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Spearfishing - Where are you now?


MJ1657

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It was pretty slow for me as well this last week.  I got out three times on two local metro lakes, saw a total of 5 pike and finally speared one yesterday.

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18 hours ago, Wanderer said:

Dude... you really did lose my number...

If you’re up to going back next weekend 2-3 forum members are planning on being there, or at least on the lake anyway.  

Thanks for the ice report! :cool:

I have 4 guys from Indiana here. We've seen two today. One of them missed one. 

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Going out Wednesday in the Metro, got a hole cut today and will probably be staring down through some dingy water.  A solid foot of clear ice which is good.

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Well, the water was dingy, fortunately after seeing nothing for 3 1/2 hours I got a 30 incher and saw a bigger one hugging the bottom right before that.  The hole got mucked up and I could barely see the smaller pike that came in later so I packed up, hopefully for clearer water on Saturday...

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Finally got out spearing this weekend! Got skunked, Saturday lake went to water was just dirty couldn't see 2ft, Sunday can see bottom in 6ft on a different lake but nothing. How did others fair this past weekend?

Not gonna give up, just have to wait till this coming weekend to give it another try!!!

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Sad to find out that I'm not the only one peering through foggy water.  My Saturday lake switch turned out to be murky too and no fish seen.  The wife and I watched tip-ups on Sunday catching only one small pike.  At least it was warmer!

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Finally!  Had a chance to spear in clear water today out in Shoreview.  10 feet of water and I could see all the way to the bottom just like in the videos all you guys post.  Of course, there were no 3 foot pike or muskies swimming by, just a skinny little one and a couple of bass, but it was still nice to actually see out around the hole into the silent watery world...

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Well got back out again on Sunday, tried a small little lake by St. Peter. Got skunked again!!! Now I'm 0-3. I was happy though the water was lot clearer than the other two lakes ive been on. I was sitting in about 5-6ft of water and had little weeds on the bottom. Seen a bunch of sunfish swim thru, just little ones, and couple really small largemouths. One of these days I should connect lol.  I'm gonna head north next time, not east!!!!

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On 1/10/2018 at 6:25 PM, tca12 said:

Finally!  Had a chance to spear in clear water today out in Shoreview.  10 feet of water and I could see all the way to the bottom just like in the videos all you guys post.  Of course, there were no 3 foot pike or muskies swimming by, just a skinny little one and a couple of bass, but it was still nice to actually see out around the hole into the silent watery world...

What lake? I'm in Moundsview so I like hearing about visibility nearby.  Struggling to find clear water this year. Poor visibility on Forest, Clear, Centerville so far. WBL has good visibility. But I hate spearing on muskie lakes. Plus, WBL doesn't have big pike per surveys. 

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2 hours ago, Zachery Barnhart said:

What lake? I'm in Moundsview so I like hearing about visibility nearby.  Struggling to find clear water this year. Poor visibility on Forest, Clear, Centerville so far. WBL has good visibility. But I hate spearing on muskie lakes. Plus, WBL doesn't have big pike per surveys. 

welcome to the site!!!

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3 hours ago, Zachery Barnhart said:

What lake? I'm in Moundsview so I like hearing about visibility nearby.  Struggling to find clear water this year. Poor visibility on Forest, Clear, Centerville so far. WBL has good visibility. But I hate spearing on muskie lakes. Plus, WBL doesn't have big pike per surveys. 

I can’t say Big Marine is a big fish factory but it should have nice clarity.  The main lakes of Minnetonka are pretty cool to play on.  Yeah, Minnetonka is a muskie lake but there are a lot of nice pike swimming out there.

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I was on Turtle Lake.  I've always found the clarity good there although I also haven't seen a boatload of pike.  Centerville was awful a couple of weeks ago as was Peltier although they both can change in a few weeks.  Sorry I didn't reply sooner but I was up north seeing almost 50 fish in two days on a small lake west of Bemidji.  Nice clear water there and pike from 10 to 38 inches long. 

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Went back to Turtle today, 6 inches of snow and a cloudy sky makes for a dark day. Saw 5 small pike (15-18 inches) over 5 hours along with a curious bass.  Looks like the weeds are starting to die off some with the water having tiny specks floating around.  I drilled a hole on Peltier earlier and bailed on the visibility right away before moving on to Turtle.  Hope that everyone else is having better luck!

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Went out to Independence today after a friend mentioned how clear the water was and the good chance of seeing a big muskie.  He was right on both counts, clear water and one 3 foot plus muskie.  Other than a few perch that was it though.  Heading up to the Brainerd area this weekend for a family pike contest.  Maybe I can beat out the 6 year old this year...

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Out to Independence today.  Same result as last week without the big muskie.  That is beyond slow!  There was a Rockford schools group out for an Introduction to Ice Fishing event when I drove out (two school busses worth) which is kind of cool (enter joke about it being zero degrees at the time).  Two guys maybe 100 yards away saw a 4 foot muskie and brought it up inside their hole with their decoy which sounds pretty cool too!  The local CO and I chatted as I was setting up, I guess I should have asked about a better location since he said that he spears the lake...

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I might finally try Mille Lacs this weekend. I mean, I’ll be there but to hang with some friends and fish.  But the fact that I’ll be on the lake I’m thinking of heading for pike water during the day.

I figured out last Saturday it’s kinda cool - and a challenge to spear carp too.  Found myself in an area that schools of big carp were cruising by.  Cut a hole quick and planned to stick one of the last ones coming by in the hopes of not spooking the school and getting another chance.  As it turned out, I made the choice to get the first one I had an opportunity at.  A 13 pounder was my reward.  And the rest of the time I was there, the schools avoided passing within sight of me.

Cagey.0203181337.thumb.jpg.ada4d17da56d28b393606bdba80312e7.jpg

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Nice job with the carp, do they ever stop moving?  Whenever I see them they seem to be on a mission to get somewhere else!

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Yep, they stop moving after they get speared! ;)

I suppose at some point they have to take a break.  I’ve seen them just lie motionless during open water season.  In this particular spot I think they were on a feeding route.  There were a lot of invertebrates swimming around in the water.  They get together in pods and just cruise back and forth.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Went out to Otter Lake (next to Bald Eagle) on Wednesday, a lake filled with hammerhandles and could barely make out three small pike in the dirty water before giving up.  Was up on a lake in the Horseshoe chain that is also supposed to be filled with small pike and saw zero but the wife caught a small on a tip-up.  At least a big catfish came in and sat at the bottom of the hole for well over an hour.

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Back on the Horseshoe chain I put in another 7 hours seeing zero pike yesterday.  I must be using the wrong decoys since I can draw in sunfish, crappies, bass, and catfish all day.  Finally caught a pike on a tip-up outside the house so at least I didn't get skunked again.  Looks like that will do it for spearing season unless I can figure out a North Dakota lake to try...

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Has your tip up been in deeper water, shallower or the same?

I’m hoping to get some iced this last weekend of the season.

Devils Lake in ND is a good bet.

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The tip-up was in slightly shallower water but the difference was probably about two feet.  Sounds like Devil's Lake is the good bet but that's quite a jaunt.  I have heard that water clarity is a big issue out west and that would really stink if you get somewhere and can't see.  Might soak some suckers on Mille Lacs since it looks like the pike angling season is extended again this year.  Good luck this weekend!

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We found our better pike in 20 fow this weekend.  Same weekend last year they were in 7.  That might be the reason you haven’t been seeing much while spearing?

Thicker ice and more snow.  And they’ve been grabbing small minnows after staring at em for a long time.  They marked a heavy line on the sonar for up to half hour before slurping in the crappie minnow.

Small shiners have been getting small pike.  Large shiners haven’t been getting hit at all.

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If you were at Mille Lacs, any chance you could say what area?  I've usually just gone to Cove Bay and plunked out some suckers.  It seems to be about 10-15 feet throughout the bay with plenty of weeds.  I also haven't gotten much in the few times that I've been up there, always this time of year.  Never got a small pike, let alone the two I'd need before keeping a bigger one.

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Not at Mille Lacs but not real far away from it.  I can’t say anything for sure about Mille Lacs but I think it would be best to forget about the weeds for a few weeks unless you can find real nice green weeds.

With the weeds dying out and depleting the shallow water oxygen I’d just stick to fishing the deep edges where they’re cruising the schools of fish in the basins.

This snow cover and thick ice isn’t helping the weeds at all.

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  • 4 years later...

Hello everyone. It seems to have been a long time since most of us have seen/heard from each other. Some of us are no longer with us. 
 

In my eyes it seems that spearfishing unfortunately has become a thing of the past. Many people still frown upon it or simply don’t understand. Dont get me wrong i would love to get back out but just havent had the time or mentality to do so. Also i really have missed the comradery as well. 
 

Hope all are well 

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i'm still a die hard!!!!!!!! i was going to head up christmas morning until all this wet snow. maybe in another week, the temps gonna warm up!!!!!!!

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
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    • SkunkedAgain
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    • LakeofthewoodsMN
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    • CigarGuy
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    • PSU
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