tipup tip

[WayneChristie]

:test:not really my favourite way to fish but I did catch my personal best pike on one so I cant complain. my ten inch auger tends to open the holes even more at the top so I came up with a solution that also blocks wind and snow. The tipup fits perfectly in the 5 gallon pail indent too.

[Bushleague]

Good tip, I find that wind jigging tip-ups are generally more productive. And although keeping the holes ice free and the tip-ups bobbing can be time consuming, it generally seems to be well worth the effort.

Most days it seems like the wind Tip-ups out fish me, so over the years I have slowly warmed up to them. Bring a book and a thermos of coffee, if I'm driving on I might get a game of cards going in the truck, on a good day we don't even get dealt up though due to all the flags going off.

[WayneChristie]

since Ive hooked most of my pike in the past three weeks on moving bait wind jiggers would be great. around here it can get pretty windy. I prefer a rod 99% if the time tho I find the drag bleeds a lot less than my fingers :)

[mlee]

I do the same thing but I use old semi mud flaps. One flap will make 2 12" square covers easily....cut the slot the same and the black rubber keeps the hole ice free for quite some time. We usually set up one windlass and one round thermo....and I'll agree the windlass will usually out fish the the other everything else being equal.

[Who Da Fisherman]

since Ive hooked most of my pike in the past three weeks on moving bait wind jiggers would be great. around here it can get pretty windy. I prefer a rod 99% if the time tho I find the drag bleeds a lot less than my fingers :)


I once tried to set the hook and forgot that I had spider line on, man that line just about cut through to the bone.
Now I use a heavy bandage or hockey tape around my setting finger works great :sHa_shakeshout:
WDF

[Bushleague]

since Ive hooked most of my pike in the past three weeks on moving bait wind jiggers would be great. around here it can get pretty windy. I prefer a rod 99% if the time tho I find the drag bleeds a lot less than my fingers :)

Not to brag, but I've invented exactly the device you seek, it jigs the hook, lets fish run with the bait, and you fight your fish off of the rod... plus it is super cheap and easy to make. I also make one that folds up nice and small, has its own spool, and pops a flag. I'll try and take some pics of the flag popping model on Monday when I'm out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETsIn9mYYVQ

Some more tip-action with the strapping/ bucket setup, if you're interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wLX3m1iVmo&t=399s

[HuyFishin]

nice contraptions haha

[Bushleague]

nice contraptions haha

Not pretty, but they work well. I'll take a picture of the "improved model", looks a lot more slick and you can fit a half dozen of them in a pail, but you do need to handline your fish.

The last day of last season I fished Slave Lake after work, when I showed up some guys were packing up, they told me they'd been getting bites but were having trouble hooking up. I set out my tip ups, and I think because the take felt more natural to the fish I had an excellent evening, no trouble hooking up at all. I kept two nice walleye and when I filleted them, both fish had shiners in their stomachs that had obviously been stripped off of other fishermen's hooks. I found it ironic that a chunk of scrap wood with a spool, a flag, and a piece of lumber strapping nailed to it worked so well where sensitive modern ice rods had failed.

[WayneChristie]

Not to brag, but I've invented exactly the device you seek, it jigs the hook, lets fish run with the bait, and you fight your fish off of the rod... plus it is super cheap and easy to make. I also make one that folds up nice and small, has its own spool, and pops a flag. I'll try and take some pics of the flag popping model on Monday when I'm out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETsIn9mYYVQ

Some more tip-action with the strapping/ bucket setup, if you're interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wLX3m1iVmo&t=399s

those look good, Ive made something like that with the wide pipe straps but nowadays since I turned 90 YO I like to fish in my tent out of the wind and the weather, while watching the fish on the camera so I can figure out their interests that day. Only problem I can see with the pail model is the lakes I fish all have very big girls in them, the rod would be long gone before you could take a couple steps, I know Ive lost a few now :) I prefer mine locked in so I dont have to replace yet another. :angry3:

[Bushleague]

those look good, Ive made something like that with the wide pipe straps but nowadays since I turned 90 YO I like to fish in my tent out of the wind and the weather, while watching the fish on the camera so I can figure out their interests that day. Only problem I can see with the pail model is the lakes I fish all have very big girls in them, the rod would be long gone before you could take a couple steps, I know Ive lost a few now :) I prefer mine locked in so I dont have to replace yet another. :angry3:

You leave the bail open! I did not explain that, but yes, the bail is left open so the fish can run with the bait. Its not usually necessary with walleye, but with pike of any size its absolutely vital. The ones I make with the spool and the flag are better if you are fishing in a tent, because a bell can be put on the flag.

For pike, I just bank on them wanting an anchovy under a jigging tip-up, 99 percent of the time that jiggling anchovy will catch more pike than whatever I'm doing with my jigging rod. With walleye its not quite as consistent, but the tip-ups still pick up more fish in a season than the rods do. YMMV obviously.

[WayneChristie]

You leave the bail open! I did not explain that, but yes, the bail is left open so the fish can run with the bait. Its not usually necessary with walleye, but with pike of any size its absolutely vital. The ones I make with the spool and the flag are better if you are fishing in a tent, because a bell can be put on the flag.

For pike, I just bank on them wanting an anchovy under a jigging tip-up, 99 percent of the time that jiggling anchovy will catch more pike than whatever I'm doing with my jigging rod. With walleye its not quite as consistent, but the tip-ups still pick up more fish in a season than the rods do. YMMV obviously.

I prefer baitcasting reels for herring so Ive switched to mono on them because it doesnt freeze to itself like braid and make you lose a very good reel and line and swear a lot :) I find sometimes even with them freespooling if they arent locked into the holder the bigger pike can run so fast they still pull the rod in. Today I had one hit my tipup so hard it was spinning on the pail lid and I could hear it . I swear the fish was running so fast there was smoke coming off the spool! only a very fat 37 incher nothing to get excited about, altho Im very glad I put my gloves on first, I have 50 pound braid on it :budo:

[OL_JR]

Some pretty neat ideas here. I've mostly switched to the ifish pro for set lines but the downside is that it won't jig for you, which I believe is a good thing sometimes, but having some movement added would be a nice addition to. In deeper water I'll use the HT rigger which basically clamps your line in to a mechanism that pops a flag before the line slides free and spools out with an open bail.

Now what I used to do which worked awesome and still might go back to is utilize the anti backlash on a baitcaster reel. Set a rod up in a good holder and drop the bait to where you want it. Leave the bail open but adjust your anti backlash so that there is just enough tension to hold the bait. Put one of those ultra sensitive bells on the end of the rod and when a fish takes it they will be able to run with the bait but will also agitate the rod just enough to ring the bell.

[58thecat]

I got the same set up and run 20lbs mono on it...also attached a bell to the flag...no issues to date...10" holes it floats on top so I put a little snow around the edges...when it goes off first thing I do is give it a rap to free it....works great.

[Bushleague]

I prefer baitcasting reels for herring so Ive switched to mono on them because it doesnt freeze to itself like braid and make you lose a very good reel and line and swear a lot :) I find sometimes even with them freespooling if they arent locked into the holder the bigger pike can run so fast they still pull the rod in. Today I had one hit my tipup so hard it was spinning on the pail lid and I could hear it . I swear the fish was running so fast there was smoke coming off the spool! only a very fat 37 incher nothing to get excited about, altho Im very glad I put my gloves on first, I have 50 pound braid on it :budo:

Curious if you've ever tried anchovies? Not trying to start a debate just interested in others experiences with various pike dead baits. I've used smelt, herring, mackerel, and have come to prefer anchovies myself.

Anchovies aren't as big as herring (my second fav), and they wont stay on the hook for as many casts. They stink to high heaven though, and I've found my hook up percentage is generally better than with herring. I salt mine to keep them a bit more firm.

[WayneChristie]

Curious if you've ever tried anchovies? Not trying to start a debate just interested in others experiences with various pike dead baits. I've used smelt, herring, mackerel, and have come to prefer anchovies myself.

Anchovies aren't as big as herring (my second fav), and they wont stay on the hook for as many casts. They stink to high heaven though, and I've found my hook up percentage is generally better than with herring. I salt mine to keep them a bit more firm.

Ive tried all sorts of bait for pike and I definitely prefer herring. you can even cut them in pieces when you are getting low on bait plus big walleye will also take them. I like to have smelts around on a big jig when the smaller pike are being a nuisance. and stealing my herrings as well as minnows because I catch more walleye on those. when you jig a herring in shallow water the flash draws a lot if fish to you. Just how I do it, it works for me most days. I also quit using multiple hook rigs they are hard on fish and me both

[calgarygringo]

We use both herring and anchovies. If we are jigging or fishing a fish n chips size lake we have been know to go through a couple bags in a busy day fishing. Anchovies work very well but when targetting thd big girls herring are usually on the hook. Curious if you've ever tried anchovies? Not trying to start a debate just interested in others experiences with various pike dead baits. I've used smelt, herring, mackerel, and have come to prefer anchovies myself.

Anchovies aren't as big as herring (my second fav), and they wont stay on the hook for as many casts. They stink to high heaven though, and I've found my hook up percentage is generally better than with herring. I salt mine to keep them a bit more firm.

[Bushleague]

I took my daughters out for about 4 hours today, the three of us jigged various offerings in the tent and got 6 pike. We had 3 of "dads magic tip-ups" rigged up around the tent with bells and anchovies... and they picked up over 20 fish, this is a pretty average ratio for us. Quite often whenever somebody saw a fish in the tent that didn't bite, or missed a strike, a few minuets later a tip-up would go off.

Nothing huge, a couple 30"ers, but everyone came home pumped and I have tomorrow off. So instead of sending them to school like a responsible parent we're all heading back out with more anchovies. If the fish aren't biting so friggin' fast tomorrow I'll try and get some pictures :)

[Bushleague]

Ive tried all sorts of bait for pike and I definitely prefer herring. you can even cut them in pieces when you are getting low on bait plus big walleye will also take them. I like to have smelts around on a big jig when the smaller pike are being a nuisance. and stealing my herrings as well as minnows because I catch more walleye on those. when you jig a herring in shallow water the flash draws a lot if fish to you. Just how I do it, it works for me most days. I also quit using multiple hook rigs they are hard on fish and me both

Through the ice I don't use multiple hook setups anymore, if the hook is placed properly, I find that only smaller fish will typically avoid getting hooked with a prompt hookset.

In open water I use a multi hook setup, consisting of a large single hook and a small stinger. The single hook is just to keep the bait securely hooked when casting, the stinger hooks most of the fish.

[WayneChristie]

I took my daughters out for about 4 hours today, the three of us jigged various offerings in the tent and got 6 pike. We had 3 of "dads magic tip-ups" rigged up around the tent with bells and anchovies... and they picked up over 20 fish, this is a pretty average ratio for us. Quite often whenever somebody saw a fish in the tent that didn't bite, or missed a strike, a few minuets later a tip-up would go off.

Nothing huge, a couple 30"ers, but everyone came home pumped and I have tomorrow off. So instead of sending them to school like a responsible parent we're all heading back out with more anchovies. If the fish aren't biting so friggin' fast tomorrow I'll try and get some pictures :)

nice. I got almost 20 today on the rods, sure wish that second pig had bit but theres always next time. cant complain about a 45 incher I guess :( :bad_boys_20: was also going to mention I used to salt my bait to harden it a bit but I now like old soft herring thats even been frozen a few times, they come off the hook easier and I also hook them very lightly so I dont have to drag my point through half an inch of fishmeat to get it out. again just what seems to work for me :) and every lake and every fish can be different so it pays to experiment