Darkhouse spearing: Turning a passion into a business

If you want to know more about darkhouse spearing or want to find an enjoyable new winter hobby, you need to attend the Spears, Beers and Decoys show at the Lean To Tavern in Bejou on Saturday, November 23rd from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. There will be many vendors with information about the sport on hand and many other enthusiats who will be happy to talk about the sport.

Darkhouse spearing for Jordan and Jered Gunufson started when we were young boys around 4 or 5 years old. Their dad would take the boys to Maple Bay or Union Lake occasionally. He would wrap a rope around their waists so if they did fall in, he had something to grab and pull us out. (They never fell in though!) 

The boys' dad and uncles would go on a spearing trip to International Falls every December. They wanted to go with but the rule was the boys' had to wait until we were 18 years old. When the wait was finally over, they got to go on the spearing trip and from that point on, they have been truly hooked on Darkhouse Spearing.

It's not always about spearing big fish to them, its more about the memories made with friends and family and also introducing our kids to spearing. 

As they got older, they started to fall in love with the sport of darkhouse spearing even more. In November of 2017 their buddy Trent Oftedahl and Jordan wanted to come up with something to promote this sport more. "We wanted to start something where people could relate to spearing or even better yet, to start spearing from scratch", said Jordan, "We sat down in my office one evening (with a 12 pack of Busch Light) and brainstormed some ideas and that's when Northern Spiked was born."

Since then the guys have been filming their spearing trips, and promoting other companies that are involved in this great sport. Promotion is like a second language to Jordan and he has really brought the sport of darkhouse spearing to many in Northwest Minnesota and further away as well.

"In the midst of all this we decided last year that we wanted to do more around our community", said Jordan,

"A spear and decoy show came to our mind. What better way would there be than to kickoff the spearing season with an event with decoy carvers and spear makers?"