Changing decoys?

[SpearPike]

How often do you guys change out your decoy when not seeing any fish? I usually give a decoy about a half hour then change. And how often do you spin it?  Some old guys used to say once a hour, but i spin more often then that.

[mrklean]

Half hour to an hour depending on the lake

[Neighbor_guy]

Whenever I get tired of looking at it would be the best way to explain it. 

Decoys are like fishing lures. They will all work, it's just a matter of what is going to trigger the fish'es curiosity today. It becomes a confidence thing. Some guys like a fast swimming decoy. Others want one that works really slow. One guy wants a very bright/neon paint scheme. The guy in the next house over wants a natural pattern. 

If I like the way a decoy sits in the water or how it swims I might watch it for an hour. Swim it every 5-10min or so. If I don't like how a decoy moves or the fish'es reaction to it, I might only keep it in the water 10min. 

I will keep my spoon spinning for hours and not do anything but spin it. Decoys will get changed out though. 

[smurfy]

I might change mine 2 maybe 3 times a day!

[shamalex72]

I almost always run two decoys at the same time. I change them way too often and jig them way too much, but that's what I like to do. 

[MJ1657]

Here's my routine. I make an attempt to let the pike let me know what they want. I always have a live sucker down. I probably switch artificial decoys every half hour or so. 

I start out jigging aggressively. If the pike respond I keep it up. If they don't I slow it down and see if that works. If that doesn't I leave it alone. If that doesn't work I say screw it and look at the internet on my phone. 

[smurfy]

15 hours ago, shamalex72 said:

I almost always run two decoys at the same time. I change them way too often and jig them way too much, but that's what I like to do. 

I usually do this also, unless the ice is thick. I cut 2 holes usually as that's how my spear house is designed. one is a live deke otplastic.

[fishadb]

Depends how bored I am, I always run a chub and a decoy. I have speared more fish when the chub is sleeping and I haven't touched the decoy in awhile. This has been my worst year by far spearing, but every fish I've speared has come into the chub with a daredevle hanging below him. Headed out to switch lakes soon.

Edited January 20, 2016 by fishadb