Ice fishing on Tip up's

[FreshToDeath]

Hello all, I am brand new to this site and just have a few questions regarding ice fishing for all you experts out there. I just bought all new equipment(power auger, tip ups, etc) and realized that i don't exactly know how to rig them up(the tip-ups, that is). I haven't been ice fishing for about 8 years, so as of now, i'm lacking confidence in my knowledge of the sport. I plan on going out to Buffalo Lake to fish for Northerns, Ling and Walleye just after christmas, and was just wondering what the best way to rig a tip up is. I see that the one's i just bought came with some sort of line on them already, kind of looks like Dacron or something. Should i just go out and buy some 50lb Spiderwire instead? Or should i trust that? And bait wise, use smelts on a treble? Or what's working nowadays? Hotpots? Can you recommend any? Any tips whatsoever would be helpful and any replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Jeremy

[Gary K]

smelts on a treble work for me, or a rig of sorts.

Really the rigging of the actual bait is personal preference. I'll some times toss two treble in if im using 8 inch herring or something of the nature for bait.

as far as the line goes, i use dracon on my tip ups. or 50 lb musky braid.
Not so much for the strength, but for the ease of use. does not tangle, does not cut hands (#1 reason) and is fairly abrasion resistant. Depending on what i am fishing for i will just use a different leader.

hope that helps a bit :)

[FreshToDeath]

Thanks a lot Gary! This should help get me started

[Big Red 250]

If fishing for pike, use at least a 12 inch leader.

[bloopbloob]

Doubt you'll catch many walleye.... pretty sure there are none at Buffalo.
As far as the leader goes, I used to use steel leaders all the time for pike, but new lines are pretty amazing. I think I only lost 2 hooks all summer due to pike teeth cutting the line, not using a leader, just running 20lb suffix to a snap swivel.

[FreshToDeath]

I actually pulled a walleye out of there this summer. Apparently they're illegally stalked or something. And thanks for the advice!

[Vessey]

The Atlas of Alberta Lakes says perch and walleye were stocked in the past but none survived. It might be possible there is a small population, someone else posted that they caught walleye there last year