Pike with Tip-ups

[Perchpapa]

I have tried to fish pike with tip-ups in the past but wasn't successful. I would like to start fishing pike with tip-ups more seriously. Does anyone have any suggestions on presentation, rigs, bait, tackle?

[gorrilla]

First of all get near the desired structure. Often times that means on the outside edge of some green weeds, but in winter I've caught many in seemingly open areas as long as there is some fish to feed on.

My favorite line is the old fashioned black dacron since it is flexible, easy to handle with cold fingers, and strong as rope. At the end of this I attatch a swivel and add a 6 foot section of 10-20# mono or florocarbon depending how big of fish I am targeting. Walleyes/northerns = 10# northern/lakers = 14-20# I generally don't like to use this heavy of line on my rods but without a drag and rubbing on the sharp ice edges it comes in handy.

I generally use a LARGE shiner minnow. The bigger the better. If it is bigger than 5-6 inches I usually use a homemade quickstrike rig consisting of 1 snap swivel and 2 thin wire flexible leaders attatched to 2 sharp red treble hooks and don't forget the little flippers/spinner blades to make it legal. Hook the minnow behind the head and behind the dorsal finn. Above the snap I attach a heavy split shot or two. When using the quickstrike rig just tighten up the line and when you feel weight set the hook immediately.

Usually I've found it best to bring the minnow 3-4 feet off the bottom when targeting northerns. If you are targeting walleyes and northerns try 12-18" off bottom and skipping the steel leaders.

Good Luck...

[Matt Johnson]

Time of year can make a difference (ie: early ice, midwinter, late-ice). There are a lot of options to chose from as well. Live-bait or dead-bait, type of live-bait, plain-hook or attractor... the list goes on.

I personally like to jig for pike more than targeting them with tip-ups. I usually catch more fish jigging, and you can cover more ground (ice). I'll typically work a jigging spoon or a swimming lure of some sort, usually tipped with a minnow head or tail. A spoon with a lot of flash is good, vibration and noise are also an added bonus. The Flasher Spoon from JR's Tackle has been an excellent pike spoon for me in recent years, same with the Acme Kastmaster (with the added blades), the Slender Spoon from Custom Jigs and Spins, and the Angel Eye from Scenic Tackle. Rattle spoons are good too. For a swimming lure I'll use the Nils Master Jigging Shads or the Nils Master Jiggers, the Jigging Rapalas will work just the same. Airplane jigs are also worth a look and will land pike as well. With an airplane style jig I'll usually tip it with a whole minnow instead of a piece of minnow.

I really enjoy aggressively jigging for winter pike. It can be both rewarding by quantity and quality, and the fight can be a lot of fun!

Here's an article I put together last winter on pike fishing through the ice...

On the Hunt for Ice Time Pike

If I'm on a hardcore pike hunt I'll often times use both a tip-up and a jigging rod. The tip-up will act as a locational indicator for where the fish are. I'll typically position the tip-up in shallower water, while I'll work the deeper water with the jigging set-up. If the fish are focusing on one area more than another then I'll move to the more productive area.

With pike fishing, you don't have to worry as much about punching holes and creating noise (the spook factor), because I've actually found the noise from the auger to act as more of an attractant rather than a problem when targeting pike in the winter. There have been times where literally seconds after I punch a hole and drop the spoon down will a pike strike the bait. This might not be the case for everyone, but I haven't found the auger noise to be as much of a problem as when targeting panfish and walleye...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Perchpapa]

Good info, thanks. This season I really want to hunt pike hard and try and be successful.

[hanson]

PerchPapa-

How close in Northwood, ND to Devil's Lake? DL is very good for pike. Heck, most of the North Dakota lakes and reservoirs are good pike haunts.

[wallydiver]

Perchpapa,

Shoot me an email so we can talk some pike fishing.

[email protected]

[Perchpapa]

To be honest, I never go to DL, it is still 1.5 to 2 hours away depending on what area a person wants to get to. I know it is a great pike lake esp for quantity, but I typically fish smaller bodies of water in my area. I am going to try and make it over to DL more often this year though. Anyway I know some local spots that have good pike numbers and size. I never target pike in the winter. Usually I am after pike it is in the spring from shore but I think tip ups would be kind of fun. I don't really know anyone local that uses tip ups alot if at all so I though I would post and see how other people use them.

[hanson]

Perchpapa-

I've had good success fishing pike on early ice and late ice on Devils Lake. Early ice meaning 4-6" of walkable ice & late ice meaning a couple weeks before you are open water fishing them. I usually fish shallow bays in about 4-6' of water or so.

For bait out there, I go with dead smelt on a quick-strike rig. Since you can fish 4 tip-ups, you can spread them through different depths of water and fish your baits at different depths also.

[mudman]

my favorite jigging technique for icing pike is a 1/2 oz chrome rat-l-trap noise flash and vibration not to mention suprisingly good action.