Help.....

[Chief Many Longbeards]

PTSD (post turkey season depression) began for me yesterday after archery season ended sunday.
been kicking myself ever since for not chasin em enough with the bow.
about all a guy can do until spring season is keep up on the permit lottery, read forums, watch videos, shop and practice calling (less of a headache when the wife isnt around) :lol:
saw two big gobbler flocks about 25 yards off the road when we were headed to the big river walleye fishing last week, slowed down to get a better look both times and i swear they were laughin at me.

[1Morgan]

I got scolded this weekend for running calls in the house. The kids think it's funny,the wife...not so much!!

[Mossberg835]

I icefish, steelhead fish, and then crappie, perch, and bass fish till may rolls around, keeps me busy and my mind off of turkey hunting all the time. the worst thing is im working on my turkey from last year in taxidermy class now so im going nuts!!!

[stankyolgobbler]

start slowly loading up for the season...it help pass time

[kygobbler]

Mossberg, Im glad you brought up ice fishing. I was talking to a guy that lives up around Detroit and he told me that he was in the process of making a decoy. Of course my first and only thought was turkey hunting but he was making a decoy for ice fishing. Now I have never heard of someone using a decoy for fishing but he told me it was a common thing. Do any of ya use decoys to ice fish? Does it actually work? Down here the weather doesn't get cold enough to do any type of ice fishing so Im just curious about it. Plus, Im pretty sure if someone threw out a fish decoy out in a lake down here you will get a few odd and smart butt comments about it.

[Gopherlongbeards]

I'd bet he was talking about a spearing decoy. Spearing northern pike through the ice is popular here up north. the decoys are typically fish shaped and painted a variety of colors to attract the attention of pike (Just google "spearing decoy"). You cut a large hole (2ft X 4ft or so) and set your shack up over it. Put the decoy down, and stand there waiting for pike to come check it out. this tends to work best in shallow weedy areas, and you obviously need decent water clarity. When a pike swims in to check out the decoy, wham you hit'um with the spear (or try to anyways). I do not spear, but I do take ice fishing pretty seriously (it's very popular around here). I usually get out a couple nights a week after work and a day on the weekends as well. Has the added benefit of passing the time till turkey season starts up again.

[kygobbler]

Cool, he didnt say anything about spearing. Now that might be a pretty neat thing to do. It would be similiar to us going sucker gigging down here but for bigger fish obviously. In case you dont know what a sucker is its in the carp family and there is 3 types buffalo, red, and white. They can range any where from .5 lb to almost 4 lbs. They will come up the creeks once a year and lay thier eggs. The best way to go gigging for them is at night using coleman lanterns, a gig, and a 50 lb feed bag strapped over your shoulder. I know it sounds redneck as heck but we have a ball doing it and it has became a ritual to go every spring. It does suck when they are running late and during turkey season, going gigging all night then hunting all day. It will wear a man out quickly. :lol:

[Gopherlongbeards]

Cool, plenty of suckers around here as well. Some people take them when they're running in the spring to pickle. Much more popular to use them as bait for pike/ musky though. Suckers actually have their own family, Catostomidae, and are not part of the carps and minnows. What is gigging? is it like noodling? lol? Or is it like snagging?

A little more about spearing decoys: many of them are beautiful works of art and there is a lot of tradition that goes into their crafting. Some people collect and display them the way others do old duck decoys or turkey calls. Pike decoys generally look like some type of prey fish, but decoys for sturgeon spearing can really be anything that will arouse the fishes curiosity. Anything from sturgeon shaped, to just random everyday objects. a popular sturgeon decoy on Lake Winnebago a few years ago was a white coffee cup....

[cahaba]

Our season starts March 15th. I think about turkey hunting all day every day. I'm going to start scouting on a new property I'm hunting this year. Also I am going to try and observe the turkeys patterns and such. It will help my hunting and pass the time. I can't wait! Fired up....oh yeah!

[kygobbler]

We use a fish gig which is similiar to a frog gig but only bigger. If we get a new gig we usually cut the barbs off of them that way its easier to pull the fish off. By doing this you have to be carefull after you giged your fish. Instead of pulling him straight up out of the water you have to use a scooping motion instead or the fish falls off. Incase you are wondering yes you do have to wade in the water. Usually the water is inbetween ankle to no higher than the boys deep, for obvious reasons. :lol:

Anything from sturgeon shaped, to just random everyday objects. a popular sturgeon decoy on Lake Winnebago a few years ago was a white coffee cup....

Now that is funny.