream City Midget Minnow & Frog Bucket
Lake Michigan, 1889, Mt. Clemens area, tin, steel and enamel, 10 inches in diameter, 9 inches in height

Hemps Floating or Sinking Minnow Bucket
Lake Michigan, 1890's, Steel and enamel, 12 inches in diameter, 12 inches in height

Climax Floating Minnow Bucket
Lake Michigan, 1890's, Steel and enamel, 9 inches in diameter, 10 inches in height

The wood and metal Boxes and Buckets created by the fishermen themselves range from utilitarian to highly whimsical. The examples below were collected in the Michigan area and range in date from 1880 to about 192) Everything from minnows to leeches to crickets was fair game for the icefisherman and their ingenuity.



Wood and wire Cricket Box, with attached leather strap
Date Unknown, possibly 1920's. Painted Pine and Window Screening, 14" Long, 5" high, 5" deep

Pierced Tin Frog Cage in the form of a House
Date Unknown, probably 1880's, 14" high, 5" deep

Tin and Wood Leech Bucket
Date unknown, possibly 1880's, Collected Mt. Clemens, Michigan
10 inches in diameter, 9 inches in height

Painted Wooden Cricket Box with attached leather straps
Date Unknown,probably 1920. Painted oak and steel screening, Length, 14" Height 8"