another season gone....

[Neighbor_guy]

Another season in the books. Strange as it may sound I am both sad and happy to see it go.

Happy in that it means that turkey season is just around the corner.

Sad in that the Sunday hot dogs on the ice and fellowship of the spearing season is over for the next 8 long months.

This was an interesting season for me, not stellar in the quality of the fishing, but good for other reasons. A season of 'firsts'. I got to see Goose and Wanderer each take their first fish by spear. I speared the largest white sucker I have ever seen at 21". And subsequently used the cut bait from that sucker to catch a personal best winter pike @ 36" by tip-up. I did my first decoy show this season, a personal goal and a big step for me. The shack was also set up on 8 different lakes this year, the majority of them for the first time, a new record for the lake list.

A total of (5) fish came out my shack this year, with the largest of the group at 25". Wanderer and Goose each with a pair of fish and one for me. We don't toss the spear much in the Neighbor_Guy shack... more watch and wonder than take and eat.

Other highlighs included introducing other people to the sport. Meeting people at the Winni GTG that I hadn't seen in a year, getting more involved with my local MDAA chapter, and doing a lot more talking to other unknown guys in spear shacks around the local lakes about what they had going on.

From the start of the season on 3rd River @Dixon's with the Get to Gator, to the end of the season with the Becoming and Outdoors Woman event at Grindstone. THANK YOU!!! for helping to make this another remarkable and memorable season.

I look forward to the next one and cant wait to gear up for the off season. From Decoy's and Decoy shows to fish houses and fish house modifications. Watch for the Decoy of the Month Threads to start back up soon. And if you happen to go to the Alexandria or Grand Rapids Decoy shows stop by the Grumpy table and say Hi. Be safe and stay in touch.

[tca12]

Sounds like a pretty good year, especially all the firsts and getting out to new lakes.

[MJ1657]

Great post Matt.

I agree with being sad its done but had almost enough for the year.

I have certainly had much better years as far as seeing fish. For me its more about getting out with friends and sharing some good times then sitting waiting to see a fish.

What am I going to do with myself on Sundays????

[Early Riser]

Sounds like another good season Neighbor Guy and MJ.

I just updated my journal today and ran my statistics for the season. I speared 14 different lakes across 6 different MN counties from Carver up to Cook. I speared five new lakes, and would add two of them to my list of good lakes that is up to over 40 now, and growing each year.

It was a long season with a full three months due to an early start on November 22nd. The fish ran pretty good yesterday and I was able to get my perm pulled.

This past season I went spearing 32 times for an average of 2.94 hours per stint in the darkhouse. I saw 89 pike and averaged seeing .95 fish per hour. Over the last 10 years the number of pike seen per hour is highly replicable for me, ranging from .88 to 1.01 during that time span.

I had two pike come in at the same time twice in one morning this year. I didn't see as many bass or walleyes as usual, and most of the bigger bass I did see would not take a waxie this year. The nicer sunfish in general were more neutral to negative all season, and I only caught one decent crappie, but on a few lakes the small sunfish and perch were pretty aggressive.

It sure was easy getting around on the lakes this past season. There was a lot of variability in temperatures and early ice thickness in the metro, and I had to move and re-block my perm twice during those warm spells.

I really will miss the anticipation of trying new lakes and spots, the solitude, as well as the physical exertion involved in our sport, but am looking forward to some longer walks with my wife, spring panfishing and vegetable gardening. I have plans drawn up for another perm that I may get around to this fall.

[shamalex72]

I too had better years than this one, as far as seeing fish. We only saw one big fish, 35+, and a few mid sized, low 30's.Most were under 25". One of the biggest factors this year was water clarity, so many of our usual spots were very dirty.

I finally convinced my wife to by a spear license, it wasn't until the second to last week though. She ended up getting two fish. I think I speared about 12 or so, 27" being the biggest.

We bought a little electric smoker around Christmas and started to smoke a few of the pike I got. It was a lot easier process than i thought it would be. It really works good for those smaller pike and the y bones, it's easy to pick them out as you eat the fish.

[jvm1]

My season was slower than last year (those are the only 2 that I have to compare). Due to that fact that my found spot from last year was a black hole where light didn't penetrate it forced me to try new spots, so I tried 6 new lakes, saw a ton of little fish and managed to lose moby Dick when i speared her up at Winnie.

Between school and the 2 little ones at home I got out as much as I could. This off season I hope to find time to build me a floor for the portable and try carving my first decoy.

Hope to meet more of you guys next year if I can make the GTG in December. Can't wait for December!

[Mike89]

Thanks to one and all on this forum, I did get out this year due things beyond my control. But I was able to read all your posts and watch some great videos. This made missing the season much better, next I'll be going to the decoy show in Alexandria and helping them with what help with.

Again thanks to everyone on this forum, Mike.

[minky]

This was my first season really spearing vs other years of getting out a little but not knowing what I was doing.

I was albe to take my first fish at a 2nd Sunday event, what a rush!

I lost a few things in the hole but was able to get everything back.

I learned a lot and was able to help with the BOW on Grindstone.

It was good to help others learn about spearing.

I also joined the Central MN chapter of the MDAA, a really great group of guys. Thanks guys for all the info and tips.

I am really looking forward to next season!

[pikestabber]

I'm also a pretty detail-oriented journal keeper, as it seems Early Riser is, but my stats make me sad this year more than anything, lol...

I only managed 14 trips to the shack and hit just 3 different lakes for 36.75 total hours--or 2.625 hours per visit. My hours total is awfully low for me, but the fish were just not there this year and that makes patience wane... I saw 36 total pike and only saw one that was over 10lbs (all the rest were 5lbs and down). Speared a total of 6 fish between 3-5lbs. Did see uncountable bass, gills, crappies, perch, and doggies, and that makes it interesting at any rate. Even though it was a slow year, it sure beats the heck out of any other sport I partake in!

[bwana_d]

I would have to say it was good season and the future looks even better based on what we were seeing. What saved the season for us was putting out a permanent house in which I had just installed a direct venter heater so we could put it on Red and sleep in it. With the changes in the regs on Red it was no longer worth it. With the cold that came in, we set it out where we normally use portables for the last 4 weekends. Saw 20 fish one day, lots of small ones, one of the weekends my buddy took a 34, my wife and I saw one that was even bigger on another weekend, but I don't care to eat them that large. Also of interest, the difference 8 feet can make in house as far what you see in the two holes. Sometimes we would see a fish go from one hole to the other, but not the majority of the time.

Looking forward to next year, might have to build a couple of small hard sided houses, it was sure nice to have a floor again.

Glad it is over, now I can focus on yet another hobby - getting a dog ready for spring breed tests.

[Early Riser]

Way to go on the detailed journaling Pikestabber. Last night I reviewed one of my journals covering the details of every single hunting/fishing outing I experienced from 1989 and 1998. Each entry brought back much more vivid memories than I would have recalled otherwise. The bonus is that the exercise helps with planning of future excursions. Since digital photography has advanced I have added pictures as well, which really enhances enjoyment in the whole process.

Bwana_d I have observed what you mentioned about a short distance making a big difference in number of fish seen, even on a clear lake where the pike can likely easily see decoy movement 10-20'. It makes me wonder about fish habitually traveling through particular corridors and runways.