Making the right choice:

[Jim W]

This past weekend provided me my first outing on the ice this season. Our main target, the infamous "walldog", "white-tip", "Pickeral" or I suppose you can call them walleye.

Obsession has no seasonal bounderies. It's segway is fueled by the formation of ice. Now, your on the ice and have to make some choices. Hmmmm.....?

Well, for me, I always second guess myself, attaching my most comfortable lure, then changing several more times in one outing.

You have probably heard, "think like a fish", trying to imagine when, where and what they will most likely relate to, but that changes too!?!?

You constantly ask yourself, why did they bite here yesterday and not today, with all things remaining constant?

This past weekend was no different. We caught walldogs, perch and some Jackfish(northern pike), but I kept questioning my tactics.

This spot( a flowage in Northern Wisc.) isn't your typical walleye set-up. You can catch them in stump fields in 1-2 feet of water, you can catch them relating to old river beds and you can catch them in "typical" structure zones.

Tip-ups!!! When in doubt use tip-ups! In fact, always use tip-ups! Not only can a tip-up increase your chance of catching a white-tip, it helps you understand their patterns much sooner than with out.

Set-up in a spot that has the "structure" your looking for. Drill some jigging holes then tip-up holes.(make sure set-up occurs outside of peak bite times, especially in shallower water.)

Your tip-up holes should be in varied depths. Your jigging holes can be varied as well, but I prefer having them just inside of breaks or right where the depth change reaches the bottom of a hole, river bed etc.

Place your tip-ups in a highly visible fashion, while remaing with in DNR regs.
So when jigging, you can see the flag when it pops!!!

You can cover a fairly large piece of structure, sometimes forming your own "net" so to speak. The fish have no choice but to pass by your presentations.

Shiners on tip-ups and either shiner heads/tails or fatheads on spoon of choice for jigging. Also try placing your live shiner(hanging below your tip-up) at varied depths as well. Aggressive fish can come up several feet off of the bottom. They will often come into your "net" several feet off of the bottom as well.

So when it comes time to make a choice on what to use etc., good luck!!! However, don't get frustrated when questioning yourself. Develop a system, allowing room for change!

NOw, back to fishing!

Keep the rods bendin'! and the flags flying high!!!!!

Jim W

[guideman]

Hi Jim,
I can't improve on your "net" theory
it all sounds very effective to me.
What I was wondering..is, do you use
a circle hook on the tip-up, or are treble hooks more effective?

Thanks for the great tip Jim!
call Cliff, lets go fishing!

------------------
Ace guide service.
Beautiful Lake Vermilion.
[email protected]
www.aceguideservice.com
(218) 753-2612

[Jim W]

Guideman,

Ironically, I was very close to tying on a circle hook for one of my tip-ups, but all fish that grabbed the shiners were caught. SO there wasn't a need to try, yet......

treble hooks on flags in Minnesota(as I'm sure you know) are illegal unless you make a spinner/lure out of your set-up. I got foolishly "flagged"(a couple seasons ago) by a DNR gentleman for not appropriately rigging my tip-up.

I have a long weekend coming up in a few weeks. Might be a good time to hit the Big V for a couple days!!!

Yah I know, I'm sure I'll catch all sorts of dump for my "net" theory.
Good to hear from ya!!

Jim W

[Guest]

JW
I see you like the tipup lights. Have you ever seen "Strike Sensors" work. They are awsome for night fishing. You have a transmitter mounted on the tipup and a pager clipped to your shirt. It beeps when your flag goes up and there is also a light on the transmitter that comes on.
mike

[This message has been edited by jacobm (edited 01-02-2002).]

[guideman]

Jim,
You know I would never accuse you of
anything dishonest!!!!
The red blades work best for me!

------------------
Ace guide service.
Beautiful Lake Vermilion.
[email protected]
www.aceguideservice.com
(218) 753-2612

[Creek Kid]

Jim W -
Some questions on tip-ups for walleyes:
I've only used tip-ups set up for northerns w/steel leaders & spinner blade/treble hook. Do you use a mono leader for walleyes? What about weighting it? I've only ever set up a tip-up to be fished just below the surface. Do you put it right on the bottom for eyes? Have always wanted to try night-fishing with this technique. Do glow jigs/hooks work? I'll be on river bays with little or no current.

[SpikeRoberts]

What exactly do you have to do to make a treble hook a "legal" lure in MN? Just add a blade and voila? or is there more to it than that? any construction tips would be nice.

[Jim W]

Creekkid,
As I tried to make clear in my earlier post(i'm no hemingway), You want to stagger tip-up depths for walleye. The more people you fish with, the more tip-ups you can put out.
I usually have my shiner hanging about one foot off of the bottom. I prefer staying above or at a foot from the bottom.
When jigging for waldos, you can work the more aggressive fish sometimes 3-4 feet + off of the bottom. SO keeping that in mind, make the aggressive fish really want your shiner.

If your fishing a river, try keying in on a flat or shelf that comes up fairly shallow directly next to faster moving water or current. JIg a little deeper while waiting for your flag to fly.

Spike, you can attach spiner blades or a dummy lure above your treble, while attaching a leader or tying your treble directly to the line below the dummy or spinner.

However, I personnaly do not like treble hooks for tip-ups. Your bait can swim more naturally, you can hook your bait easier, you can remove the hook quicker from a prospective selective harvest speciman. Plus, I believe the fish grabbing your shiner will less likely feel a single hook over a treble. You just don't need three hooks.

I hope this helps!!!

Keep the rods bendin'!!!

Jim W

[Creek Kid]

Sorry to be pest...
Do you use a mono leader for walleyes or do you tie the hook right to the tip-up line?

[Jim W]

Creek KId,

By no means are you being a pest asking questions. I hope I never made you feel that way. Any way, I tie a mono leader
6- 8lb.s through a swivel attached to the tip-up line. I also use a split shot about a foot up from my hook. This helps a fiesty shiner to stay put!!!

Good luck!! Tip-up fishing can be a real blast!!!

Jim W

[Creek Kid]

Thanks a bunch for all the info! I've got a spot all picked out! Just waiting for a little more ice on the river. Of course when things are looking real good for some real ice-making nights... the forecast says 40 degrees next week! I will be sure to post any success I have. Thanks again!