I'm new at spearing

[dakids]

I bought the spear and a few decoys.  I braved the cold today and augered the big hole and set up my fish house and lit the heater right away.  I was set up in 12 feet of water on a weed edge.  started jigging the decoy and about 30 min later a 3 pounder came flying in and grabbed the decoy and dropped it right away and was gone in less than a second.  It happened again about an hour later.  How do you stop them long enough to drop the spear on them?   I also had a giant muskie swim through the hole right under the ice. 

What decoys work best? Color? Size? Weight? Live or wood? How big of a hole? How deep do you set the decoy? Pull ice chunk out and on top of the ice or just push it under the ice?  I pushed it under which was very easy.

[glenn57]

I prefer using bear creek decoys that are plastic. most look like northerns. red and white are my preferred choice, but they do also have a green one that works good. its hard to say how to stop them from flying in like that but when I "play" the decoy I only flip it around the hole once, this seems to help  but not always. they probably split right away because when they hit the deke it may have hurt them a bit. my house has 2 holes, I put an artificial down one and a live sucker on a harness down the other. that can make for an interesting day.

hole size?? I try to make it as big as the hole in your house. usually 22 or 2 x 3. I always take the block out. some say it doesn't matter I think it matters a lot. it may take more work to remove it ice tongs helps. remember to always put the block back in the hole and mark it for safety reasons.

setting up your house........I prefer setting my house up in a weed bed. the weeds hold a pikes lunch, or set up near weeds. early season anywhere from 5-6 feet to 8 ft of water is best. as the season progresses 10 ft to 12 are good. if you are just starting to spear shallower is better....less room for error. I usually set my deke about half way between the bottom of the lake and ice. late season higher, they start cruising higher looking for fish that are in poor shape.

let me know if ya got anymore questions or if I forgot something. may not be an expert, but I have spent a few hours in a spear shack.

[dakids]

What time of day is best?  same as fishing with tipups?  early, late or high noon?

[glenn57]

its still fishing?????? typically early and late but then there are times they go crazy midday. if you sit in the weeds chances are you will see some kind of fish on and off all day long.

what I have found if you sit on a small lake that doesn't have a lot of pressure your odds go up. there may not be them wall hangers but a lot of eater size pike. the bigger lakes tend to have bigger fish but you may see less.....more places for them to roam. and you will find the early season they are more active. they may start being a bit more lethargic pretty quick here. they should pick up again towards the end of the season as they start to feed more to bolster up there eggs.

[glenn57]

dakids, you said something about tipups. I am of the opinion that when tipup fishing you are at the mercy of there feeding habits. when spearing a pike is a very curious fish and come to just "look". that can be a factor in success although with that said I have seen my friends do better tipup fishing then we did spearing on occasions, and that on the same lake maybe 400 yards away. could be location too!