Spearfishing in MN

[shamre]

FREEDIVE, WI: Have you ever used any of the mares cyrano pneumatic spearguns? Or the rhino spearguns? Where did you buy your gun? Looking to purchase one and want to get one that is appropriate for mn spearing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[move]thanks![/move]

[Mark Y]

Freedive WI,

Thanks for your informative posts - I'm also interested in spearing (in MN). I know people who'll let me shore dive from their house (Lk. Mtka.) and I know there are tons of carp there (I bass fish the lake regularly).

I'll have to find a recipe for smoked carp!

Too bad it's illegal to spear panfish in MN, I could get hundreds of them!

[Freedive WI]

I don't know of any freedivers who use pneumatic guns- they are very noisy, loose their power at depth, much more complicated to fix and have some safety issues with them while they're being loading. I would just avoid those kind of guns alltogether.

I have seen the Rhino's, but don't know anyone who uses them.

Most of the people I dive with, or talk to, have used the JBL's as a begginer gun and then move onto something else. Popular guns are made by Riffe and Wong, if you like wood guns. These guns can also be made at home if you are good with a set of wood working tools. You can buy all of the parts, besides the wood, from Riffe. Other guns that are used quite a bit are Rob Allen's, Rabitech's, OMER's, certain Beuchat and Sporasub models, and Picasso's.

I bought my Rob Allen from Florida because no one around here carried any freediving gear, or spearguns, when I go into it. I have since convinced the local dive shop that I work for, Deep Blue, to carry OMER guns. They can get the smaller sizes that work out better for around here as OMER makes guns in the 50cm and 60 cm range. I bought the smallest Rob Allen I could find and, at 75cm, it's so long I can't use it when the lakes go green. You don't need a huge gun to sperfish around here. Something that's light and fast will work much better.

If you want to go with a Riffe your going to have to order it from somewhere esle, as no one that I know of around here carries them.

Here's a shot of my two guns. You can get a small Euro gun for less than $200, but expect to pay over $400- $500 for a good wooden gun.

Jon

[Freedive WI]

I thought that it was leagal to spear Northern Pike during certain times of the year in Minnesota? That would be a fun one to go for. I know that they spearfish for them over in some of the Northern European countires.

Jon

[shamre]

Picked up the 2004 fishing regs this weekend as well as my license and the only thing it says about spearing is that you have to be completely submerged and no longer than 20 ft line and cannot be within 1000 ft of swimming area.

[Mark Y]

From what I understand, Northerns are legal to spearfish for a short time - but I catch so darn many of them (some of which I pickle - better than herring, if you ask me) that I can't see spearing them!

[Mark Y]

And I've heard that Europeans like certain types of carp . . . is that true!?!?!? If so, we could start quite the export business!

[Freedive WI]

One of my dive buddies is from hte Czech Republic. She kept telling me about the "Christmas Carp" her mother used to make when she was growing up. She actually brought me back a Czech cook book the last time she was there and it had at least 4 recipies for carp in it.

I still prefer the large crappie, perch, and blue gill for taste, and low mercury counts. Big fish equal big toxins nowadays. It would still be nice to be able to shoot a walleye, but I'll take what I can. Bass would be too easy, as they are always in my way when I am trying to get that spooked crappie at the back of the school. Some of them will actually come up and start nibbling on my speartip while I am lying in wait on the bottom.

Musky are always sniffing around my float, where I keep my fish, and I think that they're eyeing up an easy meal. I've tried to hand feed them before, but they never get quite close enough to take anything from my hand- I wonder how Captain Slate started??

I've never had a pickled northern, mainly because I don't like pickeled anything, but have had many northern fish boils in the past. They were pretty good and I would always choose a northern over a carp if I had the chance.

I don't do any other types of fishing, other than spearfishing, as I find it too boring just sitting there. Actually jumping in and trying to hunt them down is so much more fun than just sitting in a boat and waiting for something to happen. I used to do quite a bit when I was a kid, I quit as soon as I got certified- when I was 14.

Another nice thing aobut freedive/ spearfishing is that it makes those shallow inland lakes interesting again. After so many years of wreck diving in the Great Lakes it's kind of nice to be able to challenge yourself in one of the 15,000 inland lakes we have in Wisconsin.

Not a big deal to have a 20' teather on a spear. My speargun has a teather of no more than 10'-12' on it and has more range than I will ever need.

Here's a shot of one of those freindly Musky now. ;D

Jon

[freedivernd]

any game fish are strictly off limits in Minnesota.. it's only rough fish.. (you might be getting dark house spearing mixed up with underwater spearing, northerns are legal to spear from a dark house)
I have a single band Mares Explorer 50, a slightly modified 2 band JBL 38 special, and an old antique single band. Spearguns are similar to firearms.. the more you pay, the better the quality.. ie, better trigger release mechanisms, line releases, safeties, tracks, spears, etc..
For the water around here, the JBL is about as long a gun to use most of the time.Fred

[igotoofar]

Now what do yo think about underwater fishing rather than spearing.

Drop a lure in frount of the fish and whamo! One of those muskies may be able to drag you around a bit ;D