Hey ND, Stop Missing Out On Darkhouse Spearfishing!

Now you have something to do as a family!

Not that! Darkhouse fishing!!

Our state isn't really missing out on darkhouse fishing, they've been at it for 20 years.  Even better, the waterways have been expanded so you don't have to travel across the state to spear a fish in the head in a darkhouse.

But you and I have been missing out.  So maybe, let's make this Christmas "A Spearfishin' Christmas!"  Make it a family thing and buy related gifts together.  Ah, the kids got you a gas powered ice auger!  Side note here, when I was a kid we just had a hand-powered auger.  Definitely not adding to the ice fishing experience.

But, this is different...this is you and a tarp tent, a gas powered auger, your kids, a super big hole, and a bunch of spears. Bring whatever other kinds of comforts you desire. Seems to me that it's more or less- see a fish, spear a fish.

What I gathered from gf.nd.gov

Northern pike and nongame fish are the only legal species for darkhouse spearfishing. Daily and possession limits are the same as listed on page 11.

I don't know what northern pike did to piss somebody off...because here's your game fish North Dakota!

Game fish are bluegill, burbot, channel catfish, chinook salmon, crappie (black and white), largemouth bass, muskellunge (pure and hybrid), northern pike, paddlefish, sauger, saugeye, smallmouth bass, sturgeon (pallid, shovelnose and lake), trout (brown, lake, rainbow and cutthroat), walleye, white bass, yellow perch and zander.

So ya can't spear those.  But outdoor guy Doug Leier writes in Outdoor Weekly.com

4,374 individuals registered – 2,992 residents and 1,392 nonresidents. The spearers harvested and estimated 17,642 northern pike.

See, over 4,300 people participated a coupla seasons back and the northern pike were none too happy.

Again, from Game and Fish these are definitive rules.

It is illegal to return fish to the water after they are speared.

So if you get a game fish by mistake since it's a "darkhouse" and fish are splashing around- there is no catch-and-release.  But wait, here's the quizzical part...

It is illegal to return fish to the water after they are shot or speared. All fish must be used and/or disposed of properly and not left in the water or on land.

So if you spear walleye by mistake, have a family fish fry before you leave your spot.  Properly disposed.

Darkhouse spearfishing, what say you?