Tip Up Set Up

[MrSchrute]

Looking for some new ideas on what you all use for your tip up set ups.

I typically run a quick strike rig with a live medium sucker minnow on it with average success. Usually set up half way down the water column in 10-15ft

What are you all using and what are you catch/hook up rates?

[Luke_M]

This it my go to rig. Its about a foot or so long made with 40 lb flouro with a small spoon tied in about half way. I pre-tie with various hook sizes and colors. During the first half of the season I have my best success a foot off the bottom to about half way up the water column. As we get later in the season i seem to do better in the top half of the water column.

[20lbSloughShark]

Are you looking to get more flags, or increase your hooking %? I don't think you will ever beat a quick strike for hooking percentage. A proper hookset is key. A hard sweep is best. I find it best to wait for fish to slow down to a steady pace to set the hook. If by medium sucker you mean those little 4"-6" ones, step up to large. 8"-10" is my preference, but bigger works fine too. They are just a pain to use. One tip is to use scissors and cut the tail fin clean off. They fight like mad, but hardly go anywhere. You can also get away with less weight that way. I usually use 1/4 ounce.

Luke_M has a great tip. Adding a spoon above the bait helps draw attention. I use spinners, and put them right on the rig. You can give fluoro or mono a try, but I would not go below 40#. 40#-60# works good as a quick strike. Where I fish, I notice little difference between fluorocarbon and steel leaders with bites. The fish just don't seem to care that much. A walleye or bass capable of swallowing the bait doesn't seem to care about steel.

Another thing you might want to try is circle hooks. I'm still experimenting, but have had mixed results. One problem I had was that some circle hooks gut hook just as readily as a regular j hook. The idea of them is that they pull out of the gut, and into the corner of the mouth. This is better for conservation, as well as it keeps the leader out of the teeth of the fish. Some people claim they can run a regular j hook like an octopus, or some like a kahle. I have not witnessed anyone have good success with this yet. Not by my definition anyway. A j hook just leaves way too fine a line between a miss and a gut hook. If you do ever gut hook a fish, don't cut the line and release it unless you have to. Its 99% guaranteed death. Fish do not dissolve hooks in their gut. Slight damage to the gills or bleeding is usually fine however.

I will fish at all kinds of depths. I wouldn't recommend it, but I have caught tiny pike in less than 1' of water. 2' is about as shallow as I go, and I will go as deep as it takes. My usual range is around 4'-15', but it depends so much on the lake. My top pick would be 6'-8' (often the weed line in the winter). Out to about 10' I set them half way to the bottom. I am always messing with the traps as I go. If after 15 minutes of nothing, I might raise or lower them a few feet. In deeper water I don't go any closer than 3' off the bottom. I usually start off 5' off the bottom, and maybe put another trap (if fishing with someone else) 2' under the ice. Just under the ice is an overlooked way to catch pike. It always surprises me just how high they run. Early in the season, thats not always the case. Probably because they can see you walking around. I think someone on this forum has a cool picture of a pike just under the ice.

I jig around my tip ups. I've had a few pike take the jig, but most of the time it just draws them in. I start with jigs that flash or rattle.

If you are loosing fish during the fight, and use coated tip up line, consider regular dacron. I gave coated line a try last year, but I hate the stuff. One problem I had was it doesn't stretch at all. this means pike can shake the hook so much easier.

One last thing to note is I don't use a line marker. Some do, some don't. I find it to have no advantage for me, and it gets in the way when fighting a fish. Its often located right at the point when a fish makes its run. That said, if you do like them, my favorite has been a big red bead. If you want a lower profile, a bobber stop works fine too.

I suppose that is way more than you asked for, but this really got my ice fishing blood flowing.

-Tom

[MrSchrute]

Thanks for the info Slough. I will for sure be trying out some of the tips you posted. I know some of the water I fish has large pike but I just can't seem to get them. I think upping to the larger suckers with the tails clipped will help a lot.

[minky]

Good tips!

Lots of things to try in the coming months.

Thanks for sharing.

[deerminator]

Lots of good tips here. I am by no means the Pike slayer but I mainly fish tip ups with the kids. When the hole family goes out, I run six tip ups and help my wife and kids jig two lines in our portable house. Its a lot of fun as we typically watch a movie or have time for lots of conversation waiting for the flags to go up.

I mainly run quickstrike rigs I bought from the store. My favorite color of blade looks like Dorothy's slippers from the Wizard of Oz. My theory is the red sparkle looks like blood but I'm not a Pike so I couldn't tell you for sure.

Like Slough Shark, I have experimented quite a bit too, making my own homemade rigs with one leader and treble, two leaders and trebles, varying beads and blades, etc. I've also tried circle hooks. I can't tell you if any works better than another from my experience but one thing I will mention is that I've tried varying heavy weights of fluoro and had bite offs the majority of the time. I keep going back to the black or red steel leaders which have never failed once hooked.

Good luck. I think tip up fishing is a blast. I am the kind of person w ho needs to be on the mover and it keeps me more interested checking tip up lines than sitting and jigging.

[fish4cats]

Some good tips here for sure! I also am a big fan of spoons or spinners above the bait. I have had excellent success with that method.

I use 50# dacron for the main line then about 6"-12" of steel wire for my lead (this is where I place my spinner, right above wire lead.)with a red wide gapped short shank hook. As stated above the pike dont seem to mind the steel leader or wire at all.

[WalleyeSlayer21]

Just a thought but i nomally put Northland Buckshot spoons on leaders tip with Sucker or shiner, and use i use leaders with gol walleye jig and hook it with a shiner or sucker, works for me hope this helps.