Tip ups...

[fishingguy]

My hunting and fishing buddy uses tip ups for walleyes all the time and catches fish. I have tried them with little or no luck. What type of lure/lures do you guys use under a tip up?

[IceHawk]

I have had real good success using standard Gamakatsu octopus hooks. I use red in clear water and chartruese in stained water. The size depends on the minnows you use but I use a number 2 with shiners and a number 4 with fatheads. I also add a buckshot rattle bead above the hook, My opinion is you make your minnows look more natural using a standard hook setup.

[grfisherman2001]

i tie on 3 or 4 foot of mono and then usually ill tie on a glow gem-n-eye or the equivelent from another company it works great for walleyes and pike. the only drawback is the mono dont hold up well to the pike but is a must for the eyes so keep a good supply of leader material and plenty of jigs.
good fishin
grfm

[HunterLee]

we usually only use tipups for walleyes. we usually use a bigger minnow, such as a sucker or shiner. either a plain baitholder hook with enough lead to hold it down there. either that or a glow hook. green works best for me. hook thought the back. just through the skin on side of the back. hook facing the head of the minnow. got a 30in + on sat night. along with a 4lder. good luck and tell me if it works

[jwilli7122]

I use dacron or used 50 lb powerpro (works OK but dacron works better) for my main line with about a 4 ft. mono leader. I always go with at least 8 lb. test. I put enough weight to sink the minnow reasonably quickly about 1.5 feet above the minnow (when its cold out, I don't like to feed line with wet hands for 10 min. while the minnow sinks.) then, depending on the size and strength of the minnows im using, i put a little weight about 2 inches up to slow them down but still allow free movement. Sometimes it works better to just put your heavy weight about 2 inches up so you have a lively minnow on a 2 inch leash. Another thing you can do is cut off part of the tail or otherwise mutilate your minnow. i like #6 and #4 octopus hooks. In my opinion hook color isnt a big deal, but i like chartreuse regardless of water clarity. I don't like using jigs on tipups, but i bet a teardrop style jig might work OK.

tipups are a great way to catch walleyes. i always catch way more on tipups than jigging. maybe i just suck at jigging, but either way- tipups work.

[the jimmer]

i couldn't agree more than i do with IceHawk. i too have the best success with the red gamagatsu octupus, size 4 sith a fathead minnow. this also is a winner with crappies, only using crappie minnows. i fish pretty clear water... green lake in kandiohi county, and it goes great.

the jimmer

[the jimmer]

i forgot to mention that i also have better success with light line. four pound and even two pound is the best. you risk breakoffs, but if you set your drag light and just fight the fish you'll do fine. i have found that a fish will pass a bait by hanging from 6 pound test and go right to the four pound and pounce on it.

the jimmer

[LocalGuide]

For my tip-ups I use normal dacron 20lb or 30lb line with a 2' 8lb mono leader. For a lure i use a #4 octupus hook. I prefer a white/glow color hook with either a shinner or a fathead on it. I have done well with that set-up.

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AKA PikeEye 300

[Steve Foss]

When I lived in Wis. and could use three tip-ups, I had one with a single bare hook (no color or glow hook), a split shot and small fathead minnow, for the potential light biters. Then, on my second tip, I'd use a jig like a glow demon or forage minnow with a minnow back-hooked through the dorsal fin area, and on the third would use a larger minnow, perhaps a 4-inch sucker minnow.

That gave me a lot of options for 'eyes. If three in a row came on one special combo, it could be because the location was the best or because the bait combo was the best. Hard to say, eh? I'd put one 6 inches off the bottom, one a foot or so off and one at least 2 feet off, because aggressive evening 'eyes often come in suspended off the bottom, especially when they're invading a point from deeper water.

Also, don't be in a hurry to set the hook on evening tip-up 'eyes. Give it 20 seconds, wait until the spindle moves slowly or not at all, feel the fish and then give it a tug, not a sharp pull. Small sharp hooks set with just the tension of the weight of the fish, no need for a Roland Martin bass hookset.

If your tips have really heavy line, just add several feet of lighter mono for a leader, from 8 lb to 12 lb, depending on water clarity and chance of giant 'eyes.

Tip-up tips: You can hot glue reflector tape on your flags, which shows up like gangbusters in the glow from your headlamp or lantern. You can also attach small jingle bells to the flag shaft (they're marketed as bells to attach to catfish poles). On a quiet night, you can hear the jingle bells jingle from 100 yards away when a flag pops, then just flash your light toward the sound and it'll pick up the glow tape.

Most importantly, don't lose patience and keep trying. Like any other type of finesse technique, tip-ups take a bit of finagling and some practice to get right.

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"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 12-22-2003).]

[letsfishjeff]

I like to use Kaley style hooks in the jig style. I try to keep them 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. Small suckers seem to work the the best.

[havok12th]

Does anyone have a method or diagram or point me to one for attaching 2'-4' of mono to my tip-up line. What type of knot to use is what I 'm asking.

Thanks for the help,
havok12th

[HunterLee]

i tie the tipup line to a swivel and then tie the mono to the swivel. i assume thats how most people do it.

[LocalGuide]

Thats how I do it. I just attach them both to a swivel.

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AKA PikeEye 300

[Scott Steil]

"i forgot to mention that i also have better success with light line. four pound and even two pound is the best. you risk breakoffs, but if you set your drag light and just fight the fish you'll do fine. i have found that a fish will pass a bait by hanging from 6 pound test and go right to the four pound and pounce on it.
the jimmer"

Jimmer, how do you set the drag on your tip-up when you are using such light line? I have never heard of a tip-up with a drag system.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
(320)293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[SpikeRoberts]

Scott,
I don't know much about other tip-ups but the HT Polars have a spring/nut on the shaft that allows you to adjust the drag. You can tighten/loosen the nut for more/less resistance as the spool turns.

[fishingguy]

Thanks for all the tips. Caught my first walleye on a tip up today! Ever so small, but it is a start. Thanks again!

[Scott Steil]

Spike, I have never seen a person fight a fish on tip-up other then by hand. Most tip-ups you can adjust the "tension" of the spool and trip mechanism. HoweverI am curious about this "drag" the jimmer referred to.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
(320)293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com