Suckers or Shiners?

[HossFisher]

My buddies and I were going out tip up fishing tomorrow and we were wondering what would work better. SUCKERS? SHINERS? If anybody has any experiences with either of them please share them!

[AQUAJOE]

?? What type of fish are you targeting?

[swen117]

We are targeting Muskie/pike, the lake we plan on fishing has both of them.

[AQUAJOE]

If the shiners are larger they will work for both.

Otherwise shiners for walleye.

Big Suckers for northern.

but I will have to say if the fish is hungry and or aggressive they will take either.

AQUAJOE

[swen117]

thanks for the info!

[Walleye Guy]

If you are targeting BIG pike and muskies I would go with BIG suckers. Generally pike will eat fish/bait that is up to 25% of their size. Shiners are a great universal bait but for big pike I would get some really large suckers. Use a quick strike rig and hit them as soon as possible to avid swallowing of the bait.

[Zzapp]

Unless the DNR has recently corrected itself, quick-strike rigs are being ticketed in MN this season (more than one hook, but not a "lure"). There's a thread somewhere here about this - I'll link it when I find it.

It'snot the thread I remember, but here's something on ML quick strikes

quick Stirkes

FOUND IT:

? on QS

[coldmark]

Suckers or Shiners? The answer is yes!

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Quick Strike rigs are legal if they contain a spinner blade permantley attached to them. If you look close at any sold at stores you will see the small blades attached usually on the one of the treble hooks. What you cant do is tie a small treble hook directly to your tipup line or leader material.

[metrojoe]

Either will work, but I prefer Smelt.

[bgreen82]

he beat me to it. i like both but my i really like using frozen smelt. lots of scenty oils for the pike.

[tipupguy]

i do alot of tip up fishing if you want to target muskys i would go with large suckers theres very few years you can find shiners over 6-7" but if i got like 6 flags out i'll use those6" shiners on most of them and put 1or2 suckers out and if you want to use a treble hook like i do just put it on a willow type jigs i remove the factory hook and split ring and beef it up with something stronger but not alot bigger sharp smaller hooks, hook that tissue around the mouth better but you cant horse them you'll staighten out the hook i personnely dont use swedish pimples maybe for jigging but not on a tip up too dense and heavy i like my shiners to have a little movement the jigs i use a jig just enough weight to bring down the minnow and when you hook those shiners behind the dorsel fin they like to swim upward then they slide down side to side big tiggering affect good luck! oh one more thing after early ice musky's metabolism slow way down they feed about ocne a month just like you dont catch many bass in the winter same deal

[anyfishwilldo]

Suckers seem to live longer, and are not as fragile as the shiners.

[mnfish]

Quote:

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he beat me to it. i like both but my i really like using frozen smelt. lots of scenty oils for the pike.

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Probably a stupid question, but how do you keep the smelt down? I tried using one for the first time last week and although I have weight on the line above my leader, the dead smelt kept floating up past the weight.

[metrojoe]

Pike hooks. You should be able to find them at most bait stores. Insert the hook behind the dorsal fin and run it through the full length of the smelt's body so the tip of the hook is just piercing the top of the smelt's head. The smelt should hang horizontal.

[mnfish]

Thanks Metro. I was using a quick strike rig and could not get the smelt to do anything but float to the top of the hole.

I will go out and look for hte hooks tomorrow. Figure that Gander has them?

[thunderbrave]

I LIVE IN THE NORTH COUNTRY AND THE DNR STATES THAT IF YOU HAVE A SPINNER WITH A TREBLE HOOK IT NEED TO BE WITH-IN 3" OF THE TREBLE HOOK TO BE CONSIDERED LEGAL... ANY HIGHER IT IS NOT CONSIDERED A LURE....HAVE FUN...ALSO FOR BIG PIKE- MAKE YOURSELF A LEADER WITH A 3/4INCH FLASHER OR SPINNER - GOLD WITH SHINERS AND SILVER WITH SUCKERS THEN SOME RED BEADS- USE BOBBER STOPS BEFORE AND AFTER TO KEEP IT WITH-IN 3" OF THE TREBLE - I USE THE RED TREBLE HOOKS..SMALL ENOUGH TO HOOK INTO THE SUCKER JUST BEHIND THE HEAD AND THEN I'LL TAKE MY KNIFE AND GIVE THE SUCKER A SMALL SLICE JUST BEHIND THE REAR DORSAL FIN- ENOUGH TO MAKE IT LOOK INJURED AND GIVE OFF SOME SENT.... THEN LET HER SIT AND WAIT FOR SOME FUN........ GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN....