A weir is a system of nets used to trap fish in current. This is a drawing that William Clark made of a fishing weir in Tower Creek, Idaho. In his journal, Captain Clark described the fishing weir, made by the Lemhi-Shoshone People to catch Salmon:
“There were two distinct wears formed of poles and willow sticks, quite across the river, at no great distance from each other. Each of these, were furnished with two baskets; the one wear to take them ascending and the other in decending. In constructing these wears, poles were first tyed together in parcels of three near the smaller extremity; these were set on end, and spread in a triangular form at the base, in such manner, that two or the three poles ranged in the direction of the intended work, and the third down the stream. Two ranges of horizontal poles were next lashed with willow bark and wythes to the ranging poles, and on these willow ticks were placed perpendicularly, reaching from the bottom of the river to about 3 or four feet above it’s surface; and placed so near each other, as not to permit the passage of the fish.”
Here is a diagram of a small theater.
When I was sitting in the Anaconda Restaurant looking out the window at the Tiber, I couldn’t help but think about the strangeness of using the river as a backdrop for the fish restaurant. We had just floated up to the dock from the back, in effect, entering the ‘Theater’ through the backdrop. It allowed us to see how thinly the effect was constructed.
I thought, “What if a fishing weir really was a back drop.”
The act of seeing can be thought of as fish getting trapped in the weir.
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