Local Fish

[sagacity]

Does anyone catch fish while diving? Maybe nets or spearfishing? Is it legal? I'm just wondering if I see a big 'ol smallmouth or something, might I be able to have him for dinner? 

[LKunze]

You can spear rough fish only in MN.  Here is a past thread with discussion on spearing. 

[AandA]

Underwater angling  ;D  I catch them with a hook and line.  Two years ago I contacted the DNR office in St. Paul.  I asked them if it was legal for me to angle, using a hook and line, while I was also underwater.  I explained to them that I wanted to angle for fish while scuba diving and free diving.  At first as ya can imagine there was a moment of silence on the line,  then using an incredulous tone the person said, " You want to do WHAT? :o"  The individual I spoke with said she would have to discuss this with her supervisor as she had never encountered this question before.  I re3ceived a phone call two days later from a DNR enforcement official who told me that Yes it was legal and that the same laws would apply to fishing above the water as when I chose to fish below the water.

Since that time I have done quite a bit of underwater fishing using a variety of techniques.  I've caught lots of good sized panfish, along with lots of the tastiest large and small mouthed bass.  I generally prefer to use a very short ice fishing rod along with a cheap spincast reel spooled with heavy dacron (easy to see) line, a small weight, and a single modest sized hook.  For panfish any bait works great or even no bait at all.  When yer in a good school they'll bite on a bare shiny hook.  If you want to catch the bigger ones, I've found that you need to use a larger bait that does not fit into the mouths of the smaller ones as well.  Now for those big bass you can use worms for bait, but if there are any bluegills or sunfish around the panfish will beat the bass to the bait :-\...  When I fish for bass I first bring down an old minnow bucket with a spring loaded lid, and collect a bunch of crayfish, sharing the occasional crayfish with the ever-nosy bass that show up.  They will virtually take them out of your hand.  A bass simply cannot resist the swimming action of a lively crayfish .  Well you can just guess what happens when I take one of the crayfish and place them on the hook,  spool out some line and drop it over some bass, WHAM!   

On a safety note there are some concerns not all that different from spearfishing.  Although I’ve never had a problem I realize that there are a couple of additional hazards with this practice.  Entanglement is one such possible hazard.  I never put out a whole bunch of line as it can be too hard to control.  I also carry more than one knife.  When actually reeling a fish in, you have to not get carried away with the fun and maintain your appropriate depth.  I could certainly imagine getting carried away (sometimes almost literally) by “playing” the fish rather than maintaining your depth. The final safety concern that I’ve found is that of..... addiction ;D.  Once you’ve done it, you really wanna go out and do it again.

I've attached a photo of a small bowfin that a friend and I caught and later released while free diving and a picture of a couple of couple of small mouth bass eying a crayfish.

[sagacity]

That is awesome! I never used crayfish for bait. How are they used on the hook? Are they tied? Is there a special placement for crayfish?  ???

This sound like something I might try-I hate being limited to rough fish-but still want to fish while underwater. 

Thanks for noting the concerns! But I'm definately going to try it this summer. What are then best locations for getting fish for dinner?  >

Thanks!
Scott  8)

[LKunze]

The bass love crayfish.  Up at Crosby it's fun to hang out at the end of a dive in the shallows finding crayfish under rocks and feeding them to the bass.  They dart right in and crab them out of your hand.  Last summer I found one of those huge nasty looking water bugs in Louise and fed it to one of the bass.

[AandA]

Couldn't agree more with Kunze! ;D My wife and I both tremendously enjoy feeding the bass when diving, even when not fishing!  Sometimes we make a bit of a game out of it actually.  We call it "rounding up the fish!" We'll start by collecting crayfish and occasionally feeding the bass that show up as we're swimming along a drop-off.  Pretty soon we'll realize that we're surrounded by a 'herd' of bass that we've picked up 1 or 2 at a time along the way.  IT's funny how some of them will absolutely adopt you.  They'll swim along next to you, dart ahead, then come back.  If you change directions, they change directions.  Almost like going for a walk with a bunch of young dogs!  Aly gets sad when I fish for them.  She calls it "killing our friends!"  :'(

To answer the question of "how do you hook a crayfish" the answer is " very carefully!"    Seriously, the best way to hook them is to thread the hook through the back portion of the shell so that it is just barely under the shell.  The reason you do this is so that the crayfish still has the ability to swim naturally.  IT's the swimming motion of the crayfish that drives the bass into an almost instant strike.

AS to where to go - bass like structure.  Drop-offs, timber, beaver lodges, etc. are all very productive.  Many times the big advantage of fishing underwater is my ability to get into areas with a lot of sunken timber where you simply could not get the bait down there from the surface.  ANd if you could, you'd never get the bass out of such a tangled up spot!  :o

Good luck!  You'll have to let us know how you do!

Tomorrow night I'm planning on a fish dinner with some of the bass left over from this past summer!  ;D

[sagacity]

Thanks for all the great info! It was all very helpfeul - however, my where to go question was intended to find out which lakes are best for this type of fishing This year will be my first diving season in MN, so I've no clue where to go, except the most popular places listed as targets of fun diving by local dive shops. I love fishing, and home cooking, so I'm really looking forward to getting out there :-)

Thanks again for all your help, folks!

[AandA]

Lost Lake, Secret Lake, Trout Lake.  I've found all of these lakes to be exceptionally good fishing.    On a more serious note, come on now!  I don't think I want to put out on this website where to go and on what lake to catch BIG fish.  :o  IT's a nice idea, but it goes counter to my selfish tendencies.  > >

Now on the other hand I'd love to hook up with you and actually go out for a day of diving and I'd be more than happy to take you to some lakes where we could dive and fish (simultaneously  ). 

On a general note the Crosby pit lakes are certainly quite productive.  My favorite lake, of course, is up by Grand Rapids.

Looking forward to talking you into diving with us this summer! ;D ;D

[sagacity]

HA! I completely understand, and agree Was just pokin' for a starting point - considering I have NO CLUE ever where to start.

I'd look to hook up as well. I have my new reg and Pro Plus II compy coming to me soon. Just need a BCD, and a few "little" things, and I'll be ready to go!

I'm figuring the season gets started here in May? I'll only have like a 7mm wetsuit, so, not sure if thats enough that early, but, once I can, I'd be really happy to dive with you

Thanks again for all the info!

[AandA]

7mm will be fine in spring, summer and fall.  But I disagree with you that the diving season starts in May!  The diving season actually starts Jan. 1 and ends Dec. 31st.  ;D ;D

I'm a "diver for all seasons" so I'm always ready!  Let's be sure to hook up (pun intended!  ) as soon as you're ready!