From its birth eight thousand years ago, Lake Winnipeg has been a constant food source for those willing to fish its waters. The size and clean water have been a magnet to the First Nations and others, like the early French Canadian explorers on their way West. The Hudson Bay Company York boatmen on their way to the Red River all knew well its bounty. To the early settlers of New Iceland, the great fit - their forefathers had braved the North Atlantic in search of cod and now these sons of Iceland pursued pickerel, whitefish, sturgeon and goldeye in the summer and fall seasons.

The winter fishing season presented a new dimension - how to get the fishing net under the ice. The earliest solution was to follow a practice used on the Great Lakes - a method called a ‘running pole’. Three 10 foot balsam or spruce were peeled and let dry and then tied together, end to end. Next, chisel a hole in the ice and insert the trees. Push them under the ice with a piece of rope attached. When you come to the end of the tree, chop another hole and repeat the process. Once you have reached the length of the net that you are setting, tie the net to the line. A hook is used to retrieve the line at the other end.

The net is attached to the rope and like a curtain on a stage, the net is pulled under the ice. A net is 240 feet long and the process of chiseling so many holes in the ice is very slow, especially given that the lake can freeze to a thickness of four feet. In addition, the nets often had to be moved because of poor catches. Worse, the poles were not always cooperative and their roundness meant that the tended to wander off course. By experimenting with the design, it was discovered that thin 10 foot boards nailed together worked better. But only a little better. The process was still very slow, which meant more time on the inhospitable Lake Winnipeg in the dead of winter with howling winds, freezing temperatures, glare ice and whiteouts to hinder your progress at every turn. A better solution had to be found.

In 1912, a person from Saskatchewan brought a better solution to the fishers on Lake Winnipeg. It was a 2 by 8 plank with a two-piece articulated arm in the centre made of iron. The arm had a sharp point on one end and a rope tied to the other end. The plank was lowered into the basin hole and pointed in the direction that the net was to be set. The scissor-like invention was moved by a person pulling on the rope, like someone jigging for cod. As the person “jigged”, the sharp point dug into the underside of the ice and pulled the plank forward. The invention is used to this day and is called a “jigger”.

Over the last 100 years many different types of jiggers have been tried, including the electric, the molded, the beekeeper, the spring and the racehorse. Invariably, however, the fishers come back to the original design. Like most fishing families, our family makes their own jiggers. In the accompanying photo, my nephew Chris and his son Trevor are holding up their latest creation.

Despite the improved method of setting nets with the jigger, the lake remains a very hostile place in the winter months. Many people have asked “Why do you fish the lake in the winter at all? The temperature can be forty below, and there is nowhere to hide from the freezing wind that seems to blow from all directions at the same time”.  The fishers will answer with a smile, “Sure it’s cold. But there are no waves”.

​

Ken Kristjanson