Speared a big pike

I whacked a 35 inch pike yesterday while spearfishing on Seeley Lake.

Congrats.....Some really long filets on that baby.

Nice fish!  Hey, what's up with the butt of your gun? 

Nice fish!  Hey, what's up with the butt of your gun?

Floatation.  I'm snorkeling, not free diving, and so I like my speargun to float when I let go of it, rather than sink to the bottom.

Pretty cool.

OK, careful with keeping it loaded out of the water. 

Oh yeah!!!  Nice fish!!!!  Argh...between you, BigJim, and now Nick in Alaska this spear fishing thing needs to be looked at!!!!  Like I need another hobby! hahaha.

Thanks for posting!!!

Oh yeah!!!  Nice fish!!!!  Argh...between you, BigJim, and now Nick in Alaska this spear fishing thing needs to be looked at!!!!  Like I need another hobby! hahaha. Thanks for posting!!!

If you want to try some spearfishing, spearing for pike is a great way to start, because you can do it while snorkeling, you don't need to do breath-hold free diving, and you don't need to deal with the waves and currents which you encounter in the ocean.  The spearfishing I do is kiddy stuff compared to what Big Jim and others do.

Oh yeah!!!  Nice fish!!!!  Argh...between you, BigJim, and now Nick in Alaska this spear fishing thing needs to be looked at!!!!  Like I need another hobby! hahaha. Thanks for posting!!!

If you want to try some spearfishing, spearing for pike is a great way to start, because you can do it while snorkeling, you don't need to do breath-hold free diving, and you don't need to deal with the waves and currents which you encounter in the ocean.  The spearfishing I do is kiddy stuff compared to what Big Jim and others do.

While I do agree with that from a wave/current perspective.  I HATE swimming in freshwater.  All sorts of creepy crawlies let alone the microscopic junk that includes brain eating amoebas (not this far north) but we do get swimmer's itch and stuff. 

I think for pike, its going to be a bow and arrow gig.  Spearfishing, Ill take my chances in the saltwater.  I can control whether I go out in current and waves.  Who the heck nows what is in the water anywhere that its fresh.  I am pretty naive about this so correct me if I am just being stupid.  lol

Oh yeah!!!  Nice fish!!!!  Argh...between you, BigJim, and now Nick in Alaska this spear fishing thing needs to be looked at!!!!  Like I need another hobby! hahaha. Thanks for posting!!!

If you want to try some spearfishing, spearing for pike is a great way to start, because you can do it while snorkeling, you don't need to do breath-hold free diving, and you don't need to deal with the waves and currents which you encounter in the ocean.  The spearfishing I do is kiddy stuff compared to what Big Jim and others do.

Nice fish for "kiddy stuff". I'd settle for that any day. I gotta do some spear fishing vids this summer.

Very Cool! I'm going to have to try this! What dry suit do you recommend?

Very Cool! I'm going to have to try this! What dry suit do you recommend?

Any dry suit with latex gaskets should work fine.  I suspect that neoprene neck and wrist gaskets would leak.  In the spring and early summer the water is pretty chilly, so you need a drysuit which is big enough to wear over a number of layers of insulation.  A dark color, particularly black, may be less visible to pike, which are pretty wary.  You will definitely want a drysuit with dry socks and a pee zipper.  Because a drysuit with insulating layers under it has a lot of flotation, you'll need to wear a weight belt and probably ankle weights, or you'll float very high, and your fins will splash on the surface and scare off the pike.

Check the fishing regulations to be sure that spearfishing is permitted where you are considering going spearfishing.