spearing with no snow

[glenn57]

what kind of sucess has anyone had with spearing when theres no snow on the ice. i have had that several times in the course of my spearing career and never had much luck. fish seem really spooky with that shadow there. seems if you con find a spot on the ice where its cloudy helps. what does averyone else think.

[mnmuzzleloader]

I have speared with out snow at times and never had that much luck on really sunny days. I have seen pike sitting outside my buddies house before and scared them as I walked to check how he was doing,

[Fish Toys]

Ice that is like glass and clear water does make the fish spooky. The best thing to do is make sure the house is dark and there aren’t any light cracks around the hole to spook the fish more. Putting large pieces of cardboard down on the ice around the hole helps make the area bigger and darker. Slower decoy or spinner action seems to work better. Also if you do put cardboard down make sure you can pick it up again so you aren’t littering! I like it early being you can walk around and see the perfect spot to set up the house thru the ice.

[bassNspear]

I have not had as much luck without snow as well. Fish is right, the fish are spooky with no snow cover on the ice. Its always better to have snow, so they dont see you walking around on the ice. If they cant see you, they have no idea that you are there if they were not in that area when you were cutting the hole.

[sandbagger]

Great advice Fish. I might have to try that next weekend if there's enough ice (although I'll probably be using a tightline and a minnow instead of spearing).

[Mowing4aLiving]

I have not had that much luck either. We have put some old blankets around the house but that did not help much either. I think your best bet is to go out on a cloudy day as well.

[bassNspear]

i think alot of it has to do with how much stuff we have sitting around the outside of the house as well

[Gordie]

there is no snow were I was spearing and it was slow to say the least and the ice was really noisey today not sure if the makes a differnce but I didnt see anything all day

[BOUNCED]

I rarely have good luck early season regardless of snow cover. I never have any luck when the ice is cracking like crazy. I'll have luck right away at sun up but once the ice starts popping they seem to shut right down.

I spear thru both conditions anyways I'm an addict

[Mowing4aLiving]

Spearhead

I cannot agree with you more, It seems once the ice gets noisy, spearing gets worse. There are the exceptions and I am like you I will sit becuase you never know what is going to happen unless you are out there.

[Gordie]

its good to know that I am not the only guy that would sit and stare down a hole in the ice for hours on end. gotta love it.

pretty soon my wife gona start preachin about a 12 step program

[bassNspear]

what do you do about a sore neck!

[sandbagger]

B N S: Put a mirror on the top of the house above the hole:) J/K

Just saying hi to everyone. My name is Ryan. I am Fish's nephew. Live in the Twin Cities and get up to the DL/Winger area often. I like to tangle with toothy critters on a tight line, but haven't done any serious spearing for nearly 10 years. I am going to get back into it this season so I may post and ask some Qs from time to time. Looking forward to the discussions.

[bassNspear]

glad to see that you are getting back into the sport. Need anything, please give me a haller!

[sandbagger]

Thanks for the offer. Biggest thing I need now is time.