Tightlining

[Cyberfish]

Tightlining is a skill that evolved in Michigan ice fishing in the 1970s that involves which is a form of sight fishing, where you try see the bite,not unlike watching a spring bobber or rod tip strike indicator, only the line, usually a hi visibility line like gold Stren monofilament, is your bobber. The biggest advantage in tightlining is, instead of watching your rod tip, you are looking down in the hole underwater, away from wind, and freeze ups, and closer to where the action is. they work up and down in the water while imparting subtle "dabbles" of action to the bait to trigger strikes. many times you can see the strike as the line twitching or moving sideways, other times, it may be just a subtle change in the load on the line as I am working it. That is how they were biting during this video, most strikes were barely perceptible. When I think a fish has bit, I drop the rod tip just a little. if I see a bend or coil in the line that doesn't come out immediately, and I am not on the bottom, IT IS ALWAYS A FISH ON! Pull him in! Watch every time I pull up a fish, you will see the bend, and you will learn when a fish has it before I even hook it!, all other times it is straight. Re watch until you get the concept down. Then go out to a good spot where the fish are stacked and biting to practise and build your confidence. I hope this makes you a deadlier angler! Special thanks to Dave Young and Mike Boedecker for sharing much of this knowledge with me on the "Icemen" TV show, and out on the ice!

[amateurfishing]

cool & interesting

i suspect u need lightning fast reflexes for this as well as ultra light line....what kind of rod & rod tip do u use/would work for this? spring bobber would not work, right?

[Eric_Kruger]

Very nice post MT! this way if fishing is an art, ive been practicing it all year and can say I still miss just as many as I catch! lol I have not tried dipping the rod tip yet but will give that a try next trip out...

[OnAFly]

Cool video. I've got a buddy who swears by this tactic. I use spring bobbers, he just watches his line. It works pretty well for him.

[hamms-scooter]

Great video Mike ! This has style of fishing has helped me catch so many fish. The importaant thing to is that you don't need a flasher! I watched you do this last year for a full day when your flasher went down and it was just as effective just needed to stay on the move and fish fast in each hole. Tungsten jigs also are a great addition to this style as you can fish fast! Great info MT! All I use now is gold stren 2 lbs test and it has helped me so much. Good fishing

[Cyberfish]

cool & interesting

i suspect u need lightning fast reflexes for this as well as ultra light line....what kind of rod & rod tip do u use/would work for this? spring bobber would not work, right?

If I needed lightning fast reflexes Id be out of luck haha! I use HT ice blues 24 inch with the orange tip part cut off, so im at around 20. I just like the action, if you get good at watching your line, you dont need spendy sensitive rods anymore! You don't have to remove springs if that is what you have, but you are looking down the hole, not the rod tip, so a spring would be obsolete

[Cyberfish]

Very nice post MT! this way if fishing is an art, ive been practicing it all year and can say I still miss just as many as I catch! lol I have not tried dipping the rod tip yet but will give that a try next trip out...

Thanks! yes, the drop of the rod will tell you if there is a fish on every time, and I think the moment of slack helps the fish suck it down better. many people do it walleye and bass fishing in the summer, but not many ice fishers do it, but it works, I miss a lot less fish now! good luck!

[hamms-scooter]

I also use HT ice blues with the orange chopped! Best action for the plastics I like. Although I did add a jason mitchell 17 inch sight fishing rod to the mix this year

[Cyberfish]

Cool video. I've got a buddy who swears by this tactic. I use spring bobbers, he just watches his line. It works pretty well for him.

Thanks! Many fish are caught on those spring bobbers too! Its good to learn many different ways!

[Cyberfish]

Great video Mike ! This has style of fishing has helped me catch so many fish. The importaant thing to is that you don't need a flasher! I watched you do this last year for a full day when your flasher went down and it was just as effective just needed to stay on the move and fish fast in each hole. Tungsten jigs also are a great addition to this style as you can fish fast! Great info MT! All I use now is gold stren 2 lbs test and it has helped me so much. Good fishing

Thanks! Glad to have helped you catch more fish! A flasher and tightlining together can be double deadly, but when starting out, a flasher can distract you from learning to read your line, best to find a good spot where you don't need one to build confidence in detecting strikes! good luck

[hamms-scooter]

I find this most helpful when I bring someone else out fishing with me. I only have 1 flasher so I often let them use it and tightline . My little brothers think it is some kind of fishing magic.

[cavalierowner]

VERY interesting; I had not heard of this before. I can't wait to give it a try.

This is almost what I discovered by accident a couple years ago. When using a spring bobber, I found that the instant I see the spring make the slightest movement, I would start dropping the rod tip, then set the hook. I bet I cut the number of misses by at least half.

[amateurfishing]

VERY interesting; I had not heard of this before. I can't wait to give it a try.

This is almost what I discovered by accident a couple years ago. When using a spring bobber, I found that the instant I see the spring make the slightest movement, I would start dropping the rod tip, then set the hook. I bet I cut the number of misses by at least half.

mmm....more interesting sounds like i have to learn to drop spring bobber a hair b4 setting hook, this could explain my dismal performance this year, dont go straight up, thx!

[Jim Uran]

Well shot! My dad still fishes like this about 90% of the time!

[hamms-scooter]

When tightlining the spring bobber has no function other then using it to give your bait a certain action. The line is your bobber/strike indicater. You look as far down the hole as you can at your line. If you are looking at your spring bobber you are looking at a delay of the bite. The line is the first and tells you everything.