Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! > Darkhouse Spearing
Spearfishing through ice with eggshells
Bucket Rump:
Sorry to see you lost your Grandfather, Conklin. If you aren't already aware, there is a "Darkhouse" page here on the IS forum that you can look thru for some tips and tricks that you might find useful. Using eggshells works well (rinse them first) when you have a dark bottom lake to give you some contrast to help see a fish come in to the spearing hole. Navy beans, potato slices, pasta noodles, pistachio hulls work as well. Although a seemingly relatively simple endeavor, hardwater spearing does take some effort to get things setup, but it's a rewarding activity when everything comes together and a large target fish cruises into view - closest thing to deer hunting on the ice you'll ever experience. And if you decide that spearing isn't a pursuit you desire to continue with I highly recommend you get your Grandfather's spear and those decoys evaluated before throwing them up on an auction site - some spears and decoys are highly collectible. I really hope you get an opportunity to get out to try spearing!
tj_cubin:
I get that they don't allow spearing for pike, as you could spear a fish and then realize it was undersized, but i wish they would allow spearing for a fish without a size limit, like perch.
I know some real shallow bays where spearing perch would be a blast.
Bucket Rump:
--- Quote from: tj_cubin on Jan 05, 2022, 07:56 AM ---I get that they don't allow spearing for pike, as you could spear a fish and then realize it was undersized, but i wish they would allow spearing for a fish without a size limit, like perch.
I know some real shallow bays where spearing perch would be a blast.
--- End quote ---
Actually, one positive about spearing is the ability and opportunity to selectively harvest a particular fish - it's not difficult at all to assess the length. Most common way is knowing the length of the decoy being used and comparing the decoy to the fish. A method I use in addition is I run (2) decoy lines down that I space apart by "X" distance - say 24" apart - to give me another way to measure. Those are a couple methods to judge length on fish that are close to the legal limit. After a few sits in a darkhouse seeing pike you'll also start to notice that "skinny" fish are the shortys and the "wide" ones are the ones to pay attention to.
Raquettedacker:
Petercos22:
That brings back some memories. My uncle used to drop eggshells down the hole when I was a kid back in the sixties. Not always but I can remember times it would trigger a strike even under tip ups for walleye an pike. I will remember to try it this year.
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