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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Opie11" data-source="post: 247641" data-attributes="member: 323"><p>I'm usually in 8-12' of water that is close to deeper water. Normally run the decoy in the middle third of the water column somewhere, but have had fish come in immediately when I've dropped it near the bottom and even had one come into the hole about a foot deep when I had pulled the decoy out of the water to change it out to a different color. I try not to move the decoy very much to start with, but if I'm not seeing fish I tend to start running it more just out of boredom! If you're in a portable style house, I wouldn't recommend shoveling all the snow off of the ice. For one the snow helps block the light, and even more importantly, it gets really slick if you have it warm and there's no snow on the ice inside the shelter. Another tip for keeping it dark is the puzzle style floor mats. They also keep your feet warmer if it's really cold. My favorite way of hanging decoys in a portable has been one of the rattle reels that hooks over the edge of a bucket. I then run the line through the wire handles of one of those paper binder clips that's clipped to the seam of my Eskimo above the hole. That way the line is right next to me and I don't have to reach out over the hole to grab it when I want to run the decoy. This is only my 5th year of spearing, but like KDM said, it's addictive! Good luck to you and hope you enjoy it!</p></blockquote><p></p>