What makes a good Spearing Shack???

[thill]

I haven't speared pike in years and it was out of a buddy's homemade shanty. What makes a good Spearing Shack? I know it has to be dark, but what else?

I just purchased a fishtrap guide...how would that work?

[outdoor junkie]

It has to be dark, quiet, and have enough room to manuever your spear around quietly. Not to mention it can get dicey pulling out a big flopping fish without enough room. I've never speared out of a store bought shanty, so I don't know how they would work. I've always had a home-built one. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[chuckinduck]

As mentioned above, room is of the essence. We keep going bigger, and our latest shanty is a about perfect, its 6 x 8' The bigger the shanty the bigger the hole you can make. Our current hole is 2 x 4 ft. You can do it out of a pop up, but I always suggest if you're going to get into pike spearing, a fish trap or any portable shanty is poor choice because pop ups are generally small, hard to manuever around in, and the biggest problem in my opinion stems from the safety aspect. Because you leave a big hole in the ice every time you leave. I always worry that somone will fall in those holes, but I'm a worry wart I guess. You can build shanties for next to nothing, and if you do a search on here, you'll find plenty of good information on the pro's and con's to different designs. Good luck, its a lot of fun. When we've got safe ice.

[MonsterShanty04]

I have a Fish Trap Yukon and I use it for spearing. Its quite dark enough and large enough too. If I set tip-ups, I will lift the front and peel out the side to exit. I agree that safety is top priority, so make sure to find a couple of downed tree limbs to put over the hole when leaving.