Tip up tips

[Random guy]

As I dig through my pile of tangled tip-ups and prepare for my first ice outing for pike I was wondering why I bought many of these tip-ups? There are so many styles and types of tip-ups from magnetic ones that fold up into a tube the size of a quarter to the old two foot long wooden veterans that grandpa used to use and the ones that didn't really do what the ad said they would. I was wondering what some of you tip up pros like to use for pike and why.

[shae1986]

I use the larger wooden tip-ups. I like the large spools to put heavier line on. But this year i am trying something a little different. I am purchasing a slammer tip up which i heard work well and offers quite a fight. Good luck this year

Andrew

[mtreno]

been thru them all - the best ones out there are the good old wood ones. the older the better. ya thay freeze up a bit when its cold - well so does everything else - at least these will still work. and there cheap with only one moving part.

[VMS]

I've just switched to the wood base tip-ups made by I think Frabil. They have a larger spool and so far, I like them. I still have some of the polar tip-ups and those work really well too.

I tried the frabil round ones that are supposed to cover the hole and keep snow and such out, but hated them...too small for a 10" hole if you are after big pike.

Steve

[TomWehler]

We still use the older wooden ones too.

Have had them since before we could use them in Minnesota and fished the Croix and over ta Cheeseville.

Still work great 35 plus years later.

First ice with a bit of snow on it is always fun to float a lively fat shiner / sucker under a Willow Branch that we stick in the snow bank.

We also have about four a them Black / Orange Reinhart Igloo Round ones.

Work great also.

Always good to bring the guides along.

They know we are on the lake, but have never seemed to figured out where the fish come from or where they go on release?

But never tire of trying to figure it all out.

Be safe, enjoy.

T.

[Steve Foss]

After using about five different kinds, I'm back to the standard HT Polars, the ones with the mid-sized spool. I put the flexible foam hole covers under them to stop hole ice-up. I've got three of 10-inch round insulated Frabill ones. They are fine, but they're going in the garage sale next spring. Simple is best.

[cjac]

It's the standard wood baords with the mid-size spool for me! Same as the above posts, keep it simple and stick with what is proven.

[mtreno]

the round insulated ones will break in aything really cold as well. great idea behind it - sold me i bought four the first year they were out and thought they were great. they just dont keep the hole open enought to deal with them breaking and not fitting right - and when they do freeze in you may as well save the time....

anyone use those tipup pagers last year. man those things are great. no more looking out the window every 2 minutes only to wonder how long that pike has been running with your bait. plus the red light on top gets you running the right way when walleye fishin after dark with them.

man i cant wait! why did the air warm again! come on cold! cant wait for my first flag of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steve Foss]

Mtreno, I put jingle bells on my flags, and they make a heck of a racket when the flag pops. No need to look out the window, I can hear them through the Trap II.

[RK]

Hiya,

I still rely on the old HT Polars. I have some with the big spools but most often they're not really necessary and the standard size spools work fine. Like the Polars because they're reliable and durable (I've really laid into them with the pac boots to get them unstuck from the ice and not broken one...), and the only maintenance is re-lubing the tube every so often.

I also use the HT Windlass tip-ups a lot if conditions allow it. A Windlass tip-up with an unweighted dead bait can be freaking deadly. Have seen them outproduce stationary sets 2:1 some days. But...can't use them when it's really nasty.

I can't not mention this.... If you're going to use tip-ups for pike, please, *please* use quick-strike rigs and set the hook immediately when the flag flies. Far, far too many pike get released and die afterwards from being hooked deep during the winter. Not too long ago there was a study done in Wisconsin by WDNR biologist Terry Margenau that looked at delayed mortality in pike caught on single 'Swedish' hooks through the ice. Within 24 hours of being caught there was 33% mortality. Basically, immediate mortality was 1/3 of the fish. Long term mortality was probably higher. If studies done on muskies with single hook rigs are any comparison, it may have been near 100%. If you're going to be letting fish go, use quick strikes...

There - end of sermon

Cheers,

RK

[mtreno]

i had great lick using circle hooks last year on my flags. so much luck that i started using them at the pike hole this summer and had just as good of luck. never not had one right in the lip and once you get use to setting the hook with them my hookup numbers are just as good as the quick set rig. i lost a fish two years ago that had the quick set rig hooked to the side of a pikes head and the hooks would not make it up the hole without hangin up. now i use 10 inch holes.... anyway my 2 cents have been better spent on the cicle's. anyone else have any thoughts?

[Random guy]

I was wondering about those hooks that Dennis Steele uses for cats on tip up rigs. I make my own quick strike rigs that has three trebles all with one hook bent down or backwards. I come off a steel ring with three leads (one to each hook) then I use a rubber casteration ring (they work awesome) rolled down the three leads to hold the line to all three hooks tight against the body of the sucker. My theory was a pike will push the bait out of alignment when it strikes and hits a line or hook with its nose creating a bad hook set. With this set up I can set the hook instantly knowing the fish has at least one hook fully in its mouth no matter how it attacked the sucker. With circle hooks I believe that I could create a more stream line bait allowing the bait to get in a good hooking area of the mouth without losing hooking percentage by going to single hooks from trebles. I still worry about deep or gut hooking fish on single hook set ups, although single hooks will do less damage to fish then the trebles and release is cleaner without having to wrench trebles in three directions to get them out.

[Steve Foss]

Hmm. Got some nice circle hooks left over from my catfishing days. That sounds like a good idea.

[Hotspotter]

Where would you guys hook a sucker/shiner when using these circle hooks to increase hooking percentage?

Had a bad experience with the quick-strike rigs a few years ago where small pike were all too common. I think we went about 3 of 18, in 1 1/2 daysof fishing. Horrendous. And it's not like there's a science behind setting a quick-strike rig.

Suggestions???

[Random guy]

If I would use one circle hook I would hook it in front of the dorsal fin with the curve or offset going up when the line is pulled towards the tail. This is based on the pike striking head first which I believe is the most common strike from a pike.

The catfish boys have this circle hook business down to and art when it comes to hooking angles, offsets and direction of strike.

[mtreno]

Jon- hey i like you quick set rig you are talking about - got a pic?

the circle hook will be less likely to gut hook just the way it pulls in a fishes mouth - kinda hard to explain - but happy to show ya when we get some ice.....

[Steve Foss]

With live bait (which I rarely use for pike tip-ups), I'd hook it through the back just behind the dorsal. For dead cisco (my main bait) I just hook it wherever it will keep the bait balanced horizontally.

With the circle hook, you WANT the fish to work the bait deep down in its gullet, because as you slowly tighten the line after the run, the hook works its way toward the corner of the mouth and turns to catch the corner every time.

Once I got used to it, it was a deadly business with cats. Hard to remember not to set the hook. I'll be switching over both my tip-ups to circle hooks before the next weekend's piking. Funny, how it takes someone else to re-teach you the lessons you first learned years ago. Thanks mtreno!

[mtreno]

hey thats why we all come here right - by the way you did a much better job explaining how a circle hook works than i ever could have done. once you get used to them there is nothing better. stfcatfish - you will shake your head when you see how well they work for tipups - the same way when you got them down for catin

[shae1986]

Ok guys,

You have talked me into this circle hook. Now i am wonder what size should i use and when catching the fish, do i just start pulling the line up? But mainly i was wondering the size of the circle hook, i got a nice little pike lake that has some smaller pike to where i will get plenty of flags to try these circle hooks. Thanks and good luck this year

Andrew

[Random guy]

Quote:

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the circle hook will be less likely to gut hook just the way it pulls in a fishes mouth - kinda hard to explain - but happy to show ya when we get some ice.....

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If I understand this a circle hook will "slide" until it gets to a edge or corner then rotate on that edge then dig in? I was taught to be concerned with the fact the offset is up and the hook is already pointed in the correct direction...makes much more sense now...I think.

[Steve Foss]

Yep, they'll slide up the side of the mouth (fish turned sideways to or away from the angler), turn and hook the corner. In the three years I used nothing but circle hooks fishing cats on the Red, I never once guthooked a fish, and only a few times it missed the corner of the mouth. For some reason, once in awhile on the aggressively biting smaller cats, it'd hook straight down through the flesh just behind the lower lip.

Also, you never have trouble getting out a circle hook.

The one shown below next to my thumb (yeah, need a manicure), is a 5/0 Eagle Claw, in a style they don't make anymore. I bought them in bulk several years ago. You'll notice it's as thick and heavy as a standard 5/0, but not nearly as large. I always preferred the ones like this with a very small gap, because they wouldn't snag on the wood in the river, and they always hooked just fine. You'll see a lot of circle hook styles with a wider gap, and they hook just great too.

Since I rig up my own quick-strikes using sevenstrand or plastic coated leader material, I'll just make a leader connected directly to the circle hook, so there's no need for a snap swivel at the end (the less junk the better).

shae1986: With quickstrike rigs, you set it right away. With these, I'd wait until they're done making their first run, though not all pike will make that run. Traditionally, they snap the bait, run with it a ways, stop and swallow it. I'd give them a few seconds after they stop the run and just start easing the line tighter until it's fully tight. No need to jerk AT ALL! Once it's tight, start pulling in the fish. When catting, I'd pick up the rod that was getting bit (usually I'd be on clicker spool mode so line was going out), engage the reel and once it was tight, slowly pull the rod along and to the side until it was fully loaded, and then start reeling.

A final note: resist the urge to take a pliers to these hooks and create more of an offset. They're calculated to work just the way they are.

[Scoot]

Steve,

Where were you chasing cats on the Red "in the old days"?

[Steve Foss]

Grand Forks/East Grand Forks. Mmmmm, good days, those.

[mtreno]

stfcatfish - great explanation! one other side note - those fish that never seem to stop and test how much line is on the spool - just slow start adding pressure to slow the line down to a stop - should take 5 seconds or so - by the time you line is stoped the fish is on and ready to give you a ride.

[Scoot]

Steve,

Did you write and take pics for a certain paper in GF? I think I am suddenly recognizing your name.

I'm from Fisher. I grew up chasing cats and walleyes on the Red and Red Lake. And yep, I couldn't agree more- thems were the days...