What do you guys use for spearing?

[Law Firm]

I am wondering what most people use for spearing? Personally I like the artificial decoys. They are hard to find but my favorites are the ones with the Lori Droetsch name on them. I've also tried some homemade ones but they don't seem to swim as well. Where can I find larger decoys than the standard ones that you find in stores? Thanks for the info!

[Early Riser]

Go to http://www.nfda.tv/ and look at some of the member carver pages. I really like Dennis Bertram's decoys for spearing. His decoys swim very well and do not crack. He makes some big ones too. They are a lot more expensive than Lori Dresch's decoys however. For spears you can't beat Jeremy Kraemer's work. Check out an example of his 7-tine spear on the HSOforum. Both Jeremy and Dennis live in the Melrose area.

[Mike89]

I 2nd earlyriser, both Dennis and Jeremy do great work. I use both live and carved. The Alexandia area will be haveing a decoy show on Feb. 25th and you can really see some great work. Let me know if you want more info asbout the show. Mike

[Law Firm]

That's a great HSOforum! Where can you find decoys from all of these people? I've seen one of Jeremy Kraemer's spears. Definitely nice!

Mike, where exactly is the show at and what time? Great info guys, thanks a lot!

[Early Riser]

Like Mike89 said, go to the decoy shows, meet some of the folks and buy some great decoys. Otherwise you can just give them a call or email them. Most of them have their contact information on the HSOforum.

I also like Brad Lange's decoys. I bought a bunch of them at the Park Rapids show and had a chance to swim some of them this morning. Very good swimmers and no cracking.

For unique collectable and working decoys, check out Thayne Johnson's work. His decoys are very well made and each one is unique. He really knows how to make a decoy that swims well.

For a commercail decoy, I have had great luck with Lakco fish. They are very inexpensive and swim well.

The Kraemer spears are a thing of beauty and are perfectly balanced. They are by far the best I have seen.

[Mike89]

Law Firm, Feb 25 from noon to 3pm at the Alexandria VFW. No charge to get in. It will be our 3rd year and we are hoping to have another good time! The VFW is located on Hwy 27 east, about 2 blocks east of the intersection of Nokomis and 3rd. That's the intersection by Eldons grocery store and Burger King. Let me know if you are going to show up. Mike

[fishin magician]

I have been spearing each winter now for about 12 years. I use a red and white fake decoy and then also run a big decoy live minnow in a harness. This combination seems to work very well. Nothing like seeing the big one come in a attack the fake decoy. A few years back I had a 7 pound northern come in and hit the fake decoy 6-7 times in a row. I pulled up the wooden decoy and it had teeth from the northern stuck in the wood.

[mtreno]

i am kinda new to this but my home lake has no muskys and is a big spearing lake so i have started into the game a bit this last few years. my understanding was you could only use one decoy - live or dead - am i wrong? i have never tried a live decoy - i found that i stay more alert when i am working a bait rather than just watching - so far in two seasons all i have seen are bass and walleyes - but hey it gave me a new eye spot i never would have thought of....

question - i have been using my otter lodge for a spear shack - would not put this on the top ten safe list but it works - anyone else have a portable icehouse that works good for both line fishing and spear fishing?