Walleyes on tip-ups

[midwesthunter]

Has anyone had success using tip-ups for walleyes. Last year we had a lot of walleyes make the flags go up but we had a hard time setting the hook. It seems like everytime we set the hook they had let go already. Any tips would be great. Also what do you all think of the Winlass (spelling??) tip ups?

[Mike Walerak]

I use tipups every time I hit the ice for walleyes. I normally jig a rod, have a dead stick and 2 tipups. (We are allowed 4 lines in SD.) I normally use a #4 hook with some split shot to weight it. I have tried using some sliding sinker rigs and three-way setups and have had success but the tried and true is still the plain hook.

A key to hooking the fish can be the tension of the line spool. You want to have the fish take it with minimal resistance, on the other hand you do not want it to free spool completly to that when a fish bites the sinkers fall and hit the fish.

My favorite tipups are the Fish Bros. tipups available on this site. They pack togather nice and have good tension adjustment, the black cover helps to absorb heat and help keep the hole open.

Check them out here

http://tacklecity.com/fish-brothers-tip-up.html

mw

[shorefisher]

This is what I found works great for me. My thought is if they feel anythig at all they will drop it. So first off I start with a very smooth as close to free spooling tip-up I can find. I use light braided line with a 6# mono leader and a small glow jig like a moon glow or buckshot. As I have no weight above the bait I do not have anything falling down on them with a free spool. And I keep the tip up in sight and hit them as soon as i can get to it. I hope this helps but as you can tell I think the key is not letting them feel anything.

[Willy]

Flags are my favorite way to fish eyes.

Most likely if they are letting go before you can set the hook, they are either not walleyes, or dinks. Anytime a good one gets ahold of any of my tipups, they usually have it pretty good and the hook ups are a pretty good percentage. Like said before, make sure your spools spins freely. One other thing, alot of guys run at their tipups, shine lights, in the hole, etc. Be quiet, walk slow and if you use a light, don't shine directly on the hole. Those fish can hear you coming if you run up to the hole(especially on thin ice), and light will sometimes spook them also.

[markkstanley]

I switched to circle hooks couple of years ago and they've done a much better job for me. Otherwise just like the guys above have said. I also use the Frabills that cover the hole to reduce light etc. Also hard to drop stuff down a hole with a lid on it.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Mark Stanley, what is your setup/how do you go about fishing with circle hooks. I tried using them last year and stopped using them half way through my second time out. I would hold the line until I felt the fish then started pulling it in (no hookset). I think I landed one fish and it was lightly hooked, all the others got off.

[markkstanley]

About 12ft of fluorocarbon for a leader. Make sure you have true circle hooks. Not the octopus circles. I still give 'em a light tug to really set the hook in. Difficult to keep all slack out of line when pulling it in by hand. If you are using the octopus circles you need to set the hook as you normally would maybe a little lighter hook set.

[P.DONA]

Bait on the tip ups? Do you guys prefer Mummies, or shiners?? We will be targeting Walleye only up to about 19", how big bait?? When Jigging, What kind of bait, too? Shiner on a Hali? Meal worm? piece of shiner?

[Surface Tension]

How many times have wished you could be at 2 places at once?

Thats why I like Tip-ups. I can cover different depths or bottom content while I'd jigging another spot. Now if I'm certain the spot I set the house on is going to be my best bet I'll deadline my second hole in the house. Theres so many times the eyes want little or no movement and that second line or Tip-up is there for them.

When rigging my tip-up I've experimented with light line and found that I prefer 12lb mono and a #4 Mustad or Fang with one small orange bead. I do fish lakes where Golden shiners are the dominate forage and will use them but I've found chubs do the job on just about every lake. Chubs are heartier and store better plus they're cheaper, not that I'd get cheap on bait and compromise fishing success.

I still like my Beaver Damm tip-ups but am now favoring the Fish Brothers tip-ups. The higher viability, self contained case keeps tangles to a minimum and the bases at as hole covers, keeping the holes relatively ice free.

[NELS-BELLS]

I have a buddy who has many times outfished us on walleyes and most of the fish he catches is on this cheap tip up. I think Mills carries them for $4. (you know the ones) The key is that it is super sensitive and never seems to freeze up like my Polar brands do. I finally went out and bought a couple of them.

He uses a plain hook and believe it or not, a steel leader.

Nels

[FL SNIPER]

I caught 6 walleyes on tip ups this past weekend. I like Arctic tip ups with mason tip up line. I tie on a black barrel swivel to the tip up line and run about an 8' leader of monofiliment line down to the hook....your choice on # mono...i had 8# on one and 17# on another...it didn't seem to matter to the walleyes. I use a #4 bright yellow gamakatsu hook with a small split shot 16" above the hook. All walleye's were caught on fresh, lively fatheads. I set the tip up on the lightest trip setting possible...so the walleyes don't feel any resistence. My buddy even caught a crappie on a tip up doing this.

I find tip ups work well for walleyes...especially early ice when noise can be a factor...you can get the tip ups away from the house or the traffic. When the flag goes up, quickly but quietly get over to it to play the fish. Be carefull getting the tip up out of the hole and be sure you are not pulling back on the line or holding it at all. The best method I've found on hooking the fish is to hit it right away when it's heading out. Be carefull not to set the hook to hard...especially with light mono and if the fish is moving out quickly. If the line does not seem to be moving that does not mean the fish necessarily droped the bait. He may just be turning directions and swiming back under the hole. Just carefully feel the line for awhile and actually look down the hole to see what it's doing. If you are careful about it you can get those light biters hooked as well. Like anything....practice makes perfect. It's definately a rush when you see that flag go up at prime time and you know there's a good chance its a walleye.

[P.DONA]

How about little sun fish as bait? We catch our own shiners, and chubs. Last time we went, I got about 4 lbs of sun fish, all about 1.5" long..

You guys ever use those???

[Sonicrunch]

Quote:

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How about little sun fish as bait? We catch our own shiners, and chubs. Last time we went, I got about 4 lbs of sun fish, all about 1.5" long..

You guys ever use those???

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I think you need to read the fishing rules.

What you are proposing is illegal.

[Fishin Beast]

It is illegal in Minnesota to use sunfish, but if they aren't illegal where you are they would definitely be interesting to use. I would assume you would do alittle better for bass using them than walleyes but you never know.

Everytime out for walleyes I prefer to use a tip-up. It helps you put it on a totally different spot than you are fishing at the time. I have tip-ups setup for northerns and I have tip-ups setup for walleyes. I use anywhere from 12-25# for the northerns and about 6-8# for the walleyes (mono ice line for a leader and the black tip-up line for the spool).

[P.DONA]

ah, Gotcha. I'm unfamiliar with laws in Mn. It's legal in Ct, though.. It was pretty cool, mixed in the bunch was a mess of crappie. Those are illegal to use as bait..

[Surface Tension]

One of the most important things with tip-ups and its been mentioned is a light trigger and a free spool.

[dougger222]

I've been using Strike Sensor's and Polar tip ups for several years now with no problems. On shallow clear lakes with little snow cover you really have to approach the hole slowly and as quiet as possible. Usually I deploy the tip ups either in the fish house on wheels when the shanty gets crowded or early ice situations. Kind of got disappointed a couple years back when Strike Sensor went to the white models to the yellow models which won't work with each other. Ended up picking up a second spare white pager and bought a few yellow models which work at a longer range. The price has also gone way up on the units over the years!