OK, this may sound crazy, but I had an idea for a spearing decoy last night. My buddy told me he had a musky on his tipup and it had grabbed the 2-3 lb northern that took his bait. I was also spear fishing several years ago with a northern decoy and a shiner. Once when I pulled up the norther decoy it bumped in shiner and a norther came in from nowhere and grabbed either my shiner or decoy.
I know the standard decoys just circle when pulled and sometimes northerns come in while they're stationary. I always think that spiraling swim isn't real natural, even for an injured minnow.
So the light bulb went off. What about a northern decoy with an open mouth to secure a live minnow so it struggles? It doesn't need to be a really big minnow, just 4"-5", and the decoy could be 8"-10". But maybe the reactions from other northerns would be more predatory instead of curious and they'd always be grabbing the decoy. I'm not sure how you'd design the mouth to hold onto a struggling minnow, but maybe a clamp style mouth. I don't even know if the decoy would need to glide.
I may just have to work on this in the off season.
