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 ...

Hunting and fishing overlap seasons but when you combine the two, its darkhouse spearing. In this episode of Northland Outdoors, Chad Koel takes us to his dark shack on the ice and shows how he uses ...

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 ...

North Dakota’s darkhouse spearfishing season opens on most state waters whenever ice-up occurs. Legal fish are northern pike and nongame species. Spearing regulations require possessing a valid ...

The door closes and a shroud of darkness covers the room while light pours in from below. A dozen years have passed, unintentionally, since the last time I positioned myself over a rectangular hole ...

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 ...

MINNEAPOLIS - The return of northern pike spearing to Mille Lacs Lake for the first time in 32 years is generating a buzz among long-time spearers. It's also brought hope for resort owners whose ...

Jan. 20—NEW LONDON — Modern wheelhouses, electronics and even social media have brought dramatic changes to ice fishing, but the sport of spearing fish through the ice has largely remained immune to ...

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has added Carlson Lakes in Ward County, Gravel Lake in Rolette County and West Napoleon Lake in Logan County to the list of waters open to spearing this ...

We are a hearty bunch. When temperatures drop and the ice begins to form, it doesn’t signal the end to spending time hunting and fishing. It’s just a transition. One of those transitions taking place ...

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 ...

While thousands of people have ice-fished, many never have stepped inside a spearing darkhouse. Spearers want no outside light entering so they can more easily see into the depths below. They sit in a ...