After sawing a wide rectangle into the ice, a person holds a fish spear at the ready while looking through the water, past a small decoy meant to lure northern pike into range. A well-placed throw ...

COHASSET -- Mike Best of Deer River calls it the fish that got him "addicted" to spearing northern pike. And he didn't even spear it himself. He was just a kid. "My dad speared a 20-pound, 9-ounce ...

WEST FARGO – Have you ever been darkhouse spearfishing for pike? It’s relatively new, compared with most outdoor recreation in North Dakota, having started a mere 25 years ago, but for those who have ...

I am often amazed at the raw pure connection to the outdoors enjoyed by many of my friends and co-workers. When the temperature drops and the ice begins to form, it doesn’t signal the end to spending ...

On the afternoon of the last day of the year, I trudged across the lake and made a sizable hole in the ice. My goal: to attract just one northern pike good enough to throw the spear. It was a second ...

When word spread that George Pavlica's spearing and fishing shack had burned on Trout Lake near Coleraine, a few other spearers decided to take action. Pavlica, who lives in Bovey, is 87. His shack ...

You don’t have to tie up a youngster to get him or her to come spearfishing. But, once in the darkhouse, for smaller youngsters, it doesn’t hurt. For safety reasons, you know. According to the ...

SPICER -- There will be an organizational meeting of a proposed chapter of the Minnesota Darkhouse and Angling Association at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Spicer American Legion Duey Johnston, a fish ...

Dec. 16—BISMARCK — The North Dakota Game and Fish Department requires darkhouse spearing participants to possess a valid fishing license (age 16 and older) and Darkhouse spearing is allowed for all ...

Duane Steinkopf's motivation for carving his own spearing decoys was hardly storybook stuff, far less romantic than good old-fashioned German frugality would allow. "I started because I wasn't going ...