How to land tip ups

[K10bolts]

Hey everyone
I'm a long time lurker that's done lots of reading. However, I had a question about landing fish on tip ups. I lost a few fish last weekend because I'm not doing it right.

I'm using a 18" 10lb mono leader with a #6 treble. Mainly targeting pike and walleyes. Are you supposed to set the hook with the spool spinning, or wait until it stops? What's the general rule for setting the hook?

Thanks in advance!

[Tainterslayer]

If the shaft isn't moving when I go up to it, I like to sit and wait to see if it does move. I have all of my tip ups marked so I can unspool a little bit of line before I pull the tip up out of the water.
If the spool is spinning, I will pull the tip up out of the hole and then grab the line. Are you setting the hook by pulling the tip up out of the hole, or are you setting the hook while hand lining it?

[Wiener]

If I see the line is moving, I quickly grab the tipup, pull it out of the hole and set the hook.

IF the line is not moving, I give the fish a little line, and wait to see if they are "munching".

after a few minutes, I pull the line gently to see if the fish has dropped the bait.  If I feel a fish, I immediately set the hook.


Hope this helps,

Wiener

[oldman50]

I never take the tip up out of the hole unless the spool is turning. If it dosn't turn for a while when I get to it I then take it out and see if there is any evidence that a fish is there. My rule of thumb is,"Never strike the fish unless he is running".

[K10bolts]

Hey Thanks guys.
I pulled my first pike through last night! Before I was just yanking up on the spool. Now I know I need to hand line it, and feel for resistance. I also downsized to a #8 hook, which I feel helped out. I suppose everyone has their preferences.
Thanks again fellas!

[CJW]

I personally don't understand why people slowly pull up on the line to feel for resistance.  All this does in my mind is give the fish an opportunity to feel that something else is on the other end of its lunch and spit it out.  Give the fish enough time to get it in it's mouth, pull out tip-up while feeding line so it can't feel you, put down tip up and set the hook. 

I think the main reason people miss fish on tip-ups is that the set the hook the second after the flag goes up. 

[snapozz]

sometimes there just isnt a fish on the minnow. i think the feel the flag go off and drop it, when that doesnt happen im batting about 75% or better

[wesson4]

i would have to say this all depends on the type of cover the lake has. If there is bottom cover for fish to swim into set the hook while the spool is spinning, but if ur in open water without any major bottom cover i say "let'em eat" then set the hook. Good luck!!

[WYIfish]

i would have to say this all depends on the type of cover the lake has. If there is bottom cover for fish to swim into set the hook while the spool is spinning, but if ur in open water without any major bottom cover i say "let'em eat" then set the hook. Good luck!!

With larger pike in the area, I let them munch the minnow after they have time to turn it around and start to move off with the bait swallowed.  With the little snake pike, I usually just haul them in and sometimes can salvage my bait. If their huge pike, hold on to your socks, they will move off slowly playing that jaws tune...and then run like the energizer bunny.
There's nothing like that primitive feeling of out smarting a 20 pound pike and hand lining him in after three or four runs away from the hole.  Freshwater gators with out legs.

TIP:  be sure to always lay the line out with a little care so if the fish gets up to the hole and all of a sudden grows a foot or two in size and runs out line, that you don't have it wrapped around your boot or tip up on the ice, or in my brothers case, wrapped around the barking beagle who almost went down the hole with a 24 pound northern.   Lucky fishing dog....new breed:  pikecatcher!

[northernnyice]

If the spools going slow i let it go for a bit, wait for a stop or change of pace.. If its not moving dont even touch it.. Give it time and observe. If its screaming i like to take a second to see if she'll stop or slow down.. All in all i rarely miss a fish. When i do i find that i rushed the situation.

[tundraman]

I dont know how true it is but ive heard that when the spool stops turning the fish is turning the bait to make sure its going down head first, so i like to wait until the spool starts spinning again to take the tip up out of the hole to set the hook.

[Blaze Cammo]

I dont know how true it is but ive heard that when the spool stops turning the fish is turning the bait to make sure its going down head first, so i like to wait until the spool starts spinning again to take the tip up out of the hole to set the hook.

yup..thats the way I do it too!

[DGF]

If I see the line is moving, I quickly grab the tipup, pull it out of the hole and set the hook.

IF the line is not moving, I give the fish a little line, and wait to see if they are "munching".

after a few minutes, I pull the line gently to see if the fish has dropped the bait.  If I feel a fish, I immediately set the hook.


Hope this helps,

Wiener

+1

My best success is when using a quick strike rig and setting the hook while the fish is moving, heopfully on the first run. The hookups are usually in the corner of the mouth which makes for a better survival rate for C&R fishing which is what I usually do. Congrats on your first iced fish on a tip-up.

[BiG ARN]

dont be a young bull and run down there and try to catch a cow....walk down there and catch them all!   same as alot above mentioned   every time i lose a fish i think its because i didnt take my time.    especially using a good size shiner or sucker   give them some time to get the whole thing down there throats

[hillmann]

I like to set the hook when they are taking line.  I use the smallest hooks I can find and keep them sharp and when I set it when they are running it hooks them in the corner of ther mouths and they can't come on hooked even if you give them loots of slack after the hook has been set.  I let my boy pull in most of the fish yesterday and even after several time getting line tangelde around his gloces and stopping to untangle it the fish were still there.(he didn't land any of them, I just got to pratice tying on hooks.)

[joejamiejop]

To all of you that say you give them time, what type of hooks are you using and also how often are you replacing those hooks due to a swallowed hook?

[GDominy12]

its all a matter of opinion but i like to let the fish have a good run then stop. once the fish has stopped running i like to slowly unspool the line without picking the tip up out of the water till i have enough slack then feel for tension. best of luck to you!

[BiG ARN]

i mainly fish walleye and maybe im lucky but i cant remeber the last time i caught one that was under the legal size limit...so id rather have them swallow my size 8 treble hook then get away.   BIG bait...BIG fish!  i dont use anything smaller that a 3-4 inch shiner.....thats what the jiggin poles in the shack are for.

[surflizard]

 10 years ago I started using circle hooks. Once I learned to ( not set the hook) losing a few fish in the proccess, I never looked back .Freshwater, saltwater ,open water or hard water, I only use circle hooks. I use Lazer Sharp
# 8 circles on my tipups and #6 circles on my cusk traps. I don't lose fish anymore, unless in the excitement,I forget to check my leaders. I just reel the fish in, give them a try.

[jiml]

I only set the hook when the fish is taking out line....and I try to get it done on the first run because I mainly catch and release.  ALWAYS set the hook on the run.......if there is line going out the fish does not have the bait tucked under his arm!   

[finlessbrown]

If the shaft isn't moving when I go up to it, I like to sit and wait to see if it does move. I have all of my tip ups marked so I can unspool a little bit of line before I pull the tip up out of the water.
If the spool is spinning, I will pull the tip up out of the hole and then grab the line. Are you setting the hook by pulling the tip up out of the hole, or are you setting the hook while hand lining it?

i don't understand what you mean when you say it is marked so you can unspool a bit of line

[gaudetskie]

If I walk up and its not spinning I'll wait. I've found that talking to it helps. Things like, "you can run but that just means you'll die tired." and "c'mon, take it." Never grab a motionless tip-up!
Nick.

[lhprop1]

TIP:  be sure to always lay the line out with a little care so if the fish gets up to the hole and all of a sudden grows a foot or two in size and runs out line, that you don't have it wrapped around your boot or tip up on the ice, or in my brothers case, wrapped around the barking beagle who almost went down the hole with a 24 pound northern.   Lucky fishing dog....new breed:  pikecatcher!

Another thing is to make sure you always put your line on the same side of the hole when you're pulling in that monster.  Make sure you put the line on the side of the hole the wind is blowing to.  (if the wind is blowing west to east, let you line go on the east side of the hole).  Nothing worse than pulling in a fish and then having the wind blow all your line into the hole in one big tangles mess.  It's also good to remember when you pull the fish out of the hole to put him on the opposite side of the hole that your line is on.  That way, he won't roll around and get all tangled up.  It's simple stuff, but it's easily overlooked.

[kasilofchrisn]

I always wait until they stop and start again if possible. Where I fish all Pike must be kept so no biggie if they swallow it.
I have read and it seems to be true that all fish swallow prey head first. Fish can't swim backwards so it helps keep prey from getting away.
 As others have said the theory is that the pike are turning the bait in their mouths to swallow them head first after first making a dash  to an area they feel safe.
I tie a duoloc snap on the end of my tip-up line. I tie my own quickstrikes with a swivel on the end. I can then unsnap the quickstrike with the pike still hooked and get my line back in the water with with a new setup. Then I can take my time with the jaw spreader and forceps/pliers unhooking the fish between flags. If it is real deeply hooked no biggie I got plenty of quickstrikes and I get my other one back with the fillet knife later.

[gaudetskie]

.... Where I fish all Pike must be kept so no biggie if they swallow it....

??WHAT??

[Tainterslayer]

i don't understand what you mean when you say it is marked so you can unspool a bit of line

Sorry. There is a direction in which you turn the spool that will release line. Turn it the wrong way and it will start reeling in the line. I put an arrow on the tip up which marks the direction that I need to turn in order to release more line. It may not actually matter too much but it's one of those things I learned from my dad.

[kasilofchrisn]

??WHAT??

Up here in South central Alaska we have an introduced population of Northern pike into a few lakes. They are native to Interior AK but not Southcentral.
There is a fear that they will make it into our river systems and destroy our Salmon fisheries.
They have evidence they are in some of our rivers just not in large numbers. Alaska Dept. of Fish And Game has used Rotenone to kill off the pike in several local lakes. They also have an aggressive netting program on lakes not conducive to Rotenone poisoning.
So our regs state we cannot release a Pike in Southcentral Alaska.
Hope that clears it up for you.

[jpicks]

I find that if I wait too long until the spool has stopped spinning, then the fish are often hooked alot deeper than I'd like.  I try to set the hook as soon as I get there and the spool is spinning.  If you're fishing open water, do you ever let the fish run for a minute or two before you set the hook?  I don't.. (as long as you don't count lindy rigs...)

[kasilofchrisn]

  If you're fishing open water, do you ever let the fish run for a minute or two before you set the hook?  I don't.. (as long as you don't count lindy rigs...)

You are right I don't let the open water fish run that long.
 But in the open water the fish is already at an angle to the rod tip (normally).
Under the ice the fish can be directly beneath the hole and I prefer the line to be at an angle for a good hookset in the corner of their mouth.
Pike have hard mouths and setting a hook in it can be tough. Good Quickstrikes with sticky Sharp hooks helps a lot.
I use size 6 or 8 trebles and they seem to stick pretty good. But I still prefer the fish not to be directly beneath the hole.
 Even if I was to set right away I might wait at least a few seconds so they are not right beneath the hole.

[gaudetskie]

I see. Yea that makes sense. Where I fish we don't have much for salmon, but we have tons of pike though. Do you eat many northern? Once you get the Y-bones figured out they're really quit delicious.
Nick.