any way to tell fish length in water?

[drakerebel]

anyone have good tips/tricks to tell size of fish?

or is it good 'ol experience?

[drakerebel]

let me rephrase that .

when spearing, is there any different ways to tell the size of fish that come into the viewing area? i have limited expereince spearing and it seemed that the fish that i stuck seemed a little "bigger" under the water.

[BOUNCED]

Know the length of your decoy. If your decoy is 10" and the fish is approximately 3 times longer the fish will be about 30".

This is way slot lakes are a problem

[merkman]

It comes down to experience.

Heck people have trouble telling the length of the fish out of the water, laying flat on a bump board. (do I pinch the tail don't I, etc etc)

First is experience then give yourself a very large buffer, because legally speaking darkhouse spearers need to be perfect every time. No mistakes on slot limit lakes.

You can use the method on the MnDNR HSOforum that promises a 98% chance of not taking a slot limit fish. To rephase that, it is a 2% chance that you will have criminal charges facing you if it don't fall in that 98% mark.

The thing to rember is just like no one forces you to keep a catch and released fish (unless they are killed in that process and not in a slot) no one forces you to throw the spear, if you don't feel 100% confident, let the fish swim away not even knowing it was being watched. This is what we call Look and Release.

Just like in deer hunting, as you get older and have enjoyed the sport for a while, you will see it is just as much fun to let them go as it is to spear them.

"One over slots" work nice for darkhouse spearers since there is some real way to measure the fish. If you have your one over only take very small ones, if you need more than one.

But for spearing slot limit lakes make sure that you know 100% that the fish is well under the lower slot (I would give myself 6 inches)or well above the upper slot. Or if you don't want to take the chance don't spear those 116+ lakes with experimental regulations.

Like it our not.

Those are our options right now.

To me it is absolutely amazing that if I angle out of the same hole I am spearing in; and unintentionally kill a slot limit northern with my hook, I am instructed to put it back in the water immediately and face no repercussions; yet if I unintentionally misidentify the length of the fish while spearing and kill it, I face criminal charges. To me dead is dead, but I guess there is a difference.

[merkman]

when spearing, is there any different ways to tell the size of fish that come into the viewing area? i have limited expereince spearing and it seemed that the fish that i stuck seemed a little "bigger" under the water.

The best thing to do is to stick to non-slot limit lakes at first.

Guess at the size on the pike before you spear it.

Then measure it when you get it out of the water.

You will get the hang of it.

When you first try the slot limit lakes give yourself a very large buffer this way you will be closer to 100% positive of the size of the fish before you throw at it.

[drakerebel]

i took a quick peek online and saw that a lot of lakes that have slots are from 24"-36" with one over 36". is this the norm? how would someone get sufficient meat from a sub 20" fish? or can u?

i've seen a past thread about slot limits and the diff between spearing and angling and it sure does make it hard to even bring a spear house out on a slot lake.

it's either just to go out and sit...."doe-dee-doe"...and watch the scenery because why would you stick fish that are too small, or you're going for the trophy (over 36") in which i'm gathering that some even frown upon doing so...although i would love to tie into a giant and have a trophy to call my own...just one .

so yeah, them slot lakes....hmmm.

and i totally am not trying to stir the pot about this again and get feathers ruffled because i do not have an answer to the situation.

[merkman]

and i totally am not trying to stir the pot about this again and get feathers ruffled because i do not have an answer to the situation.

It is a tough question for sure.

There is not much meat on a sub 20 inch northern pike and at some point they will simply swim between the tines.

It is legal and there is nothing wrong with taking a trophy if by hook or spear. If you enjoy them on your wall that is good. If you enjoy eating the smaller ones that is good too. It is also good if you enjoy catch and release / look and release.

Having a freezer full of them, to me is a different story. But that is covered by possession limits and applies to hooks and spears.

The biggest thing we have to remember is we do this for fun.

At the same time if you feel your sport is "under attack" either intentionaly or unintentionaly, by all means contact the MnDNR and your legislators and see if we can't get these issues resolved so we can all enjoy these wonderful public resources together.

I was never involved in that side of things until I was verbally attacked for being a darkhouse spearer several times. Then I got smart, did some research, and when you look into it, most claims against darkhouse spearers are absolutely preposterous.

In the end we are all (spearers,anglers,hunters,trappers, etc) out there to have fun and enjoy our sport. It is sad but true that sometimes you have to defend that from those who wish to take it away from you.

[bassNspear]

the more you do it, the more you can tell. When i first started, fish looked huge in the water, until you spear one, and there smaller then what you were looking at. ITs becuase of the reflection!!!!

I have been doing it for so lone now, that the fish dont reflect for myself anymore, but reflecting to to your decoy is a great way to help you know the size of the fish. The more you do it, the easier you would be able to tell!

[drakerebel]

hey, thanks for the input guys!