TIP-UP SETTING METHODS? OR PATTERNS?

[TDOT]

Seem to have no luck on my tipup. The only fish that seem to pop the flag are Northern Pike. Not that it's a bad thing. Catch all other fish jigging. Are there diff patterns, or methods for other species, or is just a matter of poking holes and waiting for a pig to swim by?

[bigb56303]

not sure what u are using for bait but normally i tie on a leader of fireline to the tip up line then run a plain red orblue hook and use shiners for bait u still get northerns but i have caught many walleyes this way

[Maximum12]

There's a couple things to try if you already haven't for either pike or eyes.

One method is to put the tip-up very close, 5-10', from where you're jigging, the theory being, if the fish doesn't want a jigged bait, you may draw them in & then they'll hit the set line.

I often set tip-ups at different depths. If I'm working 14' like I was Friday, I'll set the tip-up on the same breakline in 9' of water. Kind of like an underwater roadblock, if anything comes along that break, they should see one offering or another.

Another that I like, & that I've had some luck with for eyes, is to put the tip-up as far away as you legally can, someplace where there's absolutely no traffic, & just leave it there. Eyes in particular seem to be extremely sensitive to traffic over their heads, & I've caught some fish with this method.

Interesting question. I've been known to screw around with my tip-ups (once caught a 28" walleye on a tip-up with a tiny fathead!). Experimentation is fun & sometimes productive!

[Cfollow]

Caught two nice 'eyes tonight on a tip-up using two fatheads hooked through the tail on a 1/0 Gamakatsu octupus hook. Hook them facing in opposite directions tug-of-war style. I used to be able to catch 'eyes on small suckers hooked through the back but not this year.

[TDOT]

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure it will come in handy. Now if the weather would only co-operate. -'s isn't the greatest fishing temp.

[Maximum12]

Ah, good one cfollow. I've used that method as well. It seems to do the trick at certain times.

[ROOOOSTERFISH]

I have used nothing but sucker minnows this year and have no strikes. Thanks for the information Maximum, especially the point to just experiment. I think that people, me included, will put what ever on and put it down and leave it and do not try differant things.

Good Luck Fishing!

[pikedreams]

I'm a guide that does corporate ice fishing events. Over the years that's afforded me the luxury of being able to place dozens of tip ups out at a time depending on the size of the group.

We call it "Carpet Bombing for Pike". What I've learned is that depth plays as much of a role as placement. Keep in mind that Pike feed straight ahead and above. The placement of their eyes tells you this. For them to look down they have to reposition their whole body, but for ahead and above they can lye motionless and scan for food undetected. So try placing your bait a little higher in the water column than you normally would, if their interested at all they'll come up for it.

I also cut the tail off my bait. Not into the meat, just the soft rayed tail portion. It's kinda like taking the flippers off of a scuba diver. They flail around like crazy but can't get anywhere. That sends out some great vibrations and creates a wounded minnow effect which is a natural dinner bell for any predator.

[pikeguy2003]

Thanks for the tips. If anyone wants to carpet bomb for pike, I would recommend Lake Minnewashta. It is my experience that it is infested with Northerns, and over the last few years I have seen a couple of really nice pike come out of there. I have not made it out yet this winter, but I live a few blocks away so it is just a matter of time.

There is a group of houses on the north side, but I have found that if you run tip ups on the deeper side of the group in about 13 FOW with your bait a couple feet off the bottom, you will have a lot of fun.

[TDOT]

Carpet bombong huh? I'm going to try that. Thanks for the great tips, the tail chop sounds like a great tip. I will try that today.

[ONE BIG POLACK]

I HAVE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS WITH MY TIP UPS THIS YEAR.... I SET THEM ABOUT 3-4 FEET OFF THE BOTTOM. MEDIUM SUCKERS. I USUALLY HOOK ONE THRU THE BACK USING ONLY AN EAGLE CLAW RED HOOK ON A LEADER. THE OTHER I HOOK THRU THE MOUTH USING A GREEN/YELLOW 1/4OZ JIG ON A LEADER. BOTH HAVE LANDED ME MANY PIKES. I LIKE TO CHECK MY TIP UPS AT LEAST ON THE HOUR. IF YOU ARENT HAVING MUCH SUCCESS, KEEP MOVING AROUND (DEPTHS) THAT WORK.

I LOVE THE CARPET BOMBING TECHNIQUE....

[pikeguy2003]

Had some buddies out on Minnewashta today. They ended up with a limit of northerns and actually caught 2 bass as well on tip ups. Bass went back, but the northerns are getting fried.

Like I said, if you want to have a lot of fun, get about 6 guys, and string out 12 tip ups over a hundred yards along the weed line, and have some fun.

Minnewashta is infested with northerns and needs to be cleaned out majorly!

If you don't believe me, just talk to the guys that do the weekly bass tournaments in summer. They catch more northerns than they do bass!

[JBMasterAngler]

So what your saying is minnewashta is worth the $5 to chase some pike with spoons and spinnerbaits? I am always searching for lakes where I can catch 20 or 30 or more pike a day.

[Maximum12]

Minnewashta is a pretty good pike lake.

Although as for "cleaning it out", there are a lot more lakes in the cities with numbers of trophy bass in them than lakes with numbers of trophy pike. I, too, love a lake where I can catch a double handful of northerns, nothing like fighting a fish that would like to rip your arm off.

[shakojdub1425]

I been using rainbow chubs hooked throgh back Half way up from the bottom in about 12 fow. Caught my first monster through the ice this weekend that way.

[wakeguy]

This may seem silly but here is what I've noticed. Everytime we had a tip-up go off this year all three of us would go running to the flag. More often than not this would cause another flag to go up. So...we started playing around with it and we would stomp in big circles around the tipups whenever fishing would slow down and we could usually get a flag to pop. Our best day this year we had 32 flags in 4 hours. At one point a snowmobiler crusied by and we flagged him down. I think he thought we were mad becuase he came too close to our tipups but we asked him to drive figure eights in and out of our setup. Within 1 minute we had two flags go up. He probably thought we were crazy when we asked him to do it but as soon as he saw us ice two nice fish we all had a good laugh. This probably won't work for the 'eyes but it seems to work good on the pike. Could have been a fluke but we've been doing it ever since with great success. It also helps to keep you warm and break up the lulls.

[JBMasterAngler]

wakeguy, interesting theory...maybe I need to start bringing all my little nieces and nephews fishing with me and start a game of tag.

Kinda' goes along with the theory that the sound of your motor attracts them while your trolling.

[pikeguy2003]

Hey JBMasterAngler, if you don't want to pay the $5.00 go over to Minnewashta Parkway on the West side of the lake. There is some public parking for the skating rink and the beach that is on the west side. You can park there and walk about 70 yards and you are on the lake. It is a little bit of a walk over to the northeast corner where everyone is hammering the pike, but you can save $5.00 for a 10 minute walk. I personally am on a mission to take some of the northerns out of this lake so we can get some bigger ones. Unfortunately, the lake is infested with little sunfish as well. However, there are some big ones, and you can work the weedline over there for those as well. I personally like to just throw out tip ups and watch flags go off. We did manage one 13 pound northern last winter and we do get the occasional fish in the 5 pound range but we get a ton of fish between 1-3 pounds. If you have a camera, take it with, and you will see what I mean by infested with northerns. May the force be with you!

[shakojdub1425]

were is that exactly at pikeguy? You cant drive on there though huh?

[blackdog1101]

What is the $5 you're referring to? An ice road fee?

[JBMasterAngler]

The access is in a regional park...I'm assuming you still have to pay...unless maybe if you can drive on the ice the fee is waived? I have an addiction to energy drinks, so maybe if I do pay the fee it'll make it easier to not buy 1 for the day But yeah, I'd love to have some good tip up action while fishing for pannies.

[pikedreams]

Some of the other fun stuff we've done if you have enough people;

1) Tipup Bingo - Drill 5 rows of 5 holes, the first row is the 'B' row, the second the 'I' row and so on. Take 5 white poker chips or slips of paper and mark 'B' on one, 'I' on one and so on. Put them in a hat and mix 'em up. Then 5 different people each draw from the hat to get an assigned row. If a flag goes up in your row that's Bingo! With each flag you start over and 5 new people draw. And just to make it interesting each participant can throw a fin (or whatever your comfortable with) into the pot and it's winner take all.

2) Using the same 5x5 configuration number the holes 1-25. Hole numbers can be drawn as above or purchased (simular to a football numbers board (so I've heard)). You may want to draw up a little chart to keep track of who has what. Flag goes up, winner!

I've also heard of people making this a drinking game too, but I can't imagine.....ice fisherman?!.......Drinking??!!!

[pikeguy2003]

If you take Hwy 7 West of 41, and then take a right onto Minnewashta Parkway and follow that you will see round silo that has been converted into a warming house by the hockey rink. That is the park where I have seen guys park, and then they walk across the road, and access the lake thru the public beach. Unfortunately you cannot drive a vehicle onto the lake there. Hopefully this helps?