I added a video,,,,,,,,,,, Fish decoy works!

I think you're ready for Lake Winnebago sturgeon. You might need a bigger spear!!

JenkinsSturgeon.jpg

Kyle Jenkins, right, with the sturgeon he
 
That is great Dave, really cool. Thanks for giving us some glimpses of the process.
 
As an aside, we watched ?the frozen chosen? (sturgeon spearing documentary, available amazon prime) last night. Hard not to get interested in it given what is involved.
 
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That's really great Dave. Curious how long you waited to get that fish and if you're going to try for a bigger one. Do you work the decoy?
 
Guys,
Thanks for all the comments.

To answer a couple questions; I was a fun experience and I'm looking forward to a next time. My two decoys worked,,, OK,,, room for improvement. I'll make the next ones with a slimmer profile. Overall tho, I was pleased with my efforts.

Much like duck hunting, sometimes the fish would show up real regular and other times it was quite a matter of time between sightings. Waiting for something to show up and only having a limited sight window, can be challenging.

After getting all set up, the decoy is lowered 2-3 feet below the ice. Pulling the string causes the decoy to "swim" in a lazy 3 foot diameter circle. I would swim it a bit for several revolutions then let it sit still. Then I'd just sit and wait for a couple minutes. You never knew if there was a Pike just out of your sight window, just sitting there eyeballing the bait. I spooked a couple of fish like that, when I jerk the string aggressively (not know a fish was there) and the decoy would shoot out in a wide circle. I soon learned to give the decoy just a gentle tug to trigger a reaction, before swimming it a bit more aggressively to "call" in any nearby Pike.

Most of the time, when a Pike would come in, he would come charging in, slam the decoy and turn away. Then come back and do one of two things; either come in close and study it or come in and clamp his jaws down on it. Hopefully when he did (either action) he would be in a position that enabled me to drop/throw the spear into his back, just behind the gill plates. I did completely miss a couple throws but the majority of the time I connected right where I was supposed to.

Due the spearing regulations most of my fish had to be under 22 inches in length with only one fish being between 22 and 26 inches and one fish could be over 26 inches in length. I managed to capture a video of spearing one of the shorter fishes that was 19 inches in length.

Spearing video or https://youtu.be/DSuBpTRBlYc (same video)
https://youtu.be/DSuBpTRBlYc
Now it's off to the work bench to carve up a couple new decoys. Just what I needed; another new hobby. [crazy]
[strike][/strike]
 
AWESOME! But man, I be afraid of falling into into that hole!

I watched on my phone, (read, small screen), that looked like a Northern? I remember as a kid, I had an uncle who used to catch them in Canasa all the time. I also remember watching him filet them, where he stood the fish up, and started at the back somehow first. AND I also remember them as being very tasty!

Thanks for sharing! That is so cool!

Jon
 
[size 4]Thanks for adding the video, Dave . Really neat to see the spear in use.

...And thanks for not overdubbing any dramatic heavy metal tune as an intro [w00t][w00t][w00t]..... although the theme from Jaws might have been cool.[;)]
 
Thanks for the video Dave, the first I've seen. That looks like fun, I wish it was legal here. As an aside, isn't it legal to shoot them in WI? There's a new challenge-suck them into the "rig" with the decoy, then "take 'em". [;)]
 
Dave, the spearing is mighty fascinating. Do you think you get more interest from fish doing it that way vs more traditional ice fishing?
 
Dani said:
Dave, the spearing is mighty fascinating. Do you think you get more interest from fish doing it that way vs more traditional ice fishing?
Click to expand...

Probably the same amount of "interest". The big difference is even if they don't actually grab the lure/decoy, on can still decide to spear or not to spear each individual fish. When angling with a tip up or bobber (best comparison to hanging a decoy in the water) you are still hoping the fish actually bites and gets hooked.

The down side there is no spear and release, only "see" and release, by choosing not to throw the spear. Much more like hunting rather than fishing.
 
If your river bottom is soft, pour one or two bags of dried white beans in the spearing hole to provide you with some background contrast to pick fish up that sneak in. Pike are ambush predators, using that massive surface area gained by close location of their caudal, dorsal and anal fin surface area to burst toward their prey; one of a few fish that actually possess binocular vision and thus possess the ability to judge distance. Hard bottoms and far deeper (noticed that your spear handle was still out of the water on your throw in the video), you can buy yourself some added response seconds by pegging the spear tip into the ice in the wall of the spearing hole and leaning the handle across your shoulder, ready for the "throw". You will get no ice build-up on the tines as well as not have to adjust for the refraction effect when you first position the spear. White landscape gravel scattered around the hole will sink well for deeper fishing. By laying your spear shaft across your non-throwing hand's palm prior the drop, you can guide it more steadily into the fish; most of these suggestions are depicted in that 906 Outdoors video from the Michigan Dark House Association member.

As you go deeper, the ambient currents may begin to impact the spear's head surface area on your shots...common effect on lazer-cut spears because of the surface area to weight ratio.
 
That's really cool Dave. I hadn't ever heard of this form of fishing before you posted your decoys and video. Does it work as well when the water can't be walked upon? Do people spear during the summer?
 
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