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MINT VERY RARE 7" 1946 SOLID WOOD Ice King TYPE I -BEAR CREEK Factory FISH DECOY a.imagelink {color:#000000;} a:hover.imagelink {color:#000000;} a:visited.imagelink {color:#00A8A8;} a.imagelink img.saleimage { border: 2px solid #000000; } a:visited.imagelink img.saleimage { border: 2px solid #00A8A8; }
SCARCE & HARD-TO-FIND; MINT UN-FISHED CONDITION; c1946(SCARCE TYPE I; "Solid Wood");ICE-KING Model by Bear Creek "FACTORY FISH DECOY"; Wood Ice Fishing SPEARING;Kaleva, Michigan (Located just inland fromLake Michigan; Northwest Michigan Lower Peninsula)
SUPERB"PIKESHAPED &FORMED"WOOD BODY" -and- Beautiful Sprayed"PIKE SCALE" FINISH!!!
Very Scarce Solid Wood Model; This was their Very First Model& Only Made for 3 Years (1946-48)!!
- Carved Eyes with Black Pupils!
- 7"PIKE STYLEare VERY RARE!!
ALL ORIGINAL; IncludingMINTOriginal Paint!
- GOLD and SILVERSprayed Scales!!
- WHITE,OLIVE DRABand GOLDSprayed Base Coat!!
- Black-Pupil Hand-Painted Eyes andSprayed onRed For Gills and Mouth!!
3 FULLY LEAD-POURED & FORMEDWEIGHTS, DIE-CUT ALUMINUM FINS and Single, Factory-Balanced, Line-Tie!
ONLY MANUFACTURED for 3 Years; (1946 - 1948)
These Wooden Bodies Decoys WereRough-Shaped at the time by Woltz Woodworking Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan -and then- Shipped to theBear Creek Company in Kaleva, Michigan, forFinal Shaping, Painting, Assembly and Packaging!!!
SHIPPING INCLUDES INSURANCE
ThisSuperbly Formedand Wonderful 68+ Year OldFish Decoy is aVeryRare Mint7",Type I, solid wood, vintagePike Spearing decoy from Bear Creek Tackle and is an oldIce King model.
The Bear Creek Bait Company was founded in 1946 in Kaleva, Michigan, a small town just inland from Lake Michigan in the northwest corner of Michigan's lower peninsula. The Bear Creek Company was founded by Walter Wiitala, his brother Elmer Wiitala, and a family friend named Leo Manilla. Walter Wiitala had fishing in his blood, as he was working for the Makinen Tackle Company, which was established years earlier and also in Kaleva.Walter was working for Makinen when he formed Bear Creek with his 2 partners. In 1948, Walter Wiitala bought out his brother Elmer, and in 1950 he bought out Leo Manilla and became the company's sole owner.
BEAR CREEK CO-FOUNDER "WALT WIITALA (May 20, 1920 -to- May 2, 2003)"
The first fish decoys that the new company produced were "exactly" like this decoy up for sale, as a matter of fact it is one of the few pristine examples that you don't see very often. After the wood was rough-shaped by the Woltz Woodworking Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, they were shipped to the Bear Creek Company's facility where they were finish shaped and sanded, assembled and painted. This decoy up for sale is a wonderful specimen of the very first decoys that were made by the Bear Creek Bait Company. These first decoys were available in pike form with a pike scale finish -or- sucker form and shape with a gray or gold scale finish. They also drilled a small hole in thenose that wasused to hold the fish while it was being painted and most likely during other times during the manufacturing process. The company also made a few trout prototypes at this early stage, although they are extremely rare and they were never mass produced or marketed.
THE TOP DECOY IN THE ABOVE PICTURE IS "IDENTICAL" to this DECOY UP FOR sale!!
In 1948 Bear Creek bought the molds for making plastic decoys from their neighbor and thethen defunct Makinen Tackle Company. Bear Creek commenced to producing 10,000 of these beautiful plastic fish decoys from between 1948 and 1950. The change from wood to plastic was deemed as necessary if the company wanted to remain financially viable and if it was to contend with the very competitive product being produced by the Randall Decoy Company of Willmar, Minnesota. This was also due to the fact local competitor's like Bob's Fly Tying Shop in nearby Ludington, Michigan were also gaining a piece of the fish decoy pie. The last decoys that Bear Creek would make would be hollow plastic, with the concept that the decoy would fill up with water through holes in the plastic body and in conjunction with the plastic and metal construction would just tip the gravity scales. This inherent process let Mother Nature eliminate the need for any type of attached ballast weight. Thus, over the course of Bear Creek's history, they would make 8 different models, 7 different lengths and a large variety of colors and paint scheme combinations.
From a design standpoint,Bear Creek went through 4 different phases and thus 4 different "types".
Type I decoys (1946-1948), like this decoy up for sale, were solid wood with 2 die-cut aluminum, unpaintedfin assemblies that were each attached with 2 brass screws.The decoy was weighted with 3 lead-filled, belly weights that were drilled into the underside. They also drilled a small hole in thenose that wasused to hold the fish while it was being painted and most likely during other times during the manufacturing process. The decoys were finished off with a factory-tested single line-tie and carved eyes with black painted on pupils. These fish were available in 3 models;one was a pike that wasonly available in the pikie finish, and one sucker model that was available in two finishes. These 3 models were then packaged in the 2-piece cardboard box emblazoned with the Ice-King logo (see photo above). Type I was made from the company's inception in 1946 until 1948 when they switched to plastic for Type II.
Type II decoys (1948-1950) were hollow plastic with similar metal fins attached with screws and an internal pre-fabbed weight. These plastic decoys were injection molded and were all-inclusive with all features being part of the decoy including the gills, mouth, dorsal fin, anal fin and tail being part of the molded product. There was only this one "pike" shape that was available, as opposed to Type I, which had a sucker and a pike form. The eyes were then two-color spray painted, a single line-tie screw was screwed in and these 6-1/2" long fish were available in a variety of spray painted finishes like perch, pikie and classic lure combo of red head/white body. This was also the only variety of fish decoy that they ever produced that was available with "cheater" hooks. This fish was packaged in a box almost exactly the same as the earlier box but with added information and it read, "Ice-King Spearing Decoy", instead of just "Ice-King".
Type III decoys (1951-1983)were also hollow plastic, but there was no longer any separate fins, as the entire decoy was one plastic-injection molded fish with a metal ballast that was internal and part of the molding process. There was also no separate line tie, as every part of this fish decoy was molded at once and the only other step was the painting process. The eyes were two-color spray painted and the company made a 6" long pike and a 4-3/4" and 6" sucker model. These were the basic models and they would end up being produced from 1951 to 1983 when the company officially went out of business, and they were packaged for the most part in the same box that the company used for the Type II models.
The Type IV decoys (1960-1983) were also hollow plastic and had the unpainted metal fins that were attached with screws just like the Type I and Type II decoys. These decoys also followed the same premise that previous models employed, as tiny holes filled the decoy with water and negated the need for any internal or external ballast weight of any kind. Also like Type III, the decoys were fully formed at the plastic injection manufacturing phase and all detailing was either part of the mold or added during the painting process. The models available were an 8" perch, 9" sucker and a 10" pike, and over the course that they were available, they were available in a variety of paint schemes.
BEAR CREEK BAIT COMPANY, AND HENCE ICE KIND, WENT OUT OF BUSINESS IN 1983.
When Bear Creek closed its doors, all of their molds were sold to the K & E Tackle Company of Hastings, Michigan. K & E continues to be a viable player in the fish decoy arena and they still manufacture and sell their great fish decoys in many northern states where spearing is legal.
This Outstanding andNearMintCondition"BEAR CREEK BAIT COMPANY"fishdecoy up for sale hasBright and Vivid Original Gloss Enamel Paintfeaturing a "Pike" color scheme. The fins were never painted on this color scheme as the shiny silver fit in nicely withthe paint scheme and added a slight silver flash during action. This Fish is also very heavily weighted and the melted lead was poured perfectly into the three pre-drilled holes, although there is a tiny check in the wood between the lead weights where the wood cured, but this lure is so pristine it takes little away from this awesome looking and near mint fish. This fish was made with durability as a consideration and not only is it is as solid as the day it left Bear Creek's factoryshop, but it is also is infantastic, Un-Fishedcondition.Bear Creek certainly didn't recreate the line tie as it is a simple tiny screw eye, butthey undoubtedly testedthis fish with a singledrilled pilot hole as it is balanced perfectly.The fins have obviously never been bent, but I am sure that if they were tuned or slightlyarced toa fisherman's liking, it would swim in whatever size circles the fisherman desired from tight to small and both when ascendingor descending. This is just awonderful example of a fairlywell knownMichigan Fish Decoycompany that could be manipulated to create any desired swimming arcs as well as the ascending and descending circling diameters. It is completely original with a exquisite form.
This fish decoy up for sale has beautiful shiny, bright and vividcolors andother than small paint flakes near the tailit is MINT. You wouldn't want to, butI'm sure this awesome fish decoy would have and still would perform like a champion. This awesome and vintage fishdecoy measures 7" longx 2-1/4" wide x 1-5/16" tall and weighs2-3/8 ozs., which includes the perfectly lead melted-in ballast weight. There is 2 front pelvic fins and 2 rear pelvic finsand this cedar decoy was carved from one piece of wood and is still as solid and intact as the day it was made. The wood portion of the decoy is carved perfectly symmetricalandit is perfectly weighted and balanced. It has great patina as thewonderful enamel paintthat was used to finish this decoy is as bright and vivid as the day that it was made. This decoy clearly has been in an environment that never saw natural light, as it hasn't faded a bit and the color hues and tones are exactly the same as if it were painted yesterday. Thefins and brass screws are also bright and shiny as if they were made yesterday also. This fish decoy is innear mintconditionfor its 68+ years old age. Like a great manyvintage fishdecoys, it has a bright andappealing appearance and I'm sure could be seenfrom quite a distance in the deep, clear waters of any of this country's beautiful lakes in the northern states.Excellent addition to your collection of antique or vintage Ice Fishing Spearing Decoys. If you have any questions or would like an additional photo feel free to email me.
The First 15 Photos are of This Mint Condition TYPE I, 1946 Bear Creek Wood Fish decoy up for sale. The Next 5 photos are of More TYPE I Fish Decoys, and also Photos are TYPE II, TYPE III and TYPE IV Bear Creek Fish Decoys. The Next Photo is of Some of The Very Rare and Limited Number of Fishing Lures that Bear Creek made for a short time.
BELOW ARE PICTURES OF THE OTHER ITEMS THAT BEAR CREEK MADE AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND IN LIMITED QUANTITIES DURING ITS
