Sucker spearing

[Nomad]

Anyone do, it anymore ? In the ‘70s every kid in my neighborhood had hip boots and a sucker spear . We’d go at night with lanterns and flashlights , I can still hear the sound of the spear head hitting the rocks in the creek, great times. There was a creek in the neighborhood that went into Lake Ontario , it winded through some private roads, basically across folks front yards ( sometimes through my buddies basement )  , but nobody cared who fished ,speared or played in it , today I’d imagine the swat team would be called ,different times then . 
 

Still have my spear gotta be 45 years old at least .

[Pygmy]

Many years ago, back when Moby Dick was a minnow, there used to be a  good spring sucker run in Tuscarora Creek, here in Dogpatch..

The bridge spanning the creek had streetlights ( fueled by whale oil)  and you did not need a light...The creek was fairly shallow there and we'd  stand just upstream of the bridge and spear the suckers in the light of the streetlights as they swam upstream...

[turkeyfeathers]

Silly question but what did y’all do with the suckers then ? 
 

 

[grampy]

This brings back some good memories! We would go to a feeder creek of Thompson's Lake. We used spears we made ourselves, mostly from a sharpened broom handle, with a short nail for a barb. 

And it seemed every year, at least one of us would slip on a rock and get soaked! To the amusement and ball busting of the others. Good times.

[Nytracker]

I never speared  suckers but there was a couple of  old german men that gave money for a  5 gallon pale of suckers . We use to snag.

[Pygmy]

I gave them to people who didn't mind picking out the 1000 Y bones..I ate f ew myself myself, and they were very tasty, but I didn't like dealing with all the bones..

If I were to get some now, I would can them like I can northern pike...The canning process dissolves the bones and they make excellent fish patties..

[doebuck1234]

Grandfather always talked about how much he loved doing it "back in the day".seems like it could be a pretty good time!

[crappyice]

I gave them to people who didn't mind picking out the 1000 Y bones..I ate f ew myself myself, and they were very tasty, but I didn't like dealing with all the bones..
If I were to get some now, I would can them like I can northern pike...The canning process dissolves the bones and they make excellent fish patties..

Really....I would think they “are what they eat!” which would make them taste “muddy”


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[Pygmy]

17 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Really....I would think they “are what they eat!” which would make them taste “muddy”


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Not at all....It is very flaky white meat...Nice and firm when taken from cold water in the spring...

[Robhuntandfish]

Kinda like smelting. Rarely hear of anyone going after smelt anymore either

[E J]

When I was a kid we lived right on a creek that went out to lake Ontario. I remember the sucker spearing parties my dad would have in the spring. The guys that would come would stop by earlier in the day to drop their six packs off and leave them in the creek to be good and cold. My dad would always put his suckers in the garden and till them in for fertilizer. I went a couple times in high school and it was a lot of fun. That was over 20 years ago and probably not allowed anymore by any of the landowners. 

[Pygmy]

32 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Really....I would think they “are what they eat!” which would make them taste “muddy”


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Actually, if that were true, I would have turned into a beaver when I was in my twenties...

[Pygmy]

14 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

Kinda like smelting. Rarely hear of anyone going after smelt anymore either

Smelt are basically extinct in Seneca, and rare in Keuka, which are the two places closest to me..I guess the numbers are down in the other Finger lakes too...

I'd love to have a bucket or two of fresh smelt, if they were still available locally...

[BizCT]

Smelt are basically extinct in Seneca, and rare in Keuka, which are the two places closest to me..I guess the numbers are down in the other Finger lakes too...
I'd love to have a bucket or two of fresh smelt, if they were still available locally...

I eat smelt every Xmas eve for the 7 dishes.

I believe lake George still has a great smelt run or at least It did


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[The_Real_TCIII]

Many years ago, back when Moby Dick was a minnow, there used to be a  good spring sucker run in Tuscarora Creek, here in Dogpatch..
The bridge spanning the creek had streetlights ( fueled by whale oil)  and you did not need a light...The creek was fairly shallow there and we'd  stand just upstream of the bridge and spear the suckers in the light of the streetlights as they swam upstream...

The whale oil line has me LOL

[Pygmy]

43 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

 

I eat smelt every Xmas eve for the 7 dishes.

I believe lake George still has a great smelt run or at least It did


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Yeah, but that's a long drive home for me...

Especially at midnite a 12 pack under my belt....

[Rattler]

Back in the mid 60's to the mid 70's I used to spear suckers in the Delaware River across from the Port Jervis beach.  My uncle lived right on the river on the PA side.  We used three pronged spears like the one shown in the OP with a snorkel, mask and fins.

We'd just cruise the river with the fins and our face in the water so we could see.  Typical snorkeling.  Some of the fish were in deep water so you would have to take a deep breath and dive down to them.

(Back then the water was crystal clear and the rocks in the river were really clean.  Now they are all covered with brown crap and look like dirt.)

It was a lot more fun than just going for a swim in the river and there were plenty of suckers in the river to keep things interesting.

Every so often someone would show up with a speargun and that would always have somebody who saw it calling the wardens, who would show up quick and confiscate it.  Not sure what the fine was for using it, but it wasn't cheap.  One kid dropped his in the river when he saw the wardens and they held him on shore for two hours until he went in to get it.  There were quite a few outlaws around that area back then. 

[Nomad]

10 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Silly question but what did y’all do with the suckers then ? 
 

 

Use the eggs, for egg sacks for trout fishing , the rest for garden fertilizer.

[mowin]

Used to go snorkeling/ spearing in the Kinderhook Creek behind my house when I was a kid. Thinking about it now has me wondering if it was legal as the khook was a trout stream. 

Water was normally too deep and fast for spring time runs.  Was a great way to cool off in the summer, and have fun though.

Dad used em in the garden for fertilizer.