Spearfishing - Where are you now?

[Wanderer]

We didn't get started ice fishing much before the ice was thick enough to drive on.  The pic I posted earlier was the only spear hole I've cut this season even though I've had my gear with me most every time we've taken the big house out.

 

And we've been out just about every weekend in the last month.  Having a wheelhouse and a wife that likes camping has been taking up pretty much all of my hard water time this season.  Many plans for setting up both on a lake for the weekend haven't panned out when you decide to move the wheel house every day.

 

Its still been a good ice season though.

[monstermoose78]

how is it going guys

[mrklean]

Will be packing my gear away this weekend with the warm temps and no time to get out its packing time.  Got out a few times this year but it was a disappointment for sure.

[Wanderer]

 

This was the second hole I cut this year - and it about gave me a heart attack!  Last weekend I went lake trout fishing and decided it might be fun to "see" what we could see with a big hole.  18 inches of an oversized block was a lot for this desk jockey.

 

The 10 inch Cisco decoy did get one trout to come around (as many as I could hope for!) for a look.  It was a good one, around the 30 inch mark.  Don't worry, I didn't have a spear with me but if it were legal, I would've had my first speared laker!  The sad thing was we were off our game for those few minutes and didn't even have a laker rod/bait ready!  It was break time I guess. 

 

After it passed through the hole, I swam the decoy and the fish turned on a dime to face it.  I swam it again and the fish titled itself up like it was going to strike but I think it saw me move and took off.  It was pretty cool and just MAYBE worth the effort!

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, Wanderer said:

 

This was the second hole I cut this year - and it about gave me a heart attack!  Last weekend I went lake trout fishing and decided it might be fun to "see" what we could see with a big hole.  18 inches of an oversized block was a lot for this desk jockey.

 

The 10 inch Cisco decoy did get one trout to come around (as many as I could hope for!) for a look.  It was a good one, around the 30 inch mark.  Don't worry, I didn't have a spear with me but if it were legal, I would've had my first speared laker!  The sad thing was we were off our game for those few minutes and didn't even have a laker rod/bait ready!  It was break time I guess.

 

After it passed through the hole, I swam the decoy and the fish turned on a dime to face it.  I swam it again and the fish titled itself up like it was going to strike but I think it saw me move and took off.  It was pretty cool and just MAYBE worth the effort!

 

Wait, you did a spear size hole for Trout fishing and put a decoy down? How deep were you when he came by?

[Wanderer]

4 hours ago, leech~~ said:

 

Wait, you did a spear size hole for Trout fishing and put a decoy down? How deep were you when he came by?

 

You expect me to answer that without a LIKE?  

[MJ1657]

6 hours ago, Wanderer said:

 

This was the second hole I cut this year - and it about gave me a heart attack!  Last weekend I went lake trout fishing and decided it might be fun to "see" what we could see with a big hole.  18 inches of an oversized block was a lot for this desk jockey.

 

The 10 inch Cisco decoy did get one trout to come around (as many as I could hope for!) for a look.  It was a good one, around the 30 inch mark.  Don't worry, I didn't have a spear with me but if it were legal, I would've had my first speared laker!  The sad thing was we were off our game for those few minutes and didn't even have a laker rod/bait ready!  It was break time I guess. 

 

After it passed through the hole, I swam the decoy and the fish turned on a dime to face it.  I swam it again and the fish titled itself up like it was going to strike but I think it saw me move and took off.  It was pretty cool and just MAYBE worth the effort!

I just have one question. Who the heck was running that saw??????

[Wanderer]

9 minutes ago, MJ1657 said:

I just have one question. Who the heck was running that saw??????

 

Not the same person as the one running the auger!  In the end it was connect the dots and be done withi it. 

 

It was something like 15 square feet so shape didn't matter much.

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, Wanderer said:

 

You expect me to answer that without a LIKE?  

 

Well I would have LIKED but you didn't sound to happy about all the work. So, I thought I would just ask about the results. Shees! Get a chainsaw whiner!

[Wanderer]

5 hours ago, leech~~ said:

 

. Shees! Get a chainsaw whiner!

 

We talked about how much easier that woulda been.   But than the natural order of the whole experience woulda been messed up.

 

Plus we didn't think of it soon enough...

[Early Riser]

The statistics from my journal for the 2016/2017 spearing season have been compiled. I had 21 sits, on 7 different bodies of water across 3 MN counties (Cook, Washington and Hennepin). Average sit was 4.4 hours. Number of pike seen averaged 1.08 per hour. Along with some old favorites, I added some new spots and 3 new lakes to the repertoire and they ended up being new favorites. 

 

I saw, and passed on many pike over 30 inches. I was fortunate enough to have great views of 4 muskies, and more than a few big bass. Interestingly I only saw one walleye, one bowfin and one carp. Those numbers are down.  

 

Here are a few of my pictures from the past season. Not the best quality, but they are from an old LG slider phone. 

 

A trio for the pan and  the days swim team (Johnson red/white and sunfish; Dennis Bertram shiner). Dave Pawlak spear. Larger pike had been attacked by a bigger fish…she was cut up and scaled ahead of the dorsal fin. 

 

 

Pike, some panfish and a Kraemer 9 tine spear. 

 

 

I have a few more pictures of some fish n the hole and will try to add them later when I have time. 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Early Riser

[Early Riser]

Muskie entering hole

 

 

She came back a while later and was in and out for the last hour of my last sit of the season

 

 

Pike sampling a decoy

 

 

Eyeing the decoy

 

[Mike89]

way cool!!

[MJ1657]

I got a DL Smithing spear this weekend. 

[monstermoose78]

That looks like a nice spear! I have been in the turkey blind try to help my nephew and friends kid to bag a turkey. Today I am fishing

[monstermoose78]

Best place to find decoys

[Early Riser]

Are you looking for decoys MM? If so some of the bait shops carry some.

 

The best place to find a variety of decoys, is one of the decoy shows. This one is a favorite of many:

 

http://www.nfdadecoys.org/the-gathering.html

 

 

[monstermoose78]

Yeah I like decoys this thread used have some on here. I will try to hit a show

Thank you

[tca12]

Was out on a north metro lake yesterday and got my first fish ten minutes after dropping the decoy. 33 inches and 12 pounds.  Not a bad start although the water is already clouding up but at least there was six inches of ice!

[eyeguy 54]

cool. do you cut it up for pickles or bake or fry? I have never speared but I love big northerns on the grill or pieces in the fryer.

[Mike89]

bone them, cut into about 1 inch chunks, boil in mountain dew, dip in butter... great eats for the bigger ones!!!!

[Early Riser]

That is great tca12. Did you see any more fish that day?

I was spearing up the Gunflint trail weekend of the 9th on 10-12" of good ice. I saw 5 pike in a 3 hour sit on the first lake that I tried, and speared a few mid 20 inch fish for the pickle jar. 

The second day I ended up driving for miles on unplowed forest roads and then bushwhacking trying to get into a remote lake, but the trail petered out and I got beat back by all the spruce blowdown, so I turned back after a good hour of pulling my sled through the bush. 

I eventually ended up siting for two hours on another new lake. I did see a timber wolf (off hwy 61 near town), a few spruce grouse,  and a fox…but no pike in the hole that day. It was a good workout and a fun day of exploring anyways. 

I had thought about on spearing a lake north of Two Harbors on the way down on Monday, but ended up spending the morning at the cabin relaxing a bit too long for that. 

I will be starting in locally soon, getting out the perm, deploying the portables on a few new spots, and at least one more trip up north…pretty exciting time of year! 

 

[tca12]

I  (meaning my wife) bake most of our fish with butter and lemon pepper but sometimes we grill a fillet.

Mike, could you expand on the Mountain Dew boiling method, it sounds good.

Early Riser, I did spear a 3 pounder, saw a smaller one, and had a 3-foot plus swim by on the bottom.  Would have liked to get a better look at the big girl but it sure got the heart pumping for awhile!  And holy smokes, I'm gassed after 200 yards of pulling my sled.  The wolves would be circling once they saw me out there wheezing...

[Wanderer]

7 Up was the original poor mans lobster boil for pike.  It’s pretty good.  I did some pike in MD before too.  It’s worth a try to see if you like it.  I didn’t care for eating chartreuse colored fish but that’s just a mental game there.  Chartreuse is for catching them!  Taste was fine.

Try it in 7 Up first.

[Mike89]

I have tried the 7up, prefer the MD..  cut your fish into 1 inch chunks so you have finger or tooth pick size bites, boil in the MD till done, you will see it that.. dip the chunks in melted butter, enjoy!!!!

[MCI]

Happy New Year!

Was out Saturday and Sunday North of Brainerd, -22 and -27 in the mornings when I went out.

Slow going as I figured it would be, ended up with 2 5lbers. neither of them came to the decoy, both fish came through the very edge of the hole. No perch or panfish swimming around either.  Hopefully things will be better next weekend after this cold snap lifts.

[tca12]

How much ice have you got up there?  Hope that your heater kept up!

[MJ1657]

I'm on Winnie third river. 20" of ice. 

[Wanderer]

21 minutes ago, MJ1657 said:

I'm on Winnie third river. 20" of ice. 

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! 

[mrklean]

Made it out a few days over the x-mas break very very slow for me, only saw 1 fish a low 20s, this lake is usually crystal clear and had a merk to it pulled the house before the weekend i think the cold snap really slowed it down.  Talked to a few others out there and they said the same.