New to spearing

[night bite]

Hi just built a house and im going to put it out. I have never done this before but have a father in law that did 10 years ago. any tips would be great. i have the decoys and the live bait harness. im wondering on depths to look for i know you want to be just off the weed lines. he was thinking of putting the house in about 15-17 ft. is this ok or should we be shallower. also how far down do u put the bait and decoys. any help would be great thanks.

[Boss Hogg]

15 - l7 seems a bit deep to me. I like to stay around 9-l0 feet if possible. That way you should be able to see the bottom better. You might want to start off with an artificial decoy. Northerns will at times come in so fast on live bait you wouldn't even have time to grap the spear.

I would start off with a red and white decoy about half way down to the bottom. I have been spearing for over 55 years now, and this is still one of my favorite things to do.

[night bite]

thanks for the info. i will try and talk him into moving in a little, but one problem is the weeds come out into the deeper water. There is also another little bay we might try that we can get into some shallower water. thanks again for the info

[DinnerPail]

I like the 10 to 12 foot on the edge of a drop off the best. Alot depends on the water clarity. My brother's father in law liked to spear in alot deeper water and had good succes with it. Red and white is my favorite decoy and run that with a live sucker as well. I run my live decoy a little lower than my red and white. Just experiment, see what works for you and have fun.

[Fish&Fowl]

We set up on a break from 9 to 11 ft. right in the hole and use a decoy along with a live sucker. Depending on water clarity, we usually have the decoy and sucker about 3-4 ft. under the ice. It always seems this time of year they prefer the decoy and as the season progresses they start coming in to the live bait.

Gotta have a red/white decoy in the bag, but bring at least 3-4 others of different colors. I can think of countless times as soon as we pull up a deke and put down something else, a fish almost instantly appears. Also the bigger the sucker, the bigger the fish as far as I've seen.

[cherokee]

I've just got back into spearing this year myself. Built a house and got out the spear my grandfather gave me for helping him shingle his house (30 years ago)

Early on you may want to set up in 6-8 fow if the weeds permit. I'm in 11 fow to get out of the weeds and have had some action. I've been video taping trying to get a northern coming in the hole. Lot of fun.

I've never messed with live bait but my brother has and it seems to work well. Red and white is a standby.

Good luck to you.

[bassNspear]

Hey nite bit. Welcome to the Spearing world. Check out this link. You will learn alot of spearing in this formum. Great information. Please, check it out.

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=937837&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=25&vc=1&PHPSESSID=

[night bite]

Thanks alot guys im going out tonight to move the house in a little shallower. i have speared one and now am hooked. trying to find ways to get out of work so i can make it out. i might take a long lunch and try it for a little bit

[bassNspear]

Just checking with ya, have u had anyluck since we last talked?