Why do they drop it???

[31King]

 I was out fishing over the weekend and I was on a lake that has Bass, Walleye, Pickeral, perch, and crappies. I only ever catch Bass and Pickeral on my tipups. But I get many flags that the fish will take 6 to 12 inches of line and drop the bait. Me and a friend had 5 flags at the same time on Saturday and every flag did the same thing. Did not catch a fish on any of the five and they did not take the minnows. We use a variety of minnow sizes. Some had 2 inch minnows all the way up to 5 inches. These fish must feel some resistence and drop. Walleye or perch maybe? Must be in a school because flags are close and always at the same time. I have never seen any perch caught here but I am told they catch 12 to 14 inchers at night. We have tried smaller hooks and set tipups on lite setting but it dosnt seem to help. Any advice??   31King

[trapperjon]

Try tip-downs instead of tip-ups, look up rgfixit or some of the past threads (info- discussion) Sounds like you're dealing with very soft bite fish and this may help
trapperjon

[Oldfart]

Sounds like yellow perch. Go the other way. Set the tipup with a quick strike, tighten it all the way down, and if anything tries to grab and run, its hooked. Or wait till they drop again, pull up the fishtrap, and start jiggin. They will come back for what they dropped. Some fish like to smash and kill, then stare at it to see its dead, then pick it up to swallow. Kinda like a house cat playing with it.

[kerosenecounty17]

Keep a jig pole handy.  When you get a flag take it along.  If you don't get the fish on the tip-up set it aside and try jigging in that hole for a while.  I would bet it's probably perch or crappies that are dropping when they feel the resistance from the tip-up. 

kero

[JT]

Don't know what size hooks your using but try14-20's and 4lb. leaders and try taking the flag immediately,DO NOT WAIT! If you stay close to them you can run over and take them pretty consistently. We use this tactic all year long on some pretty good jumbo lakes. Run big fatheads or super small suckers. But stay on top of them as they drop alot but on those feeding frenzy days it's easy to limit out. 

[grumpymoe]

sounds like yellow perch..when they are finicky versus aggressive, there's one thing that perch will do, and you can take this to the bank!!! if they feel the hook tip, its sudden spitout. go to the smallest hook you feel comfortable with and with live minnows, hook just under the skin and do not expose the hook tip. the same goes for dead bait. if you fish moderately to clear water, use hooks that are dark in color. murky to low visibility, bright colored hooks may help attract fish. you would likely be quite amazed at how many hits you are likely getting without flags being tripped..if you have the opportunity to view with an underwater camera, you'll see what i mean...grumpymoe

[PERCH_INC.]

The fish could be feeling the tip up line pressure or if you are using small bobbers to make the depth thay will feel that too. Try using a small button as a line marker it has less pressure. Or back out the jigging equip. good luck

[2 dogs]

When this happens I set my Beaver Dams tight so that it takes a hard hit to move the flag thus the fish had to bite harder and swallow deeper if he wants the minnow and that eliminates short runners. I sometimes wonder though how many soft bites I get and never see? I have tried jigging the hole right away and usually come up with a small perch or panfish.

[31King]

Hey Guys,
                Thanks for all of the tips I havent been carrying a jigging rod with lately but I will try that this weekend and see if I can outsmart em.    31 king